MultiOptForest: An interactive multi-objective optimization tool for forest planning and scenario analysis

Kyle Eyvindson; Daniel Burgas; Clara Antón-Fernández; Jussi Hakanen; Michael Emmerich; Julian Klein; Mikko Mönkkönen; Tord Snäll; Astor Toraño Caicoya; Marta Vergarechea; Clemens Blattert

doi:10.12688/openreseurope.15812.2

MultiOptForest: An interactive multi-objective optimization tool for forest planning and scenario analysis

Open Res Eur. 2024 Dec 16:3:103. doi: 10.12688/openreseurope.15812.2. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Kyle Eyvindson^{1

2}, Daniel Burgas^{3

4}, Clara Antón-Fernández⁵, Jussi Hakanen⁶, Michael Emmerich^{6

7}, Julian Klein⁸, Mikko Mönkkönen^{3

4}, Tord Snäll⁸, Astor Toraño Caicoya⁹, Marta Vergarechea⁵, Clemens Blattert¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet, Ås, NO-1432, Norway.
² Natural Resource Institute Finland (LUKE), Laatokartanonkaari 9, Helsinki, 00790, Finland.
³ Department of Biological and Environmental Science, Jyvaskylan yliopisto, P.O. Box 35, Jyväskylä, 40014, Finland.
⁴ School of Resource Wisdom, Jyvaskylan yliopisto, P.O. Box 35, Jyväskylä, 40014, Finland.
⁵ Division of Forest and Forest Resources, Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy Research, Ås, 1433, Norway.
⁶ Silo Ai, Fredrikinkatu 57 C, Helsinki, 00180, Finland.
⁷ Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science, Universiteit Leiden, Leiden, South Holland, 2333CA, The Netherlands.
⁸ Swedish Species Information Centre, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, P.O. 7007, Uppsala, 75007, Sweden.
⁹ Chair of Growth and Yield Science, School of Life Sciences, Technische Universitat Munchen, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 8354 Freising, Germany.
¹⁰ Forest Resources and Management, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, 8903, Switzerland.

Abstract

MultiOptForest is an open-source software designed to simplify building and solving multi-objective optimization problems for forest planning. It aims to find the optimal portfolio of management regimes that balance the objectives regarding multiple forest ecosystem services and biodiversity. The software flexibly imports data, allowing for the use of a variety of forest simulator outputs. The user provides preference information through a user-friendly graphical interface, where the range of possible values for each objective is provided. MultiOptForest solves the optimization problem producing a set of Pareto optimal solutions, i.e., solutions where none of the objectives can be improved without compromising others. MultiOptForest is versatile enough to design a Pareto optimal forest plan for a small holding to assess management and the trade-off between multiple policy objectives impacting the future development of forests across regions and countries.

Keywords: Multi-objective optimization; forest planning; interactive decision making; scenario assessment.

Grants and funding

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 773324 (ForestValue - Innovating forest-based bioeconomy [ForestValue]). This work was also conducted within the project MultiForest, which is supported under the umbrella of 609 ERA-NET Cofund ForestValue by: Academy of Finland, Business Finland, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, 610 Environment & Water Management (Austria), Agency for Renewable Resources (Germany), Research Council of 611 Norway, Vinnova (2018-04982; Sweden).