Forest%20Health%20Monitoring

1
Forest Health Monitoring

• Presented By
• Allison Kanoti

2
Notice

• Much of the information from the following was
  gleaned from fact sheets produced by the forest
  serviceMore credits are due than are given on
  individual slides

3
USDA FOREST SERVICE

• Several Branches
• National Forest System
• State and Private Forestry
• Forest Health Protection
• Forest Health Monitoring
• Research and Development
• Forest Inventory and Analysis

4
FHP Forest Health Monitoring

• USDA Forest Service State and Private Forestry
  FHP FHM
• Detection Monitoring
• Evaluation Monitoring
• Intensive Site Monitoring

5
Detection Monitoring

• Components
• Determine Baseline
• Detect Change
• Invasive Species Detection
• Methods
• Remote Sensing
• Aerial Survey
• Ground Plots (FIA, Phase 3 Plots)

6
Evaluation Monitoring

• Undesirable changes detected in Detection
  Monitoring
• EM Investigates
• Extent
• Severity
• Causes
• Project Proposals (often from FHP state
  Cooperators)
• Competition for funding in two categories (Base
  EM and Fire EM)
• e.g. State funding to investigate the impact of
  balsam woolly adelgid on balsam fir stands in New
  England

7
Intensive Site Monitoring

• detailed research
• better understand complex ecosystem processes
• selected watershed study sites
• represent major forest ecosystems
• E.G. Delaware River Basin Study
• began in 1999
• Model for regional collaborative monitoring
  networks
• Cooperative
• Forest Inventory and Analysis,
• Forest Health Monitoring,
• Global Change
• U.S. Geological Survey (Water Resources
  Division).

8
Delaware River Basin Issues Addressed

• Causes, consequences, and regional extent of
  calcium depletion
• Changes in forest biomass and productivity
• Identification and monitoring of forests
  vulnerable to non-native invasive pests
• Forest fragmentation and associated ecosystem
  changes
• Effects of forest cover changes on water quality
  of the Delaware River

9
Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA)
10
Why is FIA important?

• Determining the ecological and biological
  significance of our forest resources in an
  accurate and timely manner is one of the most
  important pursuits in modern forestry. That is
  the mission of the USDA Forest Services Forest
  Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program. FIA is the
  most complete forest census in America, providing
  the only continuous national inventory that
  quantifies the status of forest ecosystems across
  all private and most public forestland.
• Because of its fundamental importance in
  measuring sustainability, FIA is universally
  popular among professional foresters,
  environmentalists, industry, private landowners,
  and virtually any other group that has an
  interest in forest management. . . --Bob
  Goodlatte and James Garner, Journal of Forestry
  12/99

11
Components of FIA
From Forest inventory and Analysis Sampling and
Plot Design Bill Burkman, 2005
12
Components of FIA

• 3 Components (Phases)
• Phase 1 Remote Sensing
• Classify land into Forest and Non-Forest
• Quantify fragmentation, urbanization and distance
  variables
• Phase 2 Forest Inventory Ground Plots
• 1 plot per 6,000 acres
• Forest (ecosystem variables) and non-forest (land
  use changes)
• Phase 3 Forest Health Ground Plots
• 1 per 16 Phase 2 plots (co-located with Phase 2
  plots)
• 1 plot per 96,000 acres
• Forest health indicators (vegetation cover,
  crown, soil, lichen diversity, down woody
  material, ozone damage)

13
Plot Design Phase 2

• 4 subplots
• 24 foot radius (1/6 acre area)
• Condition Data
• Site index
• Stand Age, Size, Forest Type, Disturbance,
  Stocking
• Land Use

• All trees gt5 diameter
• Species
• History (what is condition now (live, natural
  mortality, removal) in comparison to past
  condition)
• Diameter
• Heights
• Quality (cull, grading, merchantability)
• Crown position, condition, ratio

14
Plot Design Phase 2

• 1 microplot/subplot (6.8 radius)
• All saplings 1ltDBHlt5
• Diameter, Height, Crown (position, ratio)
• Count of seedlings (tree specieslt1)
• ME 3.7 radius plot w/in microplot
• Count of shrub species
• Presence of dwarf shrubs and woody vines
• Used by IFW

15
Plot Design Phase 3

• In addition to Phase 2 Variables
• Tree
• Damages
• Additional Crown Variables
• Lichen Diversity
• Vegetation Plot
• Soil Sampling
• Down Woody Debris

16
Summary of Forest Health in Maine1996-1999

• The following data are from
• Forest Health Monitoring in Maine 1996-1999.
  USDA Forest Service. NE-NF-145-02

17
Crown Estimates

• Uncompacted live crown ratio
• of tree height supporting live foliage
• Crown light exposure
• of foliage receiving full sunlight
• Crown position
• Crown position in relation to overstory level of
  stand
• Crown density
• amount of light blocked by branches, reproductive
  structures, and foliage
• Crown dieback
• recent branch mortality
• Foliage transparency
• amount of skylight visible through the live,
  normally foliated portion of the crown.

Mary Ann Fajvan, West Virginia University,
www.forestryimages.org
18

• Maine 1996-1999
• Crown density
• amount of light blocked by branches, reproductive
  structures, and foliage
• 91 percent of trees had high density ratings
  (gt30)
• 9 low
• 12 241
• 15 129

19

• Crown dieback recent branch mortality
• 81 low, 3 high (gt20 ),16 moderate (6-20)
• 5 of red maple high, 24 moderate

20
Some results from phase 3 plots Transparency

• Maine 1996-1999
• Foliage transparency amount of skylight visible
  through the live, normally foliated portion of
  the crown.
• 99 percent of trees had normal transparency

21
Summary Crown Conditions Maine 1996-1999
22
Damages

• Location
• Roots and Stump
• Bole
• Lower
• Upper
• Crownstem
• Branches
• Buds and Shoots
• Foliage
• Thresholds and Severity Ratings

• Types
• Canker, gall
• Advanced Decay
• Open wounds
• Resinosis, gummosis
• Cracks and seams
• Broken bole or roots
• Broken or dead top
• Broken or dead branches
• Vines
• Brooms on roots, bole, crown
• Damaged buds, foliage or shoots
• Foliage discoloration
• Other

23
Some results from phase 3 plots Damage
All Species Damage Percentages

• 81 percent of trees no damage
• 15 percent one damage
• 4 percent 2 or more damages
• Red Spruce
• 6 damaged
• 21 seams/cracks
• Northern White Cedar
• 33 damaged (gt75 decay)
• Eastern White Pine
• 14 percent damaged
• 44 percent dead or broken top
• 29 percent dead or broken branch

24
Summary Maine 1996-1999

• Most trees are healthy
• Full crowns
• Little dieback
• Little damage

25
Credit Where Due

• The following slide images are pirated from
• Steinman, J. 2004. Forest Health Monitoring in
  the Northeastern United States Disturbances and
  Conditions during 1993-2002. USDA Forest Service.
  NA-TP-01-04

26
Health of All Trees Combined

• Growth rates low in N. Me, S. teir PA, Central MN
  (yellow thru red)
• Mortality a concern in many counties (yellow thru
  red)

27

• Why low growth/high mortality?
• Unhealthy Crowns
• gt25 dieback
• gt30 transparency
• lt35 density
• NY and NE crowns less healthy than the region in
  general

28
Health of Balsam Fir

• Low net growth reflects high mortality

29

• Balsam Fir Damages

30
Health of American Beech
31

• American Beech Damages

32
Conclusion

• Data collected by FIA and FHP are important
  resources for assessing the state of the nations
  forests and the threats to forest health and
  analyzing long term forest trends