Features and their curves indicate the condition of the
forest belonging to a particular track, essentially describing
"what's on the ground". The next step would be to explore the
question, "What are our management options?" These management
options are silvicultural treatments that apply to the block that
is referencing the track. The treatments.csv
file defines the rules describing the treatments that can be
applied during specific age ranges, and the responses (or
transitions) that result from applying the treatments .
See Table 10, “Treatments file format description” for a detailed description of the treatments file format.
Table 10. Treatments file format description
Field name | Data type | Description |
---|---|---|
TRACK | String | An alphanumeric label that matches a track label from the feature file (see the section called “Features”). It is an error to include treatments for non-existent tracks. |
BEGIN | integer | A number that represents the starting offset when this treatment is eligible. The treatment is eligible if the managed offset is greater than or equal to the beginning offset. |
END | integer | A number that represents the ending offset after which this treatment is no longer eligible. The treatment can only be applied if the managed offset is less than or equal to the ending offset. |
TREATMENT | String | An alphanumeric label that identifies the treatment. The label can contain no special characters. This label is also used as a link into the product file (see the section called “Products”). |
MANUAL | A value of blank, "Managed" or "Unmanaged". This field controls the scheduling restrictions for this treatment. Blank or not specified means that the treatment may be applied by the solver, "Managed' (or "Unmanaged") means that the treatment may be applied manually to the managed (or unmanaged) portion of the block, but cannot by used by the solver. | |
NEWTRACK | String | An alphanumeric label that points to the track that describes the post-treatment stand. This track must exist in the feature file (see the section called “Features”). |
ADJUST | String | A value of A or
R indicating if the new offset for
the post-treatment condition should be determined using
an absolute or relative computation. |
OFFSET | integer | An integer that is used in determining the new offset of the post-treatment condition. |
RETAIN | integer | An integer that specifies the minimum number of years that the post-treatment stand must remain along the new track before being eligible for another treatment. |
CURVE | String | A curve label that is used to find a curve that will modify the renewal offset value. If specified, the renewal offset is calculated by using the offset value to look up a value off of the specified curve. |
CYCLE | integer | The cycle parameter may be used to specify the package set that matches to this treatment. |
ELIGIBILITY | String | A encoded list of planning years when the treatment is eligible. If the string starts with "I" the list has the years to be allowed, all others are disallowed. If the string starts with "E" the list has the years to be disallowed, all others are allowed. The remainder of the string consists of a comma separated list of years and year ranges (e.g. "I1,5,10-20" allows the treatment in the planning years 1, 5 and 10 to 20). |
Example 14. Sample treatments file records
TRACK, BEGIN, END, TREATMENT, NEWTRACK, ADJUST, OFFSET, RETAIN ... Track.3, 85, 99999, Exten, Track.4, A, 0, 0 Track.3, 85, 99999, Basc1, Track.5, A, 0, 0 Track.2, 85, 99999, Exten, Track.3, A, 0, 0 Track.7, 85, 99999, Exten, Track.4, A, 0, 0 Track.7, 85, 99999, Basc1, Track.5, A, 0, 0 Track.6, 85, 99999, Exten, Track.7, A, 0, 0 Track.6, 85, 99999, Basc1, Track.8, A, 0, 0 Track.2, 85, 99999, Basc1, Track.6, A, 0, 0 ...
Blocks are linked to treatment options by their current track identification label (when the simulation is initialized the current track label is the one specified in the blocks file (see the section called “Blocks”).
The treatments.csv
file is organized by
track label: one record for each treatment type available for that
particular track. In the above example, Track.3
has two treatment types available to the managed area it
represents: Exten
and Basc1
.
These treatments are eligible for application between an early
operability limit of age 85 and a late operability limit of age
99999
(essentially unlimited).
The name of the management treatment option is provided by the
contents of the TREATMENT field.
This field contains an alphanumeric string containing no special
characters other than the underscore ("_"). You should use
meaningful names for this label (e.g. INTENSIVE
,
SELECTION
). The value of the TREATMENT field will show up in the
treatment editing control of the Patchworks graphical user
interface, as well as in the CURRENTTREATMENT field of the block
attribute table. This field is also used to provide a link to the
products file (see the section called “Products”).
The products file contains
definitions of the tangible outcomes of the management treatment
(e.g. wood harvest, dollars spent, trees planted).
The MANUAL field indicates the scheduling restrictions for the treatment. By default all treatments may be chosen by the solver as it is trying for satisfy the management objectives. Treatments may be designated that they are not available to the solver by changing the MANUAL value. A value of "MANAGED" indicates that the treatment can only be applied manually and applies only to the managed portion of the block. Similarly a value of "UNMANAGED" indicates that the treatment can only be applied manually and applies only to the unmanaged portion of the block. Manual treatments may be applied by using the graphical user interface, or by calling methods in the Patchworks API. Manual treatments may be used for a variety of purposes, such as to implement disturbance events (such as fire) that are based on prior knowledge, or to implement pre-scheduled treatments that violate the conventional operability limits.
The NEWTRACK field
identifies the response (or transition) that occurs when the
treatment is applied. The field value is the identifier of the
track that will describe forest conditions after the treatment has
been applied. In the above example, if an Exten
management treatment is applied to the managed area of a block that
is initially linked to Track.3
, the resulting
managed area will be described by the feature curves in
Track.4
. This new track will have
the features, track names and strata codes describe
the response condition, as well as a new set of treatments
appropriate for the new condition. The
Patchworks model will perform
appropriate bookkeeping to look up feature attributes and treatment
options for the correct tracks at appropriate times.
If a management treatment produces the same forest dynamics and characteristics that existed before the treatment, the block can continue on the same track with a new OFFSET field value. In this case the NEWTRACK field value will be the same as the original TRACK field value. In the following example the response to the CC treatment will be to remain in the same condition, but the offset age will be reset to 0.
TRACK, BEGIN, END, TREATMENT, NEWTRACK, ADJUST, OFFSET, RETAIN ... Track.3, 90, 300, CC, Track.3, A, 0, 0 Track.5, 90, 300, CC, Track.5, A, 0, 0 Track.1, 90, 300, CC, Track.1, A, 0, 0 ...
The BEGIN and END fields contain integers that represent offsets for the starting and ending of eligibility for the treatment. Offsets are closely analogous to stand ages for ages prior to succession events (but see the section called “Offset vs. Age”).
The ADJUST and OFFSET fields control how the
post-treatment offset is computed. If the value in the adjust
field is A
(for "Absolute") then the
post-treatment offset is set to the value of the offset field.
However, if the value of ADJUST is R
(for "Relative")
then the offset value is added to the pre-treatment offset to
yield the new offset.
![]() | Note |
---|---|
Absolute adjustments typically mimic even-aged management treatments, where the stand age is usually reset to zero, and the managed area starts at the beginning of the new track. Relative treatments are usually used to simulate mid-rotation treatments, where the age of the stand does not change, but the development characteristics do. |
The RETAIN field specifies the minimum number of years that the managed area must remain on the new track. This feature is useful in modelling mid-rotation treatments (such as understory planting), where the effect of the treatment is only achieved if the stand is left undisturbed for a number of years following the treatment.
The CURVE field specifies an alternate method of calculating the new OFFSET value. If the CURVE value is specified, the offset value is used to as the X-value to look up a number from the curve. If the ADJUST value is "A" then the resulting value then becomes the new offset. If the ADJUST value is "R" then the resulting value is added to the pre-treatment offset.
The CYCLE field is relevant for treatment packages, and is used to uniquely identify the package that matches with this treatment. This field is not used otherwise.
The ELIGIBILITY field provides a restriction on the planning years that the treatment may be applied in. By default and if the field is not specified the treatment may be applied in any planning year where a block is within the allowed operability limits. When specified, the treatment is additionally restricted to the permitted planning years. The format of the ELIGIBILITY is a string that begins with "I" or "E", followed by a comma separated list of years or year ranges. If the string starts with "I" then by the following list specifies the years when the treatment is allowed; in all other years the treatment is not allowed. If the string starts with "E" then by the following list specifies the years when the treatment is not allowed; in all other years the treatment is allowed. For example, the value "I1" means that the treatment is only allowed in year 1, and "E1-20" means that the treatment is not allowed in years 1 to 20.