Review of measures of site occupancy by regeneration

Summary

This project investigated the potential to develop an indicator for national reporting of regeneration success. Systems of measuring site occupancy, including performance measures and sustainability evaluation, are reviewed to identify those worth further testing.

Current site occupancy measures are based on spatial statistics, frequency and/or intensity, and incorporate an evaluation of whether site resources are being fully utilised by the regeneration. The scientific basis of current measures can be improved by establishing the relationship between initial spatial distribution of regeneration and long-term wood production, including wood quality outcomes. Those measures based on both frequency and intensity are likely to be more sensitive, but more costly.

Recommendations are made for further actions to progress development of the national indicator of regeneration success. The key recommendations are to model the spatial pattern of regeneration and simulate the application of alternative measures of site occupancy to the modelled distributions.

Keywords:

• forests
• regeneration
• regeneration surveys
• stand density
• descriptors
• distribution
• occurrence
• layout
• standards
• methodology
• review