Tree-stem bucking optimization at the forest management unit level

In planning forest harvests the bucking optimization problem arises at tree-level as well as standand forest management unit-level. In a former project, Dynamic Programming has been coded in spreadsheets for obtaining optimal bucking patterns at tree-level for major species in NE Argentina. At the stand- and forest-level the problem has been formulated as a linear programming, master problem, and using a longest path algorithm for sub-problem, bucking pattern generation. GLPK and Java were used for coding OptimEsus, a software tool aimed at solving problems at these levels. A three stand problem was solved as a prototypical example.Laboratorio de Investigación de Sistemas Ecológicos y AmbientalesInstituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuari