Exploring Forest Management Practices Using an Agent-Based Model of Forest Insect Infestations

The forests of British Columbia, Canada have undergone an unprecedented Mountain Pine Beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, (MPB) infestation that has resulted in extensive mortality of lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta. The objective of this study is to apply the agent-based model (ABM) to simulate the MPB attack behaviour in order to evaluate how different harvesting policies influence spatial characteristics of the forest and spatial propagation of the MPB infestation over time. The first scenario is the no management action with the natural disturbance process leading the changes of the forest ecosystem. The other two scenarios implement sanitation and salvage harvesting methods. Obtained results indicate that the different management strategies significantly affect the MPB infestation rates. Statistical analysis of the simulation outcomes is performed to compare the three scenarios and prove that salvage harvesting is the most effective strategy. This study can improve our understanding of the effects of management strategies and assist policy decision making process when complex MPB agent-based model of forest insect outbreaks is used.