0000000001324344
AUTHOR
Dmitry Podkopaev
Optimizing management to enhance multifunctionality in a boreal forest landscape
Summary The boreal biome, representing approximately one-third of remaining global forests, provides a number of crucial ecosystem services. A particular challenge in forest ecosystems is to reconcile demand for an increased timber production with provisioning of other ecosystem services and biodiversity. However, there is still little knowledge about how forest management could help solve this challenge. Hence, studies that investigate how to manage forests to reduce trade-offs between ecosystem services and biodiversity are urgently needed to help forest owners and policy makers take informed decisions. We applied seven alternative forest management regimes using a forest growth simulator…
Agent assisted interactive algorithm for computationally demanding multiobjective optimization problems
Abstract We generalize the applicability of interactive methods for solving computationally demanding, that is, time-consuming, multiobjective optimization problems. For this purpose we propose a new agent assisted interactive algorithm. It employs a computationally inexpensive surrogate problem and four different agents that intelligently update the surrogate based on the preferences specified by a decision maker. In this way, we decrease the waiting times imposed on the decision maker during the interactive solution process and at the same time decrease the amount of preference information expected from the decision maker. The agent assisted algorithm is not specific to any interactive me…
A visualization technique for accessing solution pool in interactive methods of multiobjective optimization
<pre>Interactive methods of <span>multiobjective</span> optimization repetitively derive <span>Pareto</span> optimal solutions based on decision maker's preference information and present the obtained solutions for his/her consideration. Some interactive methods save the obtained solutions into a solution pool and, at each iteration, allow the decision maker considering any of solutions obtained earlier. This feature contributes to the flexibility of exploring the <span>Pareto</span> optimal set and learning about the optimization problem. However, in the case of many objective functions, the accumulation of derived solutions makes accessing the sol…
An Approach to the Automatic Comparison of Reference Point-Based Interactive Methods for Multiobjective Optimization
Solving multiobjective optimization problems means finding the best balance among multiple conflicting objectives. This needs preference information from a decision maker who is a domain expert. In interactive methods, the decision maker takes part in an iterative process to learn about the interdependencies and can adjust the preferences. We address the need to compare different interactive multiobjective optimization methods, which is essential when selecting the most suited method for solving a particular problem. We concentrate on a class of interactive methods where a decision maker expresses preference information as reference points, i.e., desirable objective function values. Compari…
Towards Automatic Testing of Reference Point Based Interactive Methods
In order to understand strengths and weaknesses of optimization algorithms, it is important to have access to different types of test problems, well defined performance indicators and analysis tools. Such tools are widely available for testing evolutionary multiobjective optimization algorithms. To our knowledge, there do not exist tools for analyzing the performance of interactive multiobjective optimization methods based on the reference point approach to communicating preference information. The main barrier to such tools is the involvement of human decision makers into interactive solution processes, which makes the performance of interactive methods dependent on the performance of huma…
Managing boreal forests for the simultaneous production of collectable goods and timber revenues
Timber Production is an economically important provisioning ecosystem service in forests, but is often in conflict with the provision of other ecosystem services. In multifunctional forestry, the production of timber and non-timber ecosystem services should coexist in the same landscape. To this end, we explored the capacity of a boreal landscape to simultaneously produce collectable goods − bilberry (Vaccimium myrtillus L.), cowberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.) and cep (Boletus edulis Bull.) − alongside timber revenues. We also identified optimal forest management plans to achieve this. Furthermore, we analyzed trade-offs between collectable good yields and timber production, as well as bet…
Quantifying and resolving conservation conflicts in forest landscapes via multiobjective optimization
Environmental planning for of the maintenance of different conservation objectives should take into account multiple contrasting criteria based on alternative uses of the landscape. We develop new concepts and approaches to describe and measure conflicts among conservation objectives and for resolving them via multiobjective optimization. To measure conflicts we introduce a compatibility index that quantifies how much targeting a certain conservation objective affects the capacity of the landscape for providing another objective. To resolve such conflicts we find compromise solutions defined in terms of minimax regret, i.e. minimizing the maximum percentage of deterioration among conservati…
Interactive decision support and trade-off analysis for sustainable forest landscape planning under deep uncertainty
Sustainable environmental management often involves long-term time horizons and multiple conflicting objectives and, by nature, is affected by different sources of uncertainty. Many sources of uncertainty, such as climate change or government policies, cannot be addressed using probabilistic models, and, therefore, they can be seen to contain deep uncertainty. In this setting, the variety of possible future states is represented as a set of scenarios lacking any information about the likelihood of occurring. Integrating deep uncertainty into multiobjective decision support increases complexity, calling for the elaboration of appropriate methods and tools. This paper proposes a novel intera…
Interactive Nonlinear Multiobjective Optimization Methods
An overview of interactive methods for solving nonlinear multiobjective optimization problems is given. In interactive methods, the decision maker progressively provides preference information so that the most satisfactory Pareto optimal solution can be found for her or his. The basic features of several methods are introduced and some theoretical results are provided. In addition, references to modifications and applications as well as to other methods are indicated. As the role of the decision maker is very important in interactive methods, methods presented are classified according to the type of preference information that the decision maker is assumed to provide. peerReviewed
Interactive Multiple Criteria Decision Making based on preference driven Evolutionary Multiobjective Optimization with controllable accuracy
Abstract We present an approach to interactive Multiple Criteria Decision Making based on preference driven Evolutionary Multiobjective Optimization with controllable accuracy. The approach relies on formulae for lower and upper bounds on coordinates of the outcome of an arbitrary efficient variant corresponding to preference information expressed by the Decision Maker. In contrast to earlier works on that subject, here lower and upper bounds can be calculated and their accuracy controlled entirely within evolutionary computation framework. This is made possible by exploration of not only the region of feasible variants – a standard within evolutionary optimization, but also the region of i…
Spatially dynamic forest management to sustain biodiversity and economic returns.
Production of marketed commodities and protection of biodiversity in natural systems often conflict and thus the continuously expanding human needs for more goods and benefits from global ecosystems urgently calls for strategies to resolve this conflict. In this paper, we addressed what is the potential of a forest landscape to simultaneously produce habitats for species and economic returns, and how the conflict between habitat availability and timber production varies among taxa. Secondly, we aimed at revealing an optimal combination of management regimes that maximizes habitat availability for given levels of economic returns. We used multi-objective optimization tools to analyze data fr…
A new preference handling technique for interactive multiobjective optimization without trading-off
Because the purpose of multiobjective optimization methods is to optimize conflicting objectives simultaneously, they mainly focus on Pareto optimal solutions, where improvement with respect to some objective is only possible by allowing some other objective(s) to impair. Bringing this idea into practice requires the decision maker to think in terms of trading-off, which may limit the ability of effective problem solving. We outline some drawbacks of this and exploit another idea emphasizing the possibility of simultaneous improvement of all objectives. Based on this idea, we propose a technique for handling decision maker’s preferences, which eliminates the necessity to think in terms of t…
Optimizing management to enhance multifunctionality in a boreal forest landscape
The boreal biome, representing approximately one-third of remaining global forests, provides a number of crucial ecosystem services. A particular challenge in forest ecosystems is to reconcile demand for an increased timber production with provisioning of other ecosystem services and biodiversity. However, there is still little knowledge about how forest management could help solve this challenge. Hence, studies that investigate how to manage forests to reduce trade-offs between ecosystem services and biodiversity are urgently needed to help forest owners and policy makers take informed decisions. We applied seven alternative forest management regimes using a forest growth simulator in a la…
Data-driven Interactive Multiobjective Optimization : Challenges and a Generic Multi-agent Architecture
In many decision making problems, a decision maker needs computer support in finding a good compromise between multiple conflicting objectives that need to be optimized simultaneously. Interactive multiobjective optimization methods have a lot of potential for solving such problems. However, the growth of complexity in problem formulations and the abundance of data bring new challenges to be addressed by decision makers and method developers. On the other hand, advances in the field of artificial intelligence provide opportunities in this respect. We identify challenges and propose directions of addressing them in interactive multiobjective optimization methods with the help of multiple int…
Agent assisted interactive algorithm for computationally demanding multiobjective optimization problems
We generalize the applicability of interactive methods for solving computationally demanding, that is, time-consuming, multiobjective optimization problems. For this purpose we propose a new agent assisted interactive algorithm. It employs a computationally inexpensive surrogate problem and four different agents that intelligently update the surrogate based on the preferences specified by a decision maker. In this way, we decrease the waiting times imposed on the decision maker during the interactive solution process and at the same time decrease the amount of preference information expected from the decision maker. The agent assisted algorithm is not specific to any interactive method or s…
Managing a boreal forest landscape for providing timber, storing and sequestering carbon
Human well-being highly depends on ecosystem services and this dependence is expected to increase in the future with increasing population and economic growth. Studies that investigate trade-offs between ecosystem services are urgently needed for informing policy-makers. We examine the trade-offs between a provisioning (revenues from timber selling) and regulating (carbon storage and sequestration) ecosystem services among seven alternative forest management regimes in a large boreal forest production landscape. First, we estimate the potential of the landscape to produce harvest revenues and store/sequester carbon across a 50-year time period. Then, we identify conflicts between harvest re…
Managing a boreal forest landscape for providing timber, storing and sequestering carbon
Human well-being highly depends on ecosystem services and this dependence is expected to increase in the future with increasing population and economic growth. Studies that investigate trade-offs between ecosystem services are urgently needed for informing policy-makers. We examine the trade-offs between a provisioning (revenues from timber selling) and regulating (carbon storage and sequestration) ecosystem services among seven alternative forest management regimes in a large boreal forest production landscape. First, we estimate the potential of the landscape to produce harvest revenues and store/sequester carbon across a 50-year time period. Then, we identify conflicts between harvest re…
Data from: Optimizing management to enhance multifunctionality in a boreal forest landscape
1. The boreal biome, representing approximately one third of remaining global forests, provides a number of crucial ecosystem services. A particular challenge in forest ecosystems is to reconcile demand for increased timber production with provisioning of other ecosystem services and biodiversity. However, there is still little knowledge about how forest management could help solve this challenge. Hence, studies that investigate how to manage forests to reduce trade-offs between ecosystem services and biodiversity are urgently needed to help forest owners and policy-makers take informed decisions. 2. We applied seven alternative forest management regimes using a forest growth simulator in a…