Brief communication: RxGaming- a flexible open-source tool using aerial lidar to incorporate tree spatial patterns in mechanical treatments

Abstract

Dry forest ecosystems in the western United States face the pressure of uncharacteristically severe wildfires and widespread drought-induced mortality as a result of fire exclusion, past management practices, and climate change. Implementing forest treatments that incorporate individual tree, clump, and opening (ICO) patterns can help to increase forest resilience to these disturbances. We explore tradeoffs in meeting treatment goals while incorporating ICO concepts in a case study using RxGaming, a publicly available, open-source software tool. The RxGaming tool provides a framework for decision making via 1) visualization and assessment of current stand structure and 2) treatment simulations using an algorithm that incorporates ICO-based thinning methods and reflects user-defined objectives.