Economics of Managing Loblolly Pine Plantations for Increased Wildlife Biodiversity

Author

Melissa GriffithFollow

Date of Award

Summer 8-11-2018

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science - Forestry

Department

Forestry

First Advisor

Gary Kronrad, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Daniel Scognamillo, Ph. D.

Third Advisor

Cliff Sunda, M.S.

Abstract

The goal of this thesis was to identify the differences between the costs incurred and revenues gained from managing loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) plantations in East Texas for strictly timber production or a combination of timber production and wildlife biodiversity. Management regimes evaluated had varying planting densities, thinning frequency and intensities, prescribed burn intervals, and site indices. Economic analyses used to evaluate management regimes over a range of nonindustrial private landowner (NIPF) alternative rates of return (ARRs) and site indexes were net present worth, land expectation value, and equal annual annuity. These economic analyses demonstrated that altering management regimes towards increased biodiversity and charging a yearly lease rate could result in equal annual annuity profits of $1.52 to $88.83 per year per acre, depending on ARR and site index. The necessary compensatory lease rate that would be needed to break even between timber and wildlife scenarios was then calculated to range between $0.24 to $53.92, again dependent upon ARR and site index. Landowners with lower ARRs were determined to require a higher compensatory lease rate depending on their site index, and landowners with a lower site index were determined to need a higher compensatory lease rate than higher productivity sites. Results suggest that NIPF landowners with low-productivity sites have more incentive to incorporate wildlife biodiversity into their land management objectives, and that it is possible for landowners to incorporate wildlife objectives and improve ecosystem biodiversity within plantations without incurring economic losses.

Repository Citation

Griffith, Melissa, "Economics of Managing Loblolly Pine Plantations for Increased Wildlife Biodiversity" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 204.
https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/204

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.