Solving forest harvesting problem with artificial intelligence approaches: An example in Taiwan

Abstract

In this paper, we study the forest harvesting problem (FHP). A forest is assumed to be divided into several identical square units, and each unit has its harvesting value based on its type. Harvesting a unit will affect the growth and values of its neighboring units. In this FHP, the best harvesting plan of a unit must be identified to maximize three various objectives simultaneously. The FHP is a multiobjective mathematical and an NP-hard problem. We apply three artificial intelligence algorithms, namely, immune algorithm, genetic algorithm, and particle swarm optimization, for maximizing the weighted objective to solve the FHP. We also solve the following two sets of test problems: (i) a set of randomly generated FHP problems and (ii) a practical problem in Taiwan. Numerical results show the performance of the three algorithms for the test problems. Finally, we compare and discuss the effects of various weights for the three objectives.