Progress 03/15/23 to 03/14/24
Outputs
Target Audience:Broadly, the target audience consists of private forest landowners, forestry consultants, state and federal land managers, academics, and extension personnel. The main stakeholders of this project are the small and medium-sized forest landowners of the southern United States, and the forest consultants and public agency personnel that may guide them. They are incorporated into the integrated project through extension functions that will both introduce and train participants to use eYield, and gauge the effectiveness of the model in assisting participants in their understanding of forest management options. The feedback we receive from stakeholders will allow adjustment of the model design, and will inform the biological growth and extension analysis aspects of the work. Changes/Problems:About 3 years ago we experienced one of the potential pitfalls of the project that we noted in the project proposal (changes in team membership). We lost a key member of the team to cancer, and responsibilities shifted, more fully utilizing University of Georgia resources and employees. We have endeavored to keep key personnel fully engaged in the development of the eYield model without needing to hire new team members. This has taxed the lead PI for the last 4 years, but annual goals have generally been met, and we expect the project to successfully be completed in March 2024. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has facilitated the professional development of a graduate student and post-doc by supporting their involvement in the research reporting endeavors. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A paper describing eYield was developed for the Journal of Extension (in press, awaiting publication). Another paper on the effectiveness of the eYield model is under review at a peer-reviewed journal. A presentation on eYield was offered at the 2022 Society of American Foresters Annual National Convention. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The project ends in March 2024. We are currently developing papers to illustrate the usefulness of eYield, and we are attempting to further the development of eYield through a new project (proposal submitted to USDA) aimed at expanding the number of natural forest simulators and to incorporate methods for assessing carbon additionality through alternative forest management regimes.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: Develop eYield, a model to assist forest landowners in the management of hardwood and natural pine forests. We have completed the on-line model, which includes 7 natural forest simulators (loblolly pine, shortleaf pine, longleaf pine, slash pine, upland oak-hickory, white pine, and yellow-poplar). We are now developing tutorials and validating outcomes againsat WinYield. Objective 2: Assess the appropriateness of the growth and yield models incorporated into eYield. An assessment was made and presented in a doctoral dissertation. Objective 3: Perform a summative assessment of the effectiveness of eYield to enhance management capacity. We completed this part of the project through the subaward with the University of Tennessee.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Bettinger, P., T. Lee, K. Merry, and D. Drummond. in press. A forest management evaluation system for small private forest landowners. Journal of Extension.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Kane, T., W. Clatterbuck, K. Merry, T. Lee, and P. Bettinger. User satisfaction with an online forest management tool and feedback from stakeholders. Heliyon.
|
Progress 03/15/18 to 03/12/24
Outputs
Target Audience:Broadly, the target audience consists of private forest landowners, forestry consultants, state and federal land managers, academics, and extension personnel. The main stakeholders of this project are the small and medium-sized forest landowners of the southern United States, and the forest consultants and public agency personnel that may guide them. They are incorporated into the integrated project through extension functions that will both introduce and train participants to use eYield, and gauge the effectiveness of the model in assisting participants in their understanding of forest management options. The feedback we receive from stakeholders will allow adjustment of the model design, and will inform the biological growth and extension analysis aspects of the work. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has facilitated the professional development of graduate students by providing training and mentoring in the conduct of scientific processes, by supporting their involvement in the research reporting endeavors, and by providing support to attend national conferences. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A paper describing eYield was developed for the Journal of Extension (in press, awaiting publication). Another paper on the effectiveness of the eYield model is under review at a peer-reviewed journal. A presentation on eYield was offered at the 2022 Society of American Foresters Annual National Convention. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The project ends in March 2024.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Surveys and personal interviews were conducted concerning the features within the eYield forest management model, and the ability of the model to enhance management capacity. Some of the main outcomes of this work included the following: · A comparison of pre- and post-exposure survey responses indicated that an increase in knowledge of key terms (cash flow, woodflow, growth, profitability, etc.) was observed, but it was not statistically significant. The increase in knowledge may indicate reinforcement of old ideas rather than introduction of new ideas. · The post-exposure survey to eYield indicated that people's ability to use online tools such as eYield would cause relatively little inconvenience. · With respect to information delivery: 68% of survey participants indicated a preference for forest management-related information delivered through computers, 32% chose paper copies as their preferred medium. · With respect to growth and yield projections of hardwood forests, 74% of survey participants indicated that the outcomes from eYield were similar to what they would have expected in the real world. · Videos explaining how to use eYield were desired (and subsequently developed). Studies related to the appropriateness of the growth and yield aspect of eYield were conducted. Some of the main outcomes of this work included: · A whole-stand survival/mortality equation was developed for even-aged southern hardwood forests, and this work suggested that site index was not significant in predicting mortality of southern hardwood forests. · A Kalman filter technique was developed to account for both measurement and process errors in southern hardwood forest growth and yield models, which seemed to improve projections of dominant tree heights in future periods of time. · A weighting factor was introduced to improve the accuracy of future stand basal area estimates of southern hardwood forests from whole stand growth and yield models, and this also acted to reduce bias and increase the precision of growth estimates. The weighting factor took into account (a) the difference in basal area variance between two periods of time and (b) the difference in basal area estimates between two periods of time. In the development of eYield, we received a set of WinYield master files from Todd Hepp, the original developer of the WinYield program and its predecessors. These files were accessed through an older PC, and we were successful in installing and running the WinYield program. We developed a schematic diagram that illustrates how information will be input into, managed by, and produced from the eYield model. We held a number of weekly sub-team meetings to discuss and formalize how the framework would be delivered through WordPress. The eYield program was developed using this guidance. We used Trello project management software to communicate methodologies, enhancements, and adjustments to the eYield model amongst the team. During the developmental phase of the project, we had annual meetings with the oversight committee. The original intent of providing a service to model the management of the natural forest simulators that were available in WinYield was met, and eYield is now offered through UGA web hosting services (http://eyield.uga.edu/). A paper describing eYield was developed for the Journal of Extension (in press, awaiting publication). A user's guide was developed for the eYield model, and 12 supporting, captioned videos were developed (available through YouTube). We worked on the extension methodology part of the project through a subaward with the University of Tennessee. Several meetings have been held with stakeholders, and an assessment of the effectiveness of the eYield system was conducted. We recruited one masters student to work on the development of extension methodology to evaluate the effectiveness of eYield to meet the needs of small and medium-sized private forest landowners. The student matriculated in Spring 2019 at the University of Tennessee and graduated in 2021. They performed a summative assessment of the effectiveness of eYield to enhance management capacity. A paper on the effectiveness of the eYield model is under review in a peer-reviewed journal. Research findings have been presented at regional and national meetings. One Master of Science degree was completed in 2021 (Tim Kane, University of Tennessee). One doctoral degree was completed in 2022 (Anil Koirala, University of Georgia). A presentation on eYield was offered at the 2022 Society of American Foresters Annual National Convention. The project has facilitated the professional development of these graduate students by supporting their travel to the 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022 Society of American Foresters National Conventions, and other regional conferences.
Publications
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Kane, T.S. 2021. eYield: Testing the adoption and outcomes of a novel online growth and yield model. Masters Thesis. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Koirala, A. 2022. Whole stand growth and yield modeling of southern hardwoods. PhD. dissertation. University of Georgia, Athens, GA.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Bettinger, P., T. Lee, K. Merry, and D. Drummond. 2023. eYield user's manual 2023. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA. 59 p.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Bettinger, P., T. Lee, K. Merry, and D. Drummond. in press. A forest management evaluation system for small private forest landowners. Journal of Extension.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Kane, T., W. Clatterbuck, K. Merry, T. Lee, and P. Bettinger. User satisfaction with an online forest management tool and feedback from stakeholders. Under review at Heliyon.
|
Progress 03/15/18 to 02/29/24
Outputs
Target Audience:Broadly, the target audience consists of private forest landowners, forestry consultants, state and federal land managers, academics, and extension personnel. The main stakeholders of this project are the small and medium-sized forest landowners of the southern United States, and the forest consultants and public agency personnel that may guide them. They are incorporated into the integrated project through extension functions that will both introduce and train participants to use eYield, and gauge the effectiveness of the model in assisting participants in their understanding of forest management options. The feedback we receive from stakeholders will allow adjustment of the model design, and will inform the biological growth and extension analysis aspects of the work. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has facilitated the professional development of graduate students by supporting their involvement in the research reporting endeavors, and by providing support to attend national conferences. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A paper describing eYield was developed for the Journal of Extension (in press, awaiting publication). Another paper on the effectiveness of the eYield model is under review at a peer-reviewed journal. A presentation on eYield was offered at the 2022 Society of American Foresters Annual National Convention. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The project ends in March 2024.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In the development of eYield, we received a set of WinYield master files from Todd Hepp, the original developer of the WinYield program and its predecessors. These files were accessed through an older PC, and we were successful in installing and running the WinYield program. We developed a schematic diagram that illustrates how information will be input into, managed by, and produced from the eYield model. We have held a number of weekly sub-team meetings to discuss and formalize how the framework would be delivered through WordPress. The eYield program was developed using this guidance. We used Trello project management software to communicate methodologies, enhancements, and adjustments to the eYield model amongst the team. During the developmental phase of the project we had annual meetings with the oversight committee. The original intent of providing a service to model the management of the natural forest simulators that were available in WinYield has been met, and eYield is now offered through UGA web hosting services (http://eyield.uga.edu/). A paper describing eYield was developed for the Journal of Extension (in press, awaiting publication). A user's guide was developed for the eYield model, and 12 supporting, captioned videos were developed (available through YouTube). We worked on the extension methodology part of the project through a subaward with the University of Tennessee. Several meetings have been held with stakeholders, and an assessment of the effectiveness of the eYield system is being developed. We recruited one masters student to work on the development of extension methodology to evaluate the effectiveness of eYield to meet the needs of small and medium-sized private forest landowners. The student matriculated in Spring 2019 at the University of Tennessee and graduated in 2021. They performed a summative assessment of the effectiveness of eYield to enhance management capacity. A paper on the effectiveness of the eYield model is under review at a peer-reviewed journal. Research findings have been presented at regional and national meetings. One Master of Science degree was completed in 2021 (Tim Kane, University of Tennessee). One doctoral degree was completed in 2022 (Anil Koirala, University of Georgia). A presentation on eYield was offered at the 2022 Society of American Foresters Annual National Convention. The project has facilitated the professional development of these graduate students by supporting their travel to the 2018, 2019, and 2022 Society of American Foresters National Conventions, and other regional conferences. The project also facilitated the professional development of a graduate student by supporting their involvement in the 2020 Society of American Foresters National Convention that was offered remotely.
Publications
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Kane, T.S. 2021. eYield: Testing the adoption and outcomes of a novel online growth and yield model. Masters Thesis. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Koirala, A. 2022. Whole stand growth and yield modeling of southern hardwoods. PhD. dissertation. University of Georgia, Athens, GA.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Bettinger, P., T. Lee, K. Merry, and D. Drummond. 2023. eYield user's manual 2023. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA. 59 p.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Bettinger, P., T. Lee, K. Merry, and D. Drummond. in press. A forest management evaluation system for small private forest landowners. Journal of Extension.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Kane, T., W. Clatterbuck, K. Merry, T. Lee, and P. Bettinger. User satisfaction with an online forest management tool and feedback from stakeholders. Under review at Heliyon.
|
Progress 03/15/22 to 03/14/23
Outputs
Target Audience:Broadly, the target audience consists of private forest landowners, forestry consultants, state and federal land managers, academics, and extension personnel. The main stakeholders of this project are the small and medium-sized forest landowners of the southern United States, and the forest consultants and public agency personnel that may guide them. They are incorporated into the integrated project through extension functions that will both introduce and train participants to use eYield, and gauge the effectiveness of the model in assisting participants in their understanding of forest management options. The feedback we receive from stakeholders will allow adjustment of the model design, and will inform the biological growth and extension analysis aspects of the work. Changes/Problems:About 2 years ago we experienced one of the potential pitfalls of the project that we noted in the project proposal (changes in team membership). We lost a key member of the team (Steven Weaver) to cancer, and responsibilities shifted, more fully utilizing University of Georgia resources and employees. We have endeavored to keep key personnel fully engaged in the development of the eYield model without needing to hire new team members. This has taxed the lead PI for the last 3 years, but annual goals have generally been met, and we expect the project to successfully complete. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has facilitated the professional development of a graduate student and post-doc by supporting their involvement in the 2022 Society of American Foresters National Convention. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A presentation on eYield was offered at the 2022 Society of American Foresters Annual National Convention. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?By the end of year 5, we will have: (a) completed and reported upon all aspects of the integrated project; (b) submitted four manuscripts for publication related to the project; and (c) contributed significantly to the long-range development and sustainability of forest resources on small and medium-sized forest landowners in the South. We are endeavoring to complete these tasks.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: Develop eYield, a model to assist forest landowners in the management of hardwood and natural pine forests. We have completed the on-line model, which includes 7 natural forest simulators (loblolly pine, shortleaf pine, longleaf pine, slash pine, upland oak-hickory, white pine, and yellow-poplar). We are now developing tutorials and validating outcomes againsat WinYield. Objective 2: Assess the appropriateness of the growth and yield models incorporated into eYield. An assessment was made and presented in a doctoral dissertation. Objective 3: Perform a summative assessment of the effectiveness of eYield to enhance management capacity. We completed this part of the project through the subaward with the University of Tennessee.
Publications
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Kane, T.S. 2021. eYield: Testing the adoption and outcomes of a novel online growth and yield model. Master of Science thesis. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN. 75 p.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Koirala, A. 2022. Whole stand growth and yield modeling of southern hardwoods. Doctoral dissertation. University of Georgia, Athens, GA.
|
Progress 03/15/21 to 03/14/22
Outputs
Target Audience:Broadly, the target audience consists of private forest landowners, forestry consultants, state and federal land managers, academics, and extension personnel. The main stakeholders of this project are the small and medium-sized forest landowners of the southern United States, and the forest consultants and public agency personnel that may guide them. They are incorporated into the integrated project through extension functions that will both introduce and train participants to use eYield, and gauge the effectiveness of the model in assisting participants in their understanding of forest management options. The feedback we receive from stakeholders will allow adjustment of the model design, and will inform the biological growth and extension analysis aspects of the work. Changes/Problems:About 1.5 years ago we experienced one of the potential pitfalls of the project that we noted in the project proposal (changes in team membership). We lost a key member of the team (Steven Weaver) to cancer, and responsibilities shifted, more fully utilizing University of Georgia resources and employees. We have endeavored to keep key personnel fully engaged in the development of the eYield model without needing to hire new team members. this has taxed the lead PI for the last 2 years, but annual goals have generally been met, and we expect the project to successfully complete. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has facilitated the professional development of a graduate student by supporting their involvement in the 2020 Society of American Foresters National Convention. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?There is nothing to report - it is too early in the project. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?By the end of year 5, we will have: (a) completed and reported upon all aspects of the integrated project; and (b) submitted four manuscripts for publication related to the project.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: Develop eYield, a model to assist forest landowners in the management of hardwood and natural pine forests. We have completed the structure of the on-line model, which includes 7 natural forest simulators (loblolly pine, shortleaf pine, longleaf pine, slash pine, upland oak-hickory, white pine, and yellow-poplar). We are now beginning to develop the logic for other natural forest simulators that were included in WinYield. eYield will be offered through UGA web hosting services (http://eyield.uga.edu/). Objective 2: Assess the appropriateness of the growth and yield models incorporated into eYield. With respect to this objective, we are collecting the various growth and yield models that might incorporated into eYield, many of the original papers that provided guidance for the general simulators incorporated into the WINYIELD model are available through the DropBox folder associated with this project. A graduate student matriculated in August 2018 to assist us in the endeavor. Additional materials (published papers) related to natural pine and hardwood growth models are being compiled and summarized. Objective 3: Perform a summative assessment of the effectiveness of eYield to enhance management capacity. We worked on this part of the project through the subaward with the University of Tennessee. Several meetings were held with stakeholders, and an assessment of the effectiveness of the eYield system is was developed. One Master of Science thesis arose from this work. Our Year 4 objectives were: "By the end of year 4, we will have: (a) presented research findings during at least 5 regional, national, or international conferences; (b) completed one Masters thesis; and (c) completed final modifications to eYield. 1. Research findings have been presented at regional meetings, but activity related to national and international meetings was curtailed due to Covid-19. 2. One Master of Science degree was completed in 2021 (Tim Kane, University of Tennessee). 3. Near-final modifications have been made to eYield. Verification of projections (comparing eYield projections to WinYield projections) is still on-going, but should be complete by the end of March 2022. 4. We hope to complete one doctoral dissertation this calendar year, which was delayed from last calendar year. Therefore, we will continue to move the development of eYield forward. We feel confident we can achieve many of the Year 4 goals by the end of Year 4 (March 14, 2022).
Publications
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Kane, T.S. 2021. eYield: Testing the adoption and outcomes of a novel online growth and yield model. Master of Science thesis. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN. 75 p.
|
Progress 03/15/20 to 03/14/21
Outputs
Target Audience:Broadly, the target audience consists of private forest landowners, forestry consultants, state and federal land managers, academics, and extension personnel. The main stakeholders of this project are the small and medium-sized forest landowners of the southern United States, and the forest consultants and public agency personnel that may guide them. They are incorporated into the integrated project through extension functions that will both introduce and train participants to use eYield, and gauge the effectiveness of the model in assisting participants in their understanding of forest management options. The feedback we receive from stakeholders will allow adjustment of the model design, and will inform the biological growth and extension analysis aspects of the work. Changes/Problems:We experienced one of the potential pitfalls of the project that we noted in the project proposal (changes in team membership). We lost a key member of the team (Steven Weaver) to cancer, and responsibilities shifted, more fully utilizing University of Georgia resources and employees. Hopefully, we will be able to keep key personnel fully engaged in the development of the eYield model without needing to hire new team members. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has facilitated the professional development of a graduate student by supporting their involvement in the 2020 Society of American Foresters National Convention. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?There is nothing to report - it is too early in the project. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?By the end of year 4, we will have: (a) presented research findings during at least 5 regional, national, or international conferences; (b) completed one Masters thesis; and (c) completed final modifications to eYield.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: Develop eYield, a model to assist forest landowners in the management of hardwood and natural pine forests. We have completed the structure of the on-line model, which includes two natural forest simulators (loblolly pine, upland oak-hickory). We are now beginning to develop the logic for other natural forest simulators that were included in WinYield. eYield will be offered through UGA web hosting services (http://eyield.uga.edu/). Objective 2: Assess the appropriateness of the growth and yield models incorporated into eYield With respect to this objective, we are collecting the various growth and yield models that might incorporated into eYield, many of the original papers that provided guidance for the 11 general simulators incorporated into the WINYIELD model are available through the DropBox folder associated with this project. A graduate student matriculated in August 2018 to assist us in the endeavor. Additional materials (published papers) related to natural pine and hardwood growth models will be compiled and summarized very soon. Objective 3: Perform a summative assessment of the effectiveness of eYield to enhance management capacity. We have been working on this part of the project through the subaward with the University of Tennessee. Several meetings have been held with stakeholders, and an assessment of the effectiveness of the eYield system is being developed. Our Year 3 objectives were: "By the end of year 3, we will have: (a) completed the development of extension methodology to evaluate the effectiveness of eYield to meet the needs of small and medium-sized private forest landowners; (b) formalized outcomes from the growth and yield analysis; (c) submitted one manuscript related to the growth and yield analysis to a peer-reviewed journal; and (d) completed one doctoral dissertation. 1. The extension methodology to evaluate the effectiveness of eYield has been developed. Formal meetings with state foresters and consulting foresters from Tennessee, to introduce and describe eYield, have been held. More focused meetings with a smaller group of stakeholders have also been held. University of Tennessee collaborators (through a subaward) are currently analyzing these results. 2. Progress is being made on the growth and yield analysis. We will have some results of these outcomes by the end of the third year of the project (March 14, 2021). 3. We are currently developing a manuscript and plan to submit a growth and yield analysis to a peer-reviewed journal this calendar year. We also plan to develop a manuscript on the effectiveness of eYield in meeting stakeholders' needs, and this will be submitted to a journal somewhere around the end of Year 3 of the project (March 14, 2021). 4. We hope to complete one doctoral dissertation this calendar year. We plan to complete one masters degree somewhere around the end of Year 3 of the project (March 14, 2021). Therefore, we will continue to move the development of eYield forward, and continue to progress with the research into growth and yield models. We feel confident we can achieve many of the Year 3 goals by the end of Year 3 (March 14, 2021).
Publications
|
Progress 03/15/19 to 03/14/20
Outputs
Target Audience:Broadly, the audience consists of private forest landowners, forestry consultants, state and federal land managers, academics, and extension personnel. The main stakeholders of this project are the small and medium-sized forest landowners of the southern United States, and the forest consultants and public agency personnel that may guide them. They are incorporated into the integrated project through extension functions that will both introduce and train participants to use eYield, and gauge the effectiveness of the model in assisting participants in their understanding of forest management options. The feedback we receive from stakeholders will allow adjustment of the model design, and will inform the biological growth and extension analysis aspects of the work. Changes/Problems:We are experiencing one of the potential pitfalls of the project that we noted in the project proposal (changes in team membership). With Bill Hubbard's departure from SREF, we are assessing alternatives to either keep the development of eYield moving forward within SREF or more fully utilizing University of Georgia resources and employees (we are leaning to the latter). An informal risk assessment to assess the potential for the methodology to meet the objectives is being developed. Hopefully, we will be able to keep key personnel fully engaged in the development of the eYield model without needing to hire new team members. Unfortunately, one key personnel unexpectedly is undergoing significant treatment for a serious health matter, and this has slowed down the development of the eYield interface. We are committed to the health and welfare of this talented individual, yet while also keeping an eye on project milestones. Currently, we are supporting some of the work we hoped this individual would conduct with another research professional in the School of Forestry at the University of Georgia. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has facilitated the professional development of a graduate student by supporting their travel to the 2019 Society of American Foresters National Convention and other regional conferences. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?There is nothing to report - it is too early in the project. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?By the end of year 3, we will have: (a) completed the development of extension methodology to evaluate the effectiveness of eYield to meet the needs of small and medium-sized private forest landowners; (b) formalized outcomes from the growth and yield analysis; (c) submitted one manuscript related to the growth and yield analysis to a peer-reviewed journal; and (d) completed one doctoral dissertation.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: Develop eYield, a model to assist forest landowners in the management of hardwood and natural pine forests. We are endeavoring to complete the structure of the on-line model by the end of the second year of the project, along with two natural forest simulators (loblolly pine, upland oak-hickory). Once the system has been developed to accommodate these models, the other natural forest simulators will be relatively more easy to implement, as their processes are similar one or both of these. eYield will be offered through UGA web hosting services (http://eyield.uga.edu/). Objective 2: Assess the appropriateness of the growth and yield models incorporated into eYield With respect to this objective, we are collecting the various growth and yield models that might incorporated into eYield, many of the original papers that provided guidance for the 11 general simulators incorporated into the WINYIELD model are available through the DropBox folder associated with this project. A graduate student matriculated in August 2018 to assist us in the endeavor. Additional materials (published papers) related to natural pine and hardwood growth models will likely need to be compiled and summarized before March. Objective 3: Perform a summative assessment of the effectiveness of eYield to enhance management capacity. There is nothing to report - it is too early in the project. Our Year 2 objectives were: "By the end of year 2, we will have: (a) completed a beta version of eYield; (b) summarized preliminary differences, advantages, and disadvantages of hardwood and natural pine growth and yield models; and (c) recruited one Masters student." Therefore, we will continue to move the development of eYield forward, and continue to progress with the research into growth and yield models. We feel confident we can achieve many of the Year 2 goals by the end of year 2 (March 2020).
Publications
|
Progress 03/15/18 to 03/14/19
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
Changes/Problems:We are experiencing one of the potential pitfalls of the project that we noted in the project proposal (changes in team membership). With Bill Hubbard's departure from SREF, we are assessing alternatives to either keep the development of eYield moving forward within SREF or more fully utilizing University of Georgia resources and employees (we are leaning to the latter). An informal risk assessment to assess the potential for the methodology to meet the objectives is being developed. Hopefully, we will be able to keep key personnel fully engaged in the development of the eYield model without needing to hire new team members. Unfortunately, one key personnel unexpectedly is undergoing significant treatment for a serious health matter, and this has slowed down the development of the eYield interface. We are committed to the health and welfare of this talented individual, yet while also keeping an eye on project milestones. Currently, we are supporting some of the work we hoped this individual would conduct with another research professional in the School of Forestry at the University of Georgia. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has facilitated the professional development of a graduate student by supporting their travel to the 2018 Society of American Foresters National Convention. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?There is nothing to report - it is too early in the project. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Our Year 2 objectives were: "By the end of year 2, we will have: (a) completed a beta version of eYield; (b) summarized preliminary differences, advantages, and disadvantages of hardwood and natural pine growth and yield models; and (c) recruited one Masters student." Therefore, we will continue to move the development of eYield forward, and continue to progress with the research into growth and yield models. We feel confident we can achieve the Year 2 goals by the end of year 2 (March 2020).
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: Develop eYield, a model to assist forest landowners in the management of hardwood and natural pine forests. The oversight Committee was developed (Steve Nodine, Todd Hepp, and Dr. John Paul McTague) and a conference call was held with them on July 30, 2018. During the meeting we discussed the scale (granularity) of the data that might be used as input by the various growth and yield models, and we discussed the usefulness of the outcomes of models such as WinYield for assisting private landowners in the management of their forests. The Oversight Committee emphasized that we should understand what landowners want (or need) to know today and how to present this information in a manner that allows them to assess management alternatives. We received a set of WinYield master files from Todd Hepp, the original developer of the WinYield program and its predecessors. We have outlined the flow of data and information associated with the modeling process (i.e., the framework for the model). We began to develop the interface, and will focus on one of the models (natural pine) as it seems to incorporate many of the variables and processes needed by other growth and yield models. In these efforts we scoped out the inputs, outputs, and connections of data within the WinYield program. We developed a schematic that will help us understand how the old model functioned as he develops the new model. We have also discussed the design and format of the output products we envision from the new eYield model - PDF, xlsx, and screen graphics. We selected a user interface design, which can be refined in the future to best meet the user-friendly and intuitive aspects we envisioned when we developed the proposal. Through these efforts, we feel that we have addressed a milestone: completed (discussed) the development of the Internet-based framework for eYield. Although not much is available at this moment (January 2019), eYield will be offered through UGA web hosting services (http://eyield.uga.edu/). We have begun to implement the system, and the interface will certainly evolve as we move forward. We will likely develop this model using a flat file format (HTML, Python) rather than a content management system. What this mean is that users will need to store their data on their own computing device, and submit it to eYield through the eYield interface when they want to process something. Results will then also be stored back on a user's computing device. Objective 2: Assess the appropriateness of the growth and yield models incorporated into eYield With respect to this objective, we are collecting the various growth and yield models that might incorporated into eYield, many of the original papers that provided guidance for the 11 general simulators incorporated into the WINYIELD model are available through the DropBox folder associated with this project. A graduate student matriculated in August 2018 to assist us in the endeavor. Additional materials (published papers) related to natural pine and hardwood growth models will likely need to be compiled and summarized before March. Objective 3: Perform a summative assessment of the effectiveness of eYield to enhance management capacity. There is nothing to report - it is too early in the project. As was stated in the Project Narrative, these were the Year 1 goals: "By the end of year 1, we will have: (a) recruited one doctoral student; (b) completed the development of the Internet-based framework for eYield; (c) compiled the biological and economic models necessary to incorporate into eYield; and (d) developed processes to acquire, develop, clean, adjust, make available, and store safely the necessary forest data." We feel comfortable meeting these goals by the end of March 2019.
Publications
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