Arne Pommerening works as Professor in Mathematical Statistics Applied to Forest Sciences at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in Umeå. He is a theoretical forest scientist and biometrician specialised in quantitative forest ecology and management. Arne Pommerening is particularly known for his research in woodland structure analysis and modelling, spatio-temporal dynamics of plant point patterns, individual-based modelling, plant growth analysis and methods for quantifying and monitoring biodiversity. More recently he has also developed an interest in the analysis of human behaviour in selecting trees. Much of his research involves combinations of field trials and computer-based simulation experiments.

Pavel Grabarnik is a Professor of Mathematical Modelling in Ecology at Pushchino University in Russia. Currently he serves as the Director of the Pushchino Scientific Centre of Biological Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences and heads the Laboratory of Ecosystems Modelling. His research work includes ecological modelling focussed on the spatial structure of forest ecosystems. His main achievements in statistics are in parameter estimation and hypothesis testing for spatial point processes. Pavel Grabarnik has also developed computational tools for different aspects of applications in spatial statistics.

The integration of methods in individual-based forest ecology is an eye-opener for readers who otherwise would need to read through scattered publications using quite different style, terms and notations

Numerous R code and worked examples allow easy access and transparency of methods

Three detailed appendices provide additional material on technical matters

Adopts an accessible style allowing non-specialists complete understanding

Describes the process of gaining new knowledge in ecology through data analysis and modelling

Foreword; Dan Binkley.- Preface.- Acknowledgements.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Theories and concepts in individual-based forest ecology.- 3. Theories and concepts in individual-based forest management.- 4. Spatial methods of tree interaction analysis.- 5. Spatial and individual-based modelling.- 6. Principles of relative growth analysis.- 7. Human disturbances and tree selection behavior.- A. Qualitative forest description.- B. Survey protocol for the establishment of permanent forest research plots.- C. Brief Introduction to the R language.- References.- Index.