This report documents research on the development of an integrated spatial modelling framework to deliver reliable estimates of forest productivity as a baseline for addressing contemporary land use planning issues linked to forest resource sustainability, productivity and inventory in southeast Queensland. The increasing need for repeatable and accurate information on the state of Australia’s forests has led to the development of new approaches to map geographically changing patterns in growth, regeneration, health, and biological diversity of forested landscapes. One area of rapidly increasing research is the development of general models of ecosystem operation which link vegetation growth processes with landscape-scale estimates of climate, water and soil. The quality of the input spatial data, which is often only available at coarse scales, and the development of suitable species’ parameters, are key issues when using these models to derive meaningful predictions of forest growth relevant to forest managers and planners.
The developments and findings related to the application of 3-PG reported here are current to 2002. Changes and enhancements may have occurred in the science, technology and availability of data and 3-PG software since this time.