Design of a spatial harvest scheduling for promoting mycological production

Claudia Torre Agúndez

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Mushroom picking is a traditional activity in Spain that has been a traditional source of rural employment. Besides, it is well-known for not only being an important ecosystem service that provides several ecological benefits to the plants communities, but also for being a valuable recreational activity that is gaining importance in the last. Given its importance, many research has been carried out about how some silvicultural measures affect mushroom production and political and technical stakeholders have been carrying out legal actions and developing guidelines for the regulation and encouragement of this resource.In this thesis it has been addressed for the first time the implementation of some of these guidelines in the design of a forest harvest scheduling. The subject of study is a forest in central Spain, in Castilla y Léon region. This forest has been traditionally managed for timber production since a long time ago, but it has been also the subject of the implementation of many innovative actions focused on enhancing the recreational use of the forest through mushroom picking. From the background data of this forest and with the help of DSS Optimal optimization tool and a GIS framework, a spatial harvest scheduling has been designed. Three alternatives of different clear-cut sizes have been created. In addition, with the help of integer programming in the form of Unit Restriction Model, The Net Present Value and the Harvest Flow Volume of each alternative have been maximize subject to some adjacency and flow constraints that implement the requirement for encouraging mushroom production and sustainability of the management.The results display the spatial and periodical distribution of the cuts during a 30 years horizon plan for each one of the alternatives. They also show the different values adopted by the objective functions. The analysis showcase that the obtained values are close or even higher that those expected in the current Forest Management Plan. However, some cuts belonging to the last age class will not be performed during the planning horizon. As that may compromise the actual even aged structure if the managers consider that the results are not desirable, it may be advisable to test the created design using a more flexible and accurate mathematical model that provide a wider variety of feasible results.

Keywords

ecosystem services, clear-cut management system, spatial harvest scheduling, mushroom picking

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 7. 2. 2018

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Ing. Jan Kašpar, Ph.D.
• Reader: Peter Surový, PhD.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences

Master programme / field:
Forestry Engineering / Forestry, Water and Landscape Management