Modelling Forest Growth and Yield: Applications to Mixed Tropical Forests

This book provides an introduction to growth modeling in mixed forests, with emphasis on the tropics. It is not intended as a 'how-to' manual with step-by-step instructions, as there is no single best way to model such forests. Rather it reviews different approaches, highlighting their strengths and limitations. It emphasizes empirical-statistical models rather than physiological-process type models, because of the proven utility of the former in forest management. Each chapter includes exercises that can be completed manually or on PC and spreadsheet. The book will serve as a reference manual for practitioners and as a text for advanced level students taking courses in forest modeling.