iLand includes two sub-systems that handle forest management:
- the "base" management is a rather simple, but still versatile approach which allows a wide range of altering the forest in the model (extracting of trees, planting of trees, ...).
- iLand includes also the Agent Based management Engine (ABE), which is a powerful module that allows to simulate multiple management agents on a landscape. Agents can react to changes in the environment by changing management plans and can apply a variety of different management activities in a dynamically scheduled manner. The setup and application of ABE, however, is somewhat complex.
Choosing between those management approaches is handled by keys in the project file:
- Use "base" management by setting enabled to true and abeEnabled to false in the management section.
- to use only ABE, set enabled to false and abeEnabled to true in the management section (it is technically possible to use both mechanisms at the same time).
The management approach in iLand relies on using Javascript as the "scripting language". The model exposes a set of objects and functions allowing a management script to interact with the model.
For the base management, good starting points are the Object Management and Object Globals API documentation as well as available demo examples (like this or that).
In base management, a single javascript file is defined in the Project file and loaded during startup of the model. Every year the function manage() is called by iLand. The example shows a very simple and not particularly useful management routine:
function manage(year)
{
print('management called in year ' + year);
}
The user needs to provide his or her own way of dispatching events over time. Examples of how this can be done are shown in the examples: management example: parallel management or management example: HJA fire history.
Note: the management happens quite early in a year.