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Assessing Knowledge Ambiguity in the Creation of a Model Based on Expert Knowledge and Comparison with the Results of a Landscape Succession Model in Central Labrador

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Expert Knowledge and Its Application in Landscape Ecology

Abstract

Sustainable forest management (SFM) recognizes that the spatial and temporal patterns generated at different scales by natural landscape and stand dynamics processes should serve as a guide for managing the forest within its range of natural variability (Landres et al. 1999; Gauthier et al. 2008). Landscape simulation modeling is a powerful tool that can help encompass such complexity and support SFM planning (Messier et al. 2003). Forecasting the complex behaviors of a forested landscape involving patterns and processes that interact at multiple temporal and spatial scales poses significant challenges (Gunderson and Holling 2002). Empirical evidence for the functioning of key elements, such as succession and disturbance regimes, is crucial for model parameterization (Mladenoff 2004). However, reliable empirical data about the forest vegetation dynamics that arise in response to forest management and other disturbances may be scarce, particularly in remote areas where harvesting activity has been historically limited.

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Correspondence to Frédérik Doyon .

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Doyon, F. et al. (2012). Assessing Knowledge Ambiguity in the Creation of a Model Based on Expert Knowledge and Comparison with the Results of a Landscape Succession Model in Central Labrador. In: Perera, A., Drew, C., Johnson, C. (eds) Expert Knowledge and Its Application in Landscape Ecology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1034-8_10

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