  Simulations of weighted tree automata (wta) are considered. It is shown how
such simulations can be decomposed into simpler functional and dual functional
simulations also called forward and backward simulations. In addition, it is
shown in several cases (fields, commutative rings, Noetherian semirings,
semiring of natural numbers) that all equivalent wta M and N can be joined by a
finite chain of simulations. More precisely, in all mentioned cases there
exists a single wta that simulates both M and N. Those results immediately
yield decidability of equivalence provided that the semiring is finitely (and
effectively) presented.
