Economic trade-offs of managing forests for timber production and vegetative diversity

Three indices of forest stand structural and compositional diversity were incorporated into a linear programming timber harvest scheduling model to examine the trade-offs between managing stands for timber production and biodiversity objectives. The indices, based on Shannon's diversity index, characterized stand species diversity, basal area diversity, and vertical crown diversity. While harvest-level objectives were often compatible with the maintenance of vegetative diversity, the maximization of present net value was accompanied by substantial reductions in all three measures of diversity.