Computers in Forestry: Use of Spreadsheets(No. 1 Forestry S.)

Forest management is a numerate discipline, which lends itself well to spreadsheet applications. This practical book introduces the basic concepts of spreadsheets and explains how to use them to calculate profit in forestry, how to compare one option with another, and how to deal with the data needed for silvicultural decisions from seedling to sawlog - what to plant, management intensity and when to harvest. The book also enters the environmental debate, showing how to calculate the economic effects of proposals to alter forestry management on the pursuit of environmental gain. The book is aimed at practising land agents, forest managers and forestry students. All the examples in the book are equally usable in pounds, or dollars, or any other chosen currency. The instructions given can easily be adapted to suit any make of spreadsheet, and the models are also available from the author on disk.

Table of Contents:
Editorial foreword Acknowledgements List of Tables and Displays Introduction 1. Basics 1.1 What is a spreadsheet? 1.2 Using a spreadsheet as a macro-calculator 1.3 Using a spreadsheet to present data 1.4 Other applications 2. Calculating the not present value (NPV) 2.1. A tabular statement of cash flow 2.2. Discounting 2.3. The criterion of profit 2.4. Using the model: "What-if?" analyses 3. The internal rate of return (IRR) 3.1 The definition of IRR 3.2 Calculating IRR 3.3 Problems with using IRR 3.4 Automated models 4. Annual cash flows 4.1 Constructing an annual cash flow 4.2 Cumulative cash flow totals 4.3 Planting with a bank loan 4.4 More detailed analyses of the discounted cash flow 4.5 Notes on spreadsheet structure ix Page 5. Preparing costs for analysis 49 5.1 What costs to include in a cash now 49 5.2 Where to get the data 50 5 3 Database functions on a spreadsheet 53 5:4 Correcting historical data for inflation 60 6. Timber prices and money yield tables 63 6.1 Problems of prediction 6.2 Timber price-size schedules 6.3 Money yield tables 6.4 Automating price information with lookup functions 6.5 Further notes on lookup functions 6.6 Combining money yield tables with DCF models 6.7 Problems of spreadsheet size 7. Modelling mixtures of species 7.1 Problems of modelling mixtures 7.2 Adjusting money yield tables for broadleaves 7.3 A money yield table for nurse crops 7.4 The broadleaf response to nurse crop removal 7.5 Practical aspects of broadleaf-conifer modelling 8. Modelling silvicultural options 8.1 Adding to the options considered 8.2 Standardising the timing of yield model data 8.3 Adjusting yield model data for spacing 8.4 Adjusting yield model data for thinning cycles 9. The felling decision 9.1 Planning optimum rotations 9.2 Changes in NPV during a rotation 9.3 Choosing when to fell 10. The commrce-conservation debate 10.1 A basic model to measure the "cost of conservation" 10.2 Building in conservation proposals 10.3 Comparisons 11. Adding to the debate 11.1 Including extra-market benefits (EMBs) 11.2 Including two rotations 11.3 Including woods of any age Conclusion Appendix: Discounting formulae. Bibliography Index. Tables 1.1 A manual spreadsheet 3.1 NPVs at various rates of discount Displays 1.1 Total and average compartment costs 1.2 Average costs with rough bar charts 1.3 Sorted costs with bar charts 2.1 A simple cash flow 2.2 A discounted cash flow model 2.3 A basic model for "What-if?" analysis 3.1 A model to find IRR by systematic search 4.1 The basic cash flow annualised 4.2 Year 0 Establishment costs 4.3 Variable maintenance costs. 4.4 Allowing for lending and saving rates 4.5 Annual Cash flows discounted 5.1 A multi-column cash book 5.2 A costings database 5.3 Statistical database functions 5.4 Data management 5.5 Correcting data for inflation 6.1 Part of a price-size schedule 6.2 A money yield table 6.3 Part of a lookup table 6.4 A matrix in a column.