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🌳 Growth models: Can we still predict how forests grow?

Jens Isbak

Welcome to this week's newsletter 👋🏻

December has arrived, bringing cold mornings and clear skies – perfect weather for a Christmassy walk in the forest ❄️

This week, we're diving deep into how foresters predict tree growth, covering everything from traditional methods to modern mathematical models. We also have exciting news about a new sustainable wood treatment and an update to our growth projection tools.

💬 In this week's issue:

Foresting Tomorrow #12: Growth models and COP29 insights 🌱
Feature story: The science of predicting forest growth 📊
Success story: Revolutionary bark-based timber treatment 🧪
Product update: Improved growth projections in Forsler 📈
Further reading: Sources and insights 🤓

This will also be our last newsletter of the year as my team and I will soon be enjoying a well-earned vacation.

Thank you for following along this year! I promise we’ll be back in 2025 with even more exciting things.

With that, let’s get started!

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🎙️ Podcast episode 12: Models, math, and climate meetings

In this week's episode, we start with a detailed look at COP29 and its outcomes. Then, we dive into the fascinating world of growth models – discussing how foresters predict the future of their forests.

We cover how these models are structured, their limitations, and why climate change might force us to rethink our traditional approaches.

🌳 Listen to the latest episode of Foresting Tomorrow here 🌳

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📊 From paper tables to predictive science: How do trees grow?

For many years, foresters have relied on simple paper tables to predict tree growth. But in an era of rapid climate change, can these traditional methods keep up?

In our latest article, we explore:

How modern mathematical models work
The crucial role of site index in growth predictions
Why climate change challenges traditional models
The move towards scenario-based thinking

Read the article here

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🧪 World first: Scientists create natural timber treatment

Scientists have developed a groundbreaking, fully biodegradable timber treatment derived from birch and spruce bark, offering an innovative, sustainable solution that could transform how we protect wood products.

The treatment is 100% natural and chemical-free, using previously discarded bark to make wood more water resistant, used as an alternative to synthetic coatings. Pretty amazing, actually!

Learn more about this research here →

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📣 Product update: Get even better projections

As always, we continue to improve Forsler. This week, we’ve improved the growth projections. Need to simulate different thinning scenarios? Our latest update makes it easier than ever to project future forest volumes and test different management approaches.

You can now get: