Silvicultura en Bosques Nativos vol. 1

110 Biometría de bosques naturales de Chile: estado del arte SUMMARY Forest biometrics offers quantitative tools for supporting management and research of forest ecosystems on issues ranging from a single-tree to the globe. Although Chile has developed several ecological studies of natural forests, there are few quantitative models available. We review and analyze the main scientific- technical studies on forest biometrics developed for natural forests. The analysis is presented in the following divisions of forest biometrics: (a) sampling, (b) static models, and (c) dynamic models. Biometrics of natural forests has been clearly related to the advances of technology (e.g., computing, remote sensing) and new statistical methodologies. The first studies deal with sampling (often referred to as forest inventory) and static models (e.g., of volume and height-diameter), and more recently moving towards dynamic models (e.g., of growth). There are basic applications for each of the aforementioned divisions, because they are required for most forest characterization and silvicultural planning. Nevertheless, most of those applications have several pitfalls, such as limited geographic or ecological range, limited supporting empirical data, and minimal analysis of the behavior of the fitted model. Finally, we propose some alternatives for biometricians who aim to generate more practical, statistically sound, and biologically realistic quantitative models. Key words : ecological modelling, sampling, static models, growth models. 6.1 Introducción Aunque el manejo forestal de bosques naturales (13,4 millones de ha) en Chile se aplica a bastante menor escala que el aplicado en plantaciones forestales (2,5 millones de ha) [ Pinus radiata D. Don, Eucalyptus globulus Labill , E. nitens (Deane & Maiden)], la posibilidad de su aplicación resulta promisoria, dado su gran potencialidad en términos de superficie, disponibilidad e impacto social. El manejo de bosques naturales se ha concentrado en bosques de segundo crecimiento, mostrándose las especies roble, raulí y coigüe de alto potencial para plantaciones forestales (Espinosa et al. 1988, Wienstroer et al. 2003, Cubbage et al. 2007, Hildebrandt et al. 2010). La investigación silvícola en bosques naturales se concentra en los siguientes tipos de bosques de segundo crecimiento (renovales): roble-raulí- coigüe (Puente et al. 1979, 1981, Grosse 1989, Grosse y Cubillos 1991, Donoso et al. 1993a, Grosse y Quiroz 1999, Lara et al. 1999); bosques de N. pumilio (lenga) (Uriarte y Grosse 1991, Schmidt y Caldente y 1994, Rosenfeld et al. 2006); y tipo forestal siempreverde (Donoso 1989a, 1989b, Donoso et al. 1999a, Navarro et al. 1999).