Woltjer M, Rammer W, Brauner M, Seidl R, Mohren G M J, Lexer M J
Institute of Silviculture, Department of Forest and Soil Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Peter Jordanstrasse 82, 1190 Vienna, Austria.
J Environ Manage. 2008 May;87(3):373-88. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2007.01.031. Epub 2007 Apr 6.
Many forests in the Alps are acknowledged for protecting objects, such as (rail) roads, against rockfall. However, there is a lack of knowledge on efficient silvicultural strategies and interventions to maintain these forests at optimal protection level. Therefore, assessment tools are required that quantify the rockfall protection effect of forest stands over time, and thereby provide the ability to evaluate the necessity and effect of management interventions. This paper introduces such a tool that consists of a 3D rockfall module embedded in the patch based forest simulator PICUS. The latter is extended for this study with a new regeneration module. In a series of experiments the new combined simulation tool is evaluated with regard to parameter sensitivity, model intercomparison experiments with recently proposed algorithms from the literature, and the ability to respond realistically to different management regimes in rockfall protection forests. Results confirm the potential of the new tool for realistic simulation of rockfall activity in heterogeneous mountain forests, but point at the urgent need to improve the knowledge base on the interaction of understory and rockfall activity. Further work will focus on model validation against empirical rockfall data, and include reduced tree vitality due to damage from boulder collisions as well as the explicit consideration of downed dead wood.
阿尔卑斯山脉的许多森林因保护诸如（铁路）道路等物体免受落石影响而受到认可。然而，对于维持这些森林处于最佳保护水平的有效造林策略和干预措施，我们缺乏相关知识。因此，需要评估工具来量化林分随时间的落石保护效果，从而具备评估管理干预措施的必要性和效果的能力。本文介绍了这样一种工具，它由嵌入基于斑块的森林模拟器PICUS中的三维落石模块组成。本研究通过一个新的更新模块对后者进行了扩展。在一系列实验中，对新的组合模拟工具进行了参数敏感性评估、与文献中最近提出的算法进行模型相互比较实验，以及评估其对落石防护林中不同管理方式做出实际响应的能力。结果证实了新工具在异质山区森林中对落石活动进行实际模拟的潜力，但也指出迫切需要改进关于林下植被与落石活动相互作用的知识库。进一步的工作将侧重于根据经验落石数据对模型进行验证，并纳入因巨石碰撞造成的树木活力下降以及对倒下枯木的明确考虑。
