LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT AND BIODIVERSITY - AUTOMATING THE DESIGN OF FOREST ECOSYSTEM NETWORKS

The biodiversity guidelines of the British Columbia Forest Practices C ode provide a complex set of objectives for forest composition at the landscape level. Objectives include semi stage, interior habitat, ecos ystem representation, and connectivity limits, which must be integrate d with the objectives of more than 50 other guidebooks, notably those for riparian management areas and identified wildlife management. To m eet the objectives, specific areas are set aside in interconnected For est Ecosystem Networks (FENs). A computer software system (FEN-Maker) was developed using an object-oriented spatial spreadsheet system (Fac et) to advise on suitability of areas to include in the FENs. Corridor s linking the FENs are also proposed. As FENs are interactively create d and linked, the targets specified by the guidelines are updated. For est management plans can be imported to evaluate suitability, while FE Ns can be exported to wildlife habitat supply models and harvest sched uling analyses.