Keeping Tabs on the Health of Vermont Forests

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Keeping Tabs on the Health of Vermont Forests

• Sandy Wilmot
• Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks Recreation

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Forest Issues

• Forests developed for homes, roads, business
  land use change
• Fewer large blocks of forest Fragmentation of
  forest
• Landowners change from farmers to new generation
• Expanded harvest for energy needs (heating and
  power generation)
• Regeneration problems from overbrowsing by deer
  and moose
• Existing insect, disease and weather related
  stress
• Air pollution
• Non-native insect, disease, and invasive plants
  problems international movement of untreated
  wood material
• Use of forests for carbon sequestration to reduce
  greenhouse gases
• Climate change effects on forests

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How can we tell if forests are healthy?
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Regeneration most abundant
Photo Gary Salmon
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Mixture of tree sizes species
Photo Gary Salmon
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Large trees abundant
Photo Sandy Wilmot
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Resiliency - ability to recover from disturbances
Ecologically Productive - growing Diversity of
organisms Complex structure - small large trees
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Healthy Forest Indicators
Complexity
Ecological Productivity
Tree sizes Forest types
Tree growth Ecosystem biomass
Diversity
Resiliency
Special habitat features Forest dependent
species Tree species diversity
Disturbances Air pollution exposure Tree
condition Mortality
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Disturbances
Exotics
Monitoring Forest Health
Pollutants
Ecosystem processes
Ozone
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Forest Tent Caterpillar
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Forest Tent Caterpillar Pheromone Trap Moth
Catches
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Hillside Defoliated by Forest Tent Caterpillar in
2005
Areas of defoliation by Forest Tent Caterpillar
in 2005
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Anthracnose
Maple trumpet skeletonizer
Saddled Prominent
Pear Thrips
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Beech Bark Disease
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Vermont plots monitored since 1988 for sugar
maple health in forests and sugarbushes.
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Dieback
Foliage density size
Damages
Sugar maple borer
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Sugar Maples with Thin Foliage ( of trees)
Percent of trees with transparency gt25
Forest Tent Caterpillar
Pear Thrips
Ice Storm
Drought
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Trend in sugar maple crown health
In 2008 foliage was lush and tree recovery was
good following 4 years of defoliation.
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Sugar Maple Mortality
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Weather Events1998 Ice Storm
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Drought Symptoms Mapped
2001
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Recent Droughts1999 and 2001 were dry all summer
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Birch Decline
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Balsam fir decline
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Atmospheric deposition
S, N Ca, Mg, K, Na H
Exports Harvesting/Forest Fires
Leaves / Coarse Woody Debris
Nutrient Uptake
Exch Ca2, Mg2, K
Decomposition
Soil weathering
Root Zone
Exchangeable Al3, H
Soil leaching
Secondary Phases Al, Fe, Si, K
Primary Minerals Ca, Mg, K, Al, Fe, Si
Leaching Losses
SO42-,NO3- Ca2,Mg2,K,Na H,Al3
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Despite reductions in acid deposition following
the Clean Air Act, there are still forested areas
that exceed their buffering capacity for acid
deposition.
Acid Deposition Effects Critical load exceedances
for acid deposition in forest ecosystems
Yellow through red indicates where atmospheric
deposition exceeds the critical load, thus
potentially damaging forest ecosystems (after
Miller et al. 2005).
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Ozone Plant Injury
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Forest Ecosystems and Climate Change

• Role in balancing carbon emissions
• Amount of forest land
• Amount of stored carbon in forests
• Rate of sequestration (accumulation)
• Amount emitted

• Concerns about forest changes due to climate
  change
• Species, growth, mortality
• Fire
• Drought, extreme weather
• Exotics
• Soil productivity
• Synchrony of ecosystem
• Adaptive forest management

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Major Factors in Storage of Carbon in Forests
Acres of forest land
Species composition
Biomass of trees
Storage in soils
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Map created by USDA Forest Service, FIA
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Vulnerable Ecosystems

• Spruce/fir forests
• Cold water streams
• Northern hardwoods like sugar maple

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Timing of flower and leaf development in the
spring
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Budbreak 3 days earlier this decade than
last Leaf out 5 days earlier this decade than last
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New Forest Health Threats

• 3 Big Bugs

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Emerald Ash Borer

• Transport of Insect
• Flies up to ½ mile
• Inside nursery stock
• Inside firewood
• Inside ash logs

Adult, exit hole, and gallery
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Emerald Ash Borer Infestation
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Kathy Decker
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• Purple EAB Traps
• VT Agency of Agriculture
• USDA-APHIS-PPQ
• VT Forestry Division

Emilie Inoue
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Cerceris Wasp EAB Bio-surveillance
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Potential Biological Control
Emerald Ash Borer Parasite, Atanycolus sp.
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Hemlock Woolly Adelgid
Inspection of imported nursery trees
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Asian Longhorned Beetle
No white spot at base of wings
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References

• Vermont climate change information
• http//www.vtclimatechange.us/index.cfm
• Forest Service Northern Institute of Applied
  Carbon Science
• http//www.nrs.fs.fed.us/niacs/tools/
• Climate Change Atlas for trees species or bird
  species
• http//www.nrs.fs.fed.us/atlas/
• Union of concerned citizens northeast report
• http//www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science/globa
  l-warming-in-new-hampshire.html
• NH climate change impact fact sheets
• http//www.des.state.nh.us/ard/climatechange/impac
  ts.htm
• American Forests carbon calculator
• www.americanforests.org
• United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
  Change (UNIPCC)
• www.ipcc.ch
• Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)
• www.anr.state.us/air/htm/RGGI.htm
• Preparing for a changing climate the potential
  consequences of climate variability and change
  New England Regional Overview. August 2001. US
  Global Change Research Program
• www.necci.sr.unh.edu/reports.html
• Economic importance of VT forests