A bioeconomic model is used to help determine an efficient management plan for the forest.
As in the case of the fishery, the model consists of a biological production function combined
with an economic model of production and cost. The biological production function describes
the relationship between time and the quantity of timber growing on a hectare of forest land.
The biological model could be a biomass model, like the logistic or Gompertz model, or it
could be a more detailed model describing the experience of a cohort of trees over time. As
the forest matures both the species composition and the size composition of individual
species may change. These changes may have important implications for the value and the
management of the forest; for example, Table 1 shows how the proportion of timber allocated
to different commercial uses changes as the age of the stand increases. A detailed forest
management plan would need to take account of such changes and the biological model for