USING MULTIPLE TECHNIQUES FOR THE BEST UTILIZATION DECISION IN ZAKHO POPLAR STANDS
In the current research we used the Dynamic Programming approach to address the problems of rotation age and thinning of utilization for Populus nigra L. of Zakho stands. We considered different harvest systems, including clear-cut with or without thinning, at various stand ages. We aimed to select the best option combination that would lead to the most rewarding decision to reach our goals. We analyzed the possibility of thinning at different ages, including 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 years, using thinning of 20% of all stands. The final harvest was conducted at the age of 10 years. We considered 7 possible combinations of thinning operations and also one final harvest as a possible blende. The results of our analysis provide the best alternative options for each of the 8 proposed stages and also enable us to calculate the net revenues of each path route, which were determined as high revenue in the stage 9 from node 1 to node 10 of route 1-10, and the highest revenue was in the stage 5 from node 1to node 6 of route 1-6.
Dynamic Programming, Forest Harvesting, Thinning, Zakho Stands, Populus nigra L.