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.

  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 identifies the successional phase of the stand during the time when this treatment is eligible. The cycle value begins at zero, and increases by one each time the stand undergoes a successional event. The cycle value is reset to zero after a management treatment is applied (i.e. the beginning of a new track). Tracks may have more than treatment with the same name, each occurring in a different cycle. For example a "CC" treatment may be available for the original stand, and that would have a cycle value of 0. If not harvested the elderly stand may go through a succession event and the cycle value will be increased to 1. After the post-successional stand has increased in age to an operable condition, it may again be eligible for a "CC" treatment on cycle "1". The cycle value is provided as information and is generally ignored by the Patchworks model, except for use in matching up package and package sequence treatments to the correct entries in the treatments file.

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.