Regional scale simulation of the forest resources evolution in Southern Belgium (Wallonia)

The availability of forest resources is directly affected by forest composition and structure changes that can regularly occur in the context of intensive silviculture and plantation of fast-growing tree species. Since 2000, the total area covered by Norway spruce plantations has decreased by an estimated 25% in Southern Belgium (Wallonia), which is especially worrying as they yield almost half of the total timber volume of the region. In order to predict the evolution of our forest resources, we first used aerial photographic interpretation to update the data of the permanent regional invento... Mehr ...