Ecosystem services to enhance sustainable forest management in the US: moving from forest service national programmes to local projects in the Pacific Northwest

Science.gov (United States)

Robert L. Deal; Nikola Smith; Joe Gates

2017-01-01

Ecosystem services are increasingly recognized as a way of framing and describing the broad suite of benefits that people receive from forests. The USDA Forest Service has been exploring use of an ecosystem services framework to describe forest values provided by federal lands and to attract and build partnerships with stakeholders to implement projects. Recently, the...

Forest Ecosystem services: Water resources

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas P. Holmes; James Vose; Travis Warziniack; Bill Holman

2017-01-01

Since the publication of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA 2005), awareness has steadily grown regarding the importance of maintaining natural capital. Forest vegetation is a valuable source of natural capital, and the regulation of water quantity and quality is among the most important forest ecosystem services in many regions around the world. Changes in...

Forest Management for Non-Wood Forest Products and Services in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The contribution of Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFPs) and services in livelihood support has been reviewed. Quite a number of NWFPs are also important articles of commerce and contribute significantly to the economies various African countries. The non-consumptive role of forests has been examined in terms of ...

Book of Abstracts - Managing Forests to Promote Environmental Services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

This book includes the abstracts of the oral and poster presentation of the conference ‘Managing Forests to Promote Environmental Services’, 3-5 November 2015, Copenhagen. The conference is arranged by the Centre of Advanced Research on Environmental Services from Nordic Forest Ecosystems (CAR-ES...... forest management and environmental ecosystem services in a broader perspective, and overviews of ten years of CAR-ES integrated research on carbon sequestration, water protection, biodiversity, and soil quality in the Nordic – Baltic are presented. Frederiksberg, October 2015 Inge Stupak, Lars Högbom...... II), funded by Nordic Forest Research (SNS) 2011-2015. This is an open network that brings together Nordic and Baltic forest researchers in order to provide scientific knowledge on the impacts of forest management on major environmental services for decision making within the forestry sector...

Managing Forests for Water in the Anthropocene—The Best Kept Secret Services of Forest Ecosystems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irena F. Creed

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Water and forests are inextricably linked. Pressures on forests from population growth and climate change are increasing risks to forests and their aquatic ecosystem services (AES. There is a need to incorporate AES in forest management but there is considerable uncertainty about how to do so. Approaches that manage forest ecosystem services such as fiber, water and carbon sequestration independently ignore the inherent complexities of ecosystem services and their responses to management actions, with the potential for unintended consequences that are difficult to predict. The ISO 31000 Risk Management Standard is a standardized framework to assess risks to forest AES and to prioritize management strategies to manage risks within tolerable ranges. The framework consists of five steps: establishing the management context, identifying, analyzing, evaluating and treating the risks. Challenges to implementing the framework include the need for novel models and indicators to assess forest change and resilience, quantification of linkages between forest practice and AES, and the need for an integrated systems approach to assess cumulative effects and stressors on forest ecosystems and AES. In the face of recent international agreements to protect forests, there are emerging opportunities for international leadership to address these challenges in order to protect both forests and AES.

Urban forests and pollution mitigation: Analyzing ecosystem services and disservices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Escobedo, Francisco J.; Kroeger, Timm; Wagner, John E.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to integrate the concepts of ecosystem services and disservices when assessing the efficacy of using urban forests for mitigating pollution. A brief review of the literature identifies some pollution mitigation ecosystem services provided by urban forests. Existing ecosystem services definitions and typologies from the economics and ecological literature are adapted and applied to urban forest management and the concepts of ecosystem disservices from natural and semi-natural systems are discussed. Examples of the urban forest ecosystem services of air quality and carbon dioxide sequestration are used to illustrate issues associated with assessing their efficacy in mitigating urban pollution. Development of urban forest management alternatives that mitigate pollution should consider scale, contexts, heterogeneity, management intensities and other social and economic co-benefits, tradeoffs, and costs affecting stakeholders and urban sustainability goals. - Environmental managers should analyze ecosystem services and disservices when developing urban forest management alternatives for mitigating urban pollution.

Forest Service Global Change Research Strategy, 2009-2019 Implementation Plan

Science.gov (United States)

Allen Solomon; Richard A. Birdsey; Linda A. Joyce

2010-01-01

In keeping with the research goals of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, the climate change strategy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the climate change framework of the Forest Service, this Forest Service Global Change Research Strategy, 2009-2019 Implementation Plan (hereafter called the Research Plan), was written by Forest Service Research...

Rocky Mountain Research Station Part 2 [U.S. Forest Service scientists continue work with the Lincoln National Forest

Science.gov (United States)

Todd A. Rawlinson

2010-01-01

The Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS) is studying the effects of fuels reduction treatments on Mexican Spotted Owls and their prey in the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico. One challenge facing Forest Service managers is that much of the landscape is dominated by overstocked stands resulting from years of fire suppression.

Governing Forest Ecosystem Services for Sustainable Environmental Governance: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shankar Adhikari

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Governing forest ecosystem services as a forest socio-ecological system is an evolving concept in the face of different environmental and social challenges. Therefore, different modes of ecosystem governance such as hierarchical, scientific–technical, and adaptive–collaborative governance have been developed. Although each form of governance offers important features, no one form on its own is sufficient to attain sustainable environmental governance (SEG. Thus, the blending of important features of each mode of governance could contribute to SEG, through a combination of both hierarchical and collaborative governance systems supported by scientifically and technically aided knowledge. This should be further reinforced by the broad engagement of stakeholders to ensure the improved well-being of both ecosystems and humans. Some form of governance and forest management measures, including sustainable forest management, forest certification, and payment for ecosystem services mechanisms, are also contributing to that end. While issues around commodification and putting a price on nature are still contested due to the complex relationship between different services, if these limitations are taken into account, the governance of forest ecosystem services will serve as a means of effective environmental governance and the sustainable management of forest resources. Therefore, forest ecosystem services governance has a promising future for SEG, provided limitations are tackled with due care in future governance endeavors.

Dynamics of Ecosystem Services during Forest Transitions in Reventazón, Costa Rica.

Science.gov (United States)

Vallet, Améline; Locatelli, Bruno; Levrel, Harold; Brenes Pérez, Christian; Imbach, Pablo; Estrada Carmona, Natalia; Manlay, Raphaël; Oszwald, Johan

2016-01-01

The forest transition framework describes the temporal changes of forest areas with economic development. A first phase of forest contraction is followed by a second phase of expansion once a turning point is reached. This framework does not differentiate forest types or ecosystem services, and describes forests regardless of their contribution to human well-being. For several decades, deforestation in many tropical regions has degraded ecosystem services, such as watershed regulation, while increasing provisioning services from agriculture, for example, food. Forest transitions and expansion have been observed in some countries, but their consequences for ecosystem services are often unclear. We analyzed the implications of forest cover change on ecosystem services in Costa Rica, where a forest transition has been suggested. A review of literature and secondary data on forest and ecosystem services in Costa Rica indicated that forest transition might have led to an ecosystem services transition. We modeled and mapped the changes of selected ecosystem services in the upper part of the Reventazón watershed and analyzed how supply changed over time in order to identify possible transitions in ecosystem services. The modeled changes of ecosystem services is similar to the second phase of a forest transition but no turning point was identified, probably because of the limited temporal scope of the analysis. Trends of provisioning and regulating services and their tradeoffs were opposite in different spatial subunits of our study area, which highlights the importance of scale in the analysis of ecosystem services and forest transitions. The ecosystem services transition framework proposed in this study is useful for analyzing the temporal changes of ecosystem services and linking socio-economic drivers to ecosystem services demand at different scales.

Balancing trade-offs between ecosystem services in Germany’s forests under climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Gutsch, Martin; Lasch-Born, Petra; Kollas, Chris; Suckow, Felicitas; Reyer, Christopher P. O.

2018-04-01

Germany’s forests provide a variety of ecosystem services. Sustainable forest management aims to optimize the provision of these services at regional level. However, climate change will impact forest ecosystems and subsequently ecosystem services. The objective of this study is to quantify the effects of two alternative management scenarios and climate impacts on forest variables indicative of ecosystem services related to timber, habitat, water, and carbon. The ecosystem services are represented through nine model output variables (timber harvest, above and belowground biomass, net ecosystem production, soil carbon, percolation, nitrogen leaching, deadwood, tree dimension, broadleaf tree proportion) from the process-based forest model 4C. We simulated forest growth, carbon and water cycling until 2045 with 4C set-up for the whole German forest area based on National Forest Inventory data and driven by three management strategies (nature protection, biomass production and a baseline management) and an ensemble of regional climate scenarios (RCP2.6, RCP 4.5, RCP 8.5). We provide results as relative changes compared to the baseline management and observed climate. Forest management measures have the strongest effects on ecosystem services inducing positive or negative changes of up to 40% depending on the ecosystem service in question, whereas climate change only slightly alters ecosystem services averaged over the whole forest area. The ecosystem services ‘carbon’ and ‘timber’ benefit from climate change, while ‘water’ and ‘habitat’ lose. We detect clear trade-offs between ‘timber’ and all other ecosystem services, as well as synergies between ‘habitat’ and ‘carbon’. When evaluating all ecosystem services simultaneously, our results reveal certain interrelations between climate and management scenarios. North-eastern and western forest regions are more suitable to provide timber (while minimizing the negative impacts on remaining

A Forest Service Vision during the Anthropocene

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael T. Rains

2017-03-01

Full Text Available During the history of the Forest Service, human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment; the time being called the Anthropocene. As we look ahead and strive to continue our mission of sustaining the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet our current and future needs, we must be more flexible to focus our actions to better meet the contemporary conservation challenges now and ahead. During this era of intense human activity, a changing climate; development and loss of open space; resource consumption; destructive invasive species; and diversity in core beliefs and values will test our task relevant maturity—ability and willingness to meet the growing demands for services. The Forest Service is now on a transformative campaign to improve our abilities and meet these challenges, including forest resiliency through restorative actions. There are several things we must do to ensure we are brilliantly competitive to address the contemporary conservation needs along a complex rural to urban land gradient, now and ahead. The intent of this paper is to present one person’s view of what this “campaign of our campaign” should include.

An Overview of Hydrologic Studies at Center for Forested Wetlands Research, USDA Forest Service

Science.gov (United States)

Devendra M. Amatya; Carl C. Trettin; R. Wayne Skaggs; Timothy J. Callahan; Ge Sun; Masato Miwa; John E. Parsons

2004-01-01

Managing forested wetland landscapes for water quality improvement and productivity requires a detailed understanding of functional linkages between ecohydrological processes and management practices. Studies are being conducted at Center for Forested Wetlands Research (CFWR), USDA Forest Service to understand the fundamental hydrologic and biogeochemical processes...

Aquatic biodiversity in forests: A weak link in ecosystem services resilience

Science.gov (United States)

Penaluna, Brooke E.; Olson, Deanna H.; Flitcroft, Rebecca L; Weber, Matthew A.; Bellmore, J. Ryan; Wondzell, Steven M.; Dunham, Jason B.; Johnson, Sherri L.; Reeves, Gordon H.

2017-01-01

The diversity of aquatic ecosystems is being quickly reduced on many continents, warranting a closer examination of the consequences for ecological integrity and ecosystem services. Here we describe intermediate and final ecosystem services derived from aquatic biodiversity in forests. We include a summary of the factors framing the assembly of aquatic biodiversity in forests in natural systems and how they change with a variety of natural disturbances and human-derived stressors. We consider forested aquatic ecosystems as a multi-state portfolio, with diverse assemblages and life-history strategies occurring at local scales as a consequence of a mosaic of habitat conditions and past disturbances and stressors. Maintaining this multi-state portfolio of assemblages requires a broad perspective of ecosystem structure, various functions, services, and management implications relative to contemporary stressors. Because aquatic biodiversity provides multiple ecosystem services to forests, activities that compromise aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity could be an issue for maintaining forest ecosystem integrity. We illustrate these concepts with examples of aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem services in forests of northwestern North America, also known as Northeast Pacific Rim. Encouraging management planning at broad as well as local spatial scales to recognize multi-state ecosystem management goals has promise for maintaining valuable ecosystem services. Ultimately, integration of information from socio-ecological ecosystems will be needed to maintain ecosystem services derived directly and indirectly from forest aquatic biota.

Advances of air pollution science: from forest decline to multiple-stress effects on forest ecosystem services.

Science.gov (United States)

Paoletti, E; Schaub, M; Matyssek, R; Wieser, G; Augustaitis, A; Bastrup-Birk, A M; Bytnerowicz, A; Günthardt-Goerg, M S; Müller-Starck, G; Serengil, Y

2010-06-01

Over the past 20 years, the focus of forest science on air pollution has moved from forest decline to a holistic framework of forest health, and from the effects on forest production to the ecosystem services provided by forest ecosystems. Hence, future research should focus on the interacting factorial impacts and resulting antagonistic and synergistic responses of forest trees and ecosystems. The synergistic effects of air pollution and climatic changes, in particular elevated ozone, altered nitrogen, carbon and water availability, must be key issues for research. Present evidence suggests air pollution will become increasingly harmful to forests under climate change, which requires integration amongst various stressors (abiotic and biotic factors, including competition, parasites and fire), effects on forest services (production, biodiversity protection, soil protection, sustained water balance, socio-economical relevance) and assessment approaches (research, monitoring, modeling) to be fostered. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Forest Service R&D — Invasive Insects: Visions for the Future

Science.gov (United States)

Kier D. Klepzig; Therese M. Poland; Nancy E. Gillette; Robert A. Haack; Melody A. Keena; Daniel R. Miller; Michael E. Montgomery; Steven J. Seybold; Patrick C. Tobin

2009-01-01

The Forest Service has identified invasive species as one of four significant threats to our Nation’s forest and rangeland ecosystems and likened the problem to a “catastrophic wildfire in slow motion.” Forest Service Research and Development (R&D) has a crucial role in providing insight and options to protect trees, forests, and ecosystems from the threat of...

Development history and bibliography of the US Forest Service crown-condition indicator for forest health monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Randolph, KaDonna C

2013-06-01

Comprehensive assessment of individual-tree crown condition by the US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program has its origins in the concerns about widespread forest decline in Europe and North America that developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Programs such as the US National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program, US National Vegetation Survey, Canadian Acid Rain National Early Warning System, and joint US-Canadian North American Sugar Maple Decline Project laid the groundwork for the development of the US Forest Service crown-condition indicator. The crown-condition assessment protocols were selected and refined through literature review, peer review, and field studies in several different forest types during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Between 1980 and 2011, 126 publications relating specifically to the crown-condition indicator were added to the literature. The majority of the articles were published by the US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service or other State or Federal government agency, and more than half were published after 2004.

Carbon sequestration and water flow regulation services in mature Mediterranean Forest

Science.gov (United States)

Beguería, S.; Ovando, P.

2015-12-01

We develop a forestland use and management model that integrates spatially-explicit biophysical and economic data, to estimate the expected pattern of climate regulation services through carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration in tree and shrubs biomass, and water flow regulation. We apply this model to examine the potential trade-offs and synergies in the supply of CO2 sequestration and water flow services in mature Mediterranean forest, considering two alternative forest management settings. A forest restoration scenario through investments in facilitating forest regeneration, and a forestry activity abandonment scenario as result of unprofitable forest regeneration investment. The analysis is performed for different discount rates and price settings for carbon and water. The model is applied at the farm level in a group of 567 private silvopastoral farms across Andalusia (Spain), considering the main forest species in this region: Quercus ilex, Q. suber, Pinus pinea, P. halepensis, P. pinaster and Eucalyptus sp., as well as for tree-less shrubland and pastures. The results of this research are provided by forest land unit, vegetation, farm and for the group of municipalities where the farms are located. Our results draw attention to the spatial variability of CO2 and water flow regulation services, and point towards a trade-off between those services. The pattern of economic benefits associated to water and carbon services fluctuates according to the assumptions regarding price levels and discounting rates, as well as in connection to the expected forest management and tree growth models, and to spatially-explicit forest attributes such as existing tree and shrubs inventories, the quality of the sites for growing different tree species, soil structure or the climatic characteristics. The assumptions made regarding the inter-temporal preferences and relative prices have a large effect on the estimated economic value of carbon and water services. These results

Advances of Air Pollution Science: From Forest Decline to Multiple-Stress Effects on Forest Ecosystem Services

Science.gov (United States)

E. Paoletti; M. Schaub; R. Matyssek; G. Wieser; A. Augustaitis; A. M. Bastrup-Birk; A. Bytnerowicz; M. S. Gunthardt-Goerg; G. Muller-Starck; Y. Serengil

2010-01-01

Over the past 20 years, the focus of forest science on air pollution has moved from forest decline to a holistic framework of forest health, and from the effects on forest production to the ecosystem services provided by forest ecosystems. Hence, future research should focus on the interacting factorial impacts and resulting antagonistic and synergistic responses of...

A U.S. Forest Service special forest products appraisal system: background, methods, and assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Jerry Smith; Lisa K. Crone; Susan J. Alexander

2010-01-01

Increasing concern over the management and harvest of special forest products (SFP) from national forest lands has led to the development of new Forest Service policy directives. In this paper, we present a brief history of SFPs in the Western United States, highlighting the issues that necessitated new management direction. The new policy directives that led to the...

Forest Ecosystem services and development pressures

Science.gov (United States)

David N. Wear

2006-01-01

Ecosystem services from forests on private lands are often under-produced because landowners bear the cost of restoring, preserving, and managing their lands to produce ecological services that benefit all members of the community or larger society. Over the last two decades, a variety of federal and state programs have applied a combination of regulations, extension,...

Project risk and appeals in U.S. Forest Service planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stern, Marc J.; Predmore, S. Andrew; Morse, Wayde C.; Seesholtz, David N.

2013-01-01

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires U.S. Forest Service planning processes to be conducted by interdisciplinary teams of resource specialists to analyze and disclose the likely environmental impacts of proposed natural resource management actions on Forest Service lands. Multiple challenges associated with these processes have been a source of frustration for the agency. One of these challenges involves administrative appeals through which public entities can challenge a Forest Service decision following a NEPA process. These appeals instigate an internal review process and can result in an affirmation of the Forest Service decision, a reversal of that decision, or additional work that re-initiates all or part of the NEPA process. We examine the best predictors of appeals and their outcomes on a representative sample of 489 Forest Service NEPA processes that were decided between 2007 and 2009. While certain factors associated with pre-existing social contexts (such as a history of controversy) or pre-determined elements of a proposed action (such as the extraction of forest products) predispose certain processes to a higher risk of appeals, other practices and process-related strategies within the control of the agency also appear to bear meaningful influence on the occurrence of appeals and their outcomes. Appeals and their outcomes were most strongly related to programmatic, structural (turnover of personnel in particular), and relationship risks (both internal and external) within the processes, suggesting the need for greater focus within the agency on cultivating positive internal and external relationships to manage the risk of appeals. -- Highlights: ► We examined appeals and their outcomes on 489 U.S. Forest Service NEPA processes. ► Project type, context, team turnover, and personal relationships predicted appeals. ► External relationship management and staff turnover best predicted appeal outcomes. ► Positive internal and

Project risk and appeals in U.S. Forest Service planning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stern, Marc J., E-mail: mjstern@vt.edu [Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Virginia Tech, 304 Cheatham Hall (0324), Blacksburg, VA 24061 (United States); Predmore, S. Andrew, E-mail: spred2@uis.edu [Department of Environmental Studies, University of Illinois-Springfield, Public Affairs Center, Room 314, Springfield, IL 62703 (United States); Morse, Wayde C., E-mail: morsewc@auburn.edu [School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, 3301 Forestry and Wildlife Bldg., Auburn, AL 36849 (United States); Seesholtz, David N., E-mail: dseesholtz@fs.fed.us [Focused Science Delivery Program, Pacific Northwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service, 1249S Vinnell Way, Suite 200, Boise, ID 83709 (United States)

2013-09-15

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires U.S. Forest Service planning processes to be conducted by interdisciplinary teams of resource specialists to analyze and disclose the likely environmental impacts of proposed natural resource management actions on Forest Service lands. Multiple challenges associated with these processes have been a source of frustration for the agency. One of these challenges involves administrative appeals through which public entities can challenge a Forest Service decision following a NEPA process. These appeals instigate an internal review process and can result in an affirmation of the Forest Service decision, a reversal of that decision, or additional work that re-initiates all or part of the NEPA process. We examine the best predictors of appeals and their outcomes on a representative sample of 489 Forest Service NEPA processes that were decided between 2007 and 2009. While certain factors associated with pre-existing social contexts (such as a history of controversy) or pre-determined elements of a proposed action (such as the extraction of forest products) predispose certain processes to a higher risk of appeals, other practices and process-related strategies within the control of the agency also appear to bear meaningful influence on the occurrence of appeals and their outcomes. Appeals and their outcomes were most strongly related to programmatic, structural (turnover of personnel in particular), and relationship risks (both internal and external) within the processes, suggesting the need for greater focus within the agency on cultivating positive internal and external relationships to manage the risk of appeals. -- Highlights: ► We examined appeals and their outcomes on 489 U.S. Forest Service NEPA processes. ► Project type, context, team turnover, and personal relationships predicted appeals. ► External relationship management and staff turnover best predicted appeal outcomes. ► Positive internal and

How forest management affects ecosystem services, including timber production and economic return

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Duncker, Philipp S.; Raulund-Rasmussen, Karsten; Gundersen, Per

2012-01-01

and services. By use of virtual but realistic datasets, we quantified, for multiple services, the effects of five forest management alternatives that form an intensity gradient. Our virtual forest management units represented Central European forest ecosystems in the submontane vegetation zone under a humid......–temperate climate with acidic soils. In this zone the European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is the dominant tree species. In order to assess the effects on ecosystem services, the untouched natural forest reserve served as a reference. Wherever possible, response functions were deduced to couple the various services...... via stand-level data to demonstrate trade-offs between the services. Management units comprised all development phases in the sense of a "normal forest". It was clearly illustrated that maximizing the rates of biomass production and carbon sequestration may conflict with protection of authentic...

Political Modernization in China's Forest Governance? Payment Schemes for Forest Ecological Services in Liaoning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Liang, D.; Mol, A.P.J.

2013-01-01

Payment for environmental services (PES) schemes are increasingly being introduced in developed and developing countries for the ecological conservation of forests also. Such payment schemes resemble a new mode of forest governance labelled political modernization, in which centralized and

Non-market forest ecosystem services and decision support in Nordic countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Filyushkina, Anna; Strange, Niels; Löf, Magnus

2016-01-01

The need to integrate non-market ecosystem services into decision-making is widely acknowledged. Despite the exponentially growing body of literature, trade-offs between services are still poorly understood. We conducted a systematic review of published literature in the Nordic countries (Denmark......, Norway, Sweden and Finland) on the integration of non-market forest ecosystem services into decision-making. The aim of the review was two-fold: (1) to provide an overview of coverage of biophysical and socio-economic assessments of non-market ecosystem services in relation to forest management; (2......) to determine the extent of the integration of biophysical and socio-economic models of these services into decision support models. Our findings reveal the need for wider coverage of non-market ecosystem services and evidence-based modelling of how forest management regimes affect ecosystem services...

Forest ecosystem services and livelihood of communities around ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A study on the potential of forest ecosystem services to the livelihood of communities around Shume-Magamba Forest Reserve in Lushoto District, Tanzania was conducted. Questionnaire survey, focus group discussion and participant's observation were used. Qualitatively and quantitatively data were analysed using the ...

Integrating forest products with ecosystem services: a global perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Robert L. Deal; Rachel. White

2012-01-01

Around the world forests provide a broad range of vital ecosystem services. Sustainable forest management and forest products play an important role in global carbon management, but one of the major forestry concerns worldwide is reducing the loss of forestland from development. Currently, deforestation accounts for approximately 20% of total greenhouse gas emissions....

US Forest Service experimental forests and ranges: an untapped resource for social science

Science.gov (United States)

Susan Charnley; Lee K. Cerveny

2011-01-01

For a century, US Forest Service experimental forests and ranges (EFRs) have been a resource for scientists conducting long-term research relating to forestry and range management social science research has been limited, despite the history of occupation and current use of these sites for activities ranging from resource extraction and recreation to public education....

Spatial complementarity of forests and farms: accounting for ecosystem services

Science.gov (United States)

Subhrendu K. Pattanayak; David T. Butry

2006-01-01

Our article considers the economic contributions of forest ecosystem services, using a case study from Flores, Indonesia, in which forest protection in upstream watersheds stabilize soil and hydrological flows in downstream farms. We focus on the demand for a weak complement to the ecosystem services--farm labor-- and account for spatial dependence due to economic...

Forest-land conversion, ecosystem services, and economic issues for policy: a review

Science.gov (United States)

Robert A. Smail; David J. Lewis

2009-01-01

The continued conversion and development of forest land pose a serious threat to the ecosystem services derived from forested landscapes. We argue that developing an understanding of the full range of consequences from forest conversion requires understanding the effects of such conversion on both components of ecosystem services: products and processes....

Improving estimates of forest disturbance by combining observations from Landsat time series with U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis data

Science.gov (United States)

Todd A. Schroeder; Sean P. Healey; Gretchen G. Moisen; Tracey S. Frescino; Warren B. Cohen; Chengquan Huang; Robert E. Kennedy; Zhiqiang Yang

2014-01-01

With earth's surface temperature and human population both on the rise a new emphasis has been placed on monitoring changes to forested ecosystems the world over. In the United States the U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program monitors the forested land base with field data collected over a permanent network of sample plots. Although these...

Ecosystem services as a framework for forest stewardship: Deschutes National Forest overview

Science.gov (United States)

Nikola Smith; Robert Deal; Jeff Kline; Dale Blahna; Trista Patterson; Thomas A. Spies; Karen. Bennett

2011-01-01

The concept of ecosystem services has emerged as a way of framing and describing the comprehensive set of benefits that people receive from nature. These include commonly recognized goods like timber and fresh water, as well as processes like climate regulation and water purification, and aesthetic, spiritual, and cultural benefits. The USDA Forest Service has been...

Law enforcement officers in the USDA forest service

Science.gov (United States)

Deborah J. Chavez; Joanne F. Tynon

2006-01-01

This paper reports results fiom the first in a series of studies evaluating perceptions of law enforcement officers (LEOs) in the US Forest Service (USFS). It is a follow-up to previous qualitative studies conducted to learn more about crime and violence in national forests and the impacts on recreation visitation and management, and test key characteristics of success...

Forest Service Global Change Research Strategy, 2009-2019

Science.gov (United States)

Allen Solomon; Richard Birdsey; Linda A. Joyce; Jennifer Hayes

2009-01-01

In keeping with the research goals of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, the Research and Development agenda of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), helps define climate change policy and develop best management practices for forests (both rural and urban) and grasslands. These actions are taken to sustain ecosystem health, adjust management...

78 FR 34031 - Burned Area Emergency Response, Forest Service

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-06

...;and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, #0;delegations of authority...-wildfire threats to human safety, property and critical natural or cultural resources on National Forest... efforts to improve cost efficiencies. These cost issues affect the Forest Service BAER program since...

U.S. Forest Service's Power-IT-Down Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2016-01-01

Case study describes the U.S. Forest Service's Power-IT-Down Program, which strongly encouraged employees to shut off their computers when leaving the office. The U.S. Forest Service first piloted the program on a voluntary basis in one region then implemented it across the agency's 43,000 computers as a joint effort by the Chief Information Office and Sustainable Operations department.

Importance of Forest Ecosystem Services to Secondary School Students: a Case from the North-West Slovenia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gregor Torkar

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Background and Purpose: Forest managers are facing challenges in balancing the demands for forest social services raised by the general public and forest productive services. Knowing local people’s attitudes, taking into account their needs and respecting their opinions, introducing social aspects should become a management priority to ensure success of conservational activities and sustainable use of natural resources. This study investigates the attitudes of one category from the general public which is secondary school students related to forest ecosystem services in order to determine and present a useful basis for further research of people’s attitudes towards forests and forest management. Materials and Methods: In 2013 and 2014 410 Slovenian students from secondary schools in the Vipava valley and Goriška area in northwestern Slovenia completed a questionnaire testing for the influence of gender and frequency of forest experiences on attitudes to forest ecosystem services. Students’ attitudes to forest ecosystem services were investigated via 15 statements about provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services. The gathered data was analysed by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, using ANOVA, Tukey post-hoc test, Spearman’s product moment correlation and the nonparametric Mann–Whitney (U test. Results and Conclusions: Students acknowledged the high benefits of ecosystem services provided by forests, though not all forest ecosystem services hold the same importance to secondary school students. Students placed the highest importance on supporting services; especially on the value of forests as habitats for animal and plant species. Also the importance of forests for clean air production was emphasized. Students with more frequent experiences in the forest environment placed more importance on cultural services as well as regulating services, especially for clean water and air production. Gender

Governing Forests for Provisioning Services: The Example of Honey Production in Southwest Ethiopia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wiersum, F.; Endalamaw, T.B.

2013-01-01

Provisioning services are major environmental services provided by forests. Especially in tropical countries, the livelihoods of local people often partly depend on a range of timber and non-timber forest products. The governance arrangements concerning such locally valued environmental services are

A framework for developing urban forest ecosystem services and goods indicators

Science.gov (United States)

Cynnamon Dobbs; Francisco J. Escobedo; Wayne C. Zipperer

2011-01-01

The social and ecological processes impacting on urban forests have been studied at multiple temporal and spatial scales in order to help us quantify, monitor, and value the ecosystem services that benefit people. Few studies have comprehensively analyzed the full suite of ecosystem services, goods (ESG), and ecosystem disservices provided by an urban forest....

Factors influencing the role of Non-Wood Forest Products and Services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janse, G.; Ottitsch, A.

2005-01-01

In the light of social and economic developments, forest functions other than timber production have gained international importance and recognition. Resulting from this development, Non-Wood Forest Products and Services (NWFPS) are becoming more important, both for the general public as for forest

Energy efficiency in U.S. Forest Service facilities: a multiregion review

Science.gov (United States)

Rachelle S. Meyer; David L. Nicholls; Trista M. Patterson; Rachel E. White

2013-01-01

We reviewed energy efficiency measures in facilities across the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, examining opportunities and obstacles, and identifying factors of project success. The adoption of energy efficiency measures at Forest Service sites was seen to be most likely when decision control was local to the site and when budget timing and structures...

Restoring Forests and Associated Ecosystem Services on Appalachian Coal Surface Mines

Science.gov (United States)

Zipper, Carl E.; Burger, James A.; Skousen, Jeffrey G.; Angel, Patrick N.; Barton, Christopher D.; Davis, Victor; Franklin, Jennifer A.

2011-05-01

Surface coal mining in Appalachia has caused extensive replacement of forest with non-forested land cover, much of which is unmanaged and unproductive. Although forested ecosystems are valued by society for both marketable products and ecosystem services, forests have not been restored on most Appalachian mined lands because traditional reclamation practices, encouraged by regulatory policies, created conditions poorly suited for reforestation. Reclamation scientists have studied productive forests growing on older mine sites, established forest vegetation experimentally on recent mines, and identified mine reclamation practices that encourage forest vegetation re-establishment. Based on these findings, they developed a Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) that can be employed by coal mining firms to restore forest vegetation. Scientists and mine regulators, working collaboratively, have communicated the FRA to the coal industry and to regulatory enforcement personnel. Today, the FRA is used routinely by many coal mining firms, and thousands of mined hectares have been reclaimed to restore productive mine soils and planted with native forest trees. Reclamation of coal mines using the FRA is expected to restore these lands' capabilities to provide forest-based ecosystem services, such as wood production, atmospheric carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, watershed protection, and water quality protection to a greater extent than conventional reclamation practices.

Login wood. Logistic for the Treatment of Forest Biomass; Loginwood. Logistica para el tratamiento de biomasa forestal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martinez Sanchez, R.; Ayala Schraemili, F.

2008-07-01

This paper is about developing a logistic for the treatment of the forest prunes, including specific machines so far. Collecting, treatment, and transportation of forest biomass residues to valuation energy plant. Key words: collecting, treatment, transportation of forest prunes. (Author)

Development of SNS Stream Analysis Based on Forest Disaster Warning Information Service System

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, J.; KIM, D.; Kang, M.; Woo, C.; Kim, D.; Seo, J.; Lee, C.; Yoon, H.; Heon, S.

2017-12-01

Forest disasters, such as landslides and wildfires, cause huge economic losses and casualties, and the cost of recovery is increasing every year. While forest disaster mitigation technologies have been focused on the development of prevention and response technologies, they are now required to evolve into evacuation and border evacuation, and to develop technologies fused with ICT. In this study, we analyze the SNS (Social Network Service) stream and implement a system to detect the message that the forest disaster occurred or the forest disaster, and search the keyword related to the forest disaster in advance in real time. It is possible to detect more accurate forest disaster messages by repeatedly learning the retrieved results using machine learning techniques. To do this, we designed and implemented a system based on Hadoop and Spark, a distributed parallel processing platform, to handle Twitter stream messages that open SNS. In order to develop the technology to notify the information of forest disaster risk, a linkage of technology such as CBS (Cell Broadcasting System) based on mobile communication, internet-based civil defense siren, SNS and the legal and institutional issues for applying these technologies are examined. And the protocol of the forest disaster warning information service system that can deliver the SNS analysis result was developed. As a result, it was possible to grasp real-time forest disaster situation by real-time big data analysis of SNS that occurred during forest disasters. In addition, we confirmed that it is possible to rapidly propagate alarm or warning according to the disaster situation by using the function of the forest disaster warning information notification service. However, the limitation of system application due to the restriction of opening and sharing of SNS data currently in service and the disclosure of personal information remains a problem to be solved in the future. Keyword : SNS stream, Big data, Machine

Cognitive styles of Forest Service scientists and managers in the Pacific Northwest.

Science.gov (United States)

Andrew B. Carey

1997-01-01

Preferences of executives, foresters, and biologists of the Pacific Northwest Research Station and executives, District Rangers, foresters, engineers, and biologists of the Pacific Northwest Region, National Forest System (USDA Forest Service), were compared for various thinking styles. Herrmann brain dominance profiles from 230 scientists and managers were drawn from...

Challenges for tree officers to enhance the provision of regulating ecosystem services from urban forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Helen J; Doick, Kieron J; Hudson, Malcolm D; Schreckenberg, Kate

2017-07-01

Urbanisation and a changing climate are leading to more frequent and severe flood, heat and air pollution episodes in Britain's cities. Interest in nature-based solutions to these urban problems is growing, with urban forests potentially able to provide a range of regulating ecosystem services such as stormwater attenuation, heat amelioration and air purification. The extent to which these benefits are realized is largely dependent on urban forest management objectives, the availability of funding, and the understanding of ecosystem service concepts within local governments, the primary delivery agents of urban forests. This study aims to establish the extent to which British local authorities actively manage their urban forests for regulating ecosystem services, and identify which resources local authorities most need in order to enhance provision of ecosystem services by Britain's urban forests. Interviews were carried out with staff responsible for tree management decisions in fifteen major local authorities from across Britain, selected on the basis of their urban nature and high population density. Local authorities have a reactive approach to urban forest management, driven by human health and safety concerns and complaints about tree disservices. There is relatively little focus on ensuring provision of regulating ecosystem services, despite awareness by tree officers of the key role that urban forests can play in alleviating chronic air pollution, flood risk and urban heat anomalies. However, this is expected to become a greater focus in future provided that existing constraints - lack of understanding of ecosystem services amongst key stakeholders, limited political support, funding constraints - can be overcome. Our findings suggest that the adoption of a proactive urban forest strategy, underpinned by quantified and valued urban forest-based ecosystem services provision data, and innovative private sector funding mechanisms, can facilitate a change to a

Wildfires, Ecosystem Services, and Biodiversity in Tropical Dry Forest in India

Science.gov (United States)

Schmerbeck, Joachim; Fiener, Peter

2015-08-01

This review is intended to contribute to the understanding of the interlinkage between wildfire in India's tropical dry forest (TDF) and selected ecosystem services (ES), namely forest provisioning and water regulating services, as well as biodiversity. TDF covers approximately 146,000 km2 (4.4 %) of India, whereas according to the MODIS fire product about 2200 km2 (1.4 %) burns per year. As studies on wildfire effects upon ESs and biodiversity in Indian TDFs are rare we partly transferred findings from other (dry) forest areas to the environmental situation in India. In India (intentionally lit) wildfires have a very important connection to local livelihoods and the availability of non-wood forest products. Very important adverse long-term effects are the deterioration of forest ecosystems and soil degradation. The potential for TDF to regulate hydrological cycles is expected to be greater in the absence of fire than with it. A general judgment on the effect of fire on biodiversity is difficult as it depends on the community and species involved but a loss of biodiversity under regular burnings is apparent. Consequently, forest managers need sound knowledge regarding the interplay of wildfires and ecosystem behavior in general and more specific knowledge regarding the effects on taxa being considered for conservation efforts. Generally, much more research is needed to understand the trade-offs between the short-term benefits gained from forest provisioning services and long-term adverse effects.

Wildfires, Ecosystem Services, and Biodiversity in Tropical Dry Forest in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmerbeck, Joachim; Fiener, Peter

2015-08-01

This review is intended to contribute to the understanding of the interlinkage between wildfire in India's tropical dry forest (TDF) and selected ecosystem services (ES), namely forest provisioning and water regulating services, as well as biodiversity. TDF covers approximately 146,000 km(2) (4.4%) of India, whereas according to the MODIS fire product about 2200 km(2) (1.4%) burns per year. As studies on wildfire effects upon ESs and biodiversity in Indian TDFs are rare we partly transferred findings from other (dry) forest areas to the environmental situation in India. In India (intentionally lit) wildfires have a very important connection to local livelihoods and the availability of non-wood forest products. Very important adverse long-term effects are the deterioration of forest ecosystems and soil degradation. The potential for TDF to regulate hydrological cycles is expected to be greater in the absence of fire than with it. A general judgment on the effect of fire on biodiversity is difficult as it depends on the community and species involved but a loss of biodiversity under regular burnings is apparent. Consequently, forest managers need sound knowledge regarding the interplay of wildfires and ecosystem behavior in general and more specific knowledge regarding the effects on taxa being considered for conservation efforts. Generally, much more research is needed to understand the trade-offs between the short-term benefits gained from forest provisioning services and long-term adverse effects.

USDA Forest Service National Woodland Owner Survey, 2011-2013: design, implementation, and estimation methods

Science.gov (United States)

Brett J. Butler; Brenton J. Dickinson; Jaketon H. Hewes; Sarah M. Butler; Kyle Andrejczyk; Marla. Markowski-Lindsay

2016-01-01

The National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS) is conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis program to increase the understanding of the attitudes, behaviors, and demographics of private forest and woodland ownerships across the United States. The information is intended to help policy makers, resource managers, educators, service providers, and...

Hardwoods for timber bridges : a national program emphasis by the USDA Forest Service

Science.gov (United States)

James P. Wacker; Ed Cesa

2005-01-01

This paper describes the joint efforts of the Forest Service and the FHWA to administer national programs including research, demonstration bridges, and technology transfer components. Summary information on a number of Forest Service-WIT demonstration bridges constructed with hardwoods is also provided.

The Timber Resources of New Jersey. A report on the forest survey made by the U.S. Forest Service

Science.gov (United States)

Henry H. Webster; Carl H. Stoltenberg; Carl H. Stoltenberg

1958-01-01

This is a report on the timber resource of New Jersey. It is based on the findings of a forest survey made in 1955-56 by the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Conservation and Economic Development. The forest survey of New Jersey was part of a nationwide survey being made by the Forest Service, U.S. Department of...

Sixty years of research, 60 years of data: long-term US Forest Service data management on the Penobscot Experimental Forest

Science.gov (United States)

Matthew B. Russell; Spencer R. Meyer; John C. Brissette; Laura Kenefic

2014-01-01

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service silvicultural experiment on the Penobscot Experimental Forest (PEF) in Maine represents 60 years of research in the northern conifer and mixedwood forests of the Acadian Forest Region. The objective of this data management effort, which began in 2008, was to compile, organize, and archive research data collected in the...

US Forest Service Experimental Forests and Ranges Network: a continental research platform for catchment-scale research

Science.gov (United States)

Daniel Neary; Deborah Hayes; Lindsey Rustad; James Vose; Gerald Gottfried; Stephen Sebesteyn; Sherri Johnson; Fred Swanson; Mary Adams

2012-01-01

The US Forest Service initiated its catchment research program in 1909 with the first paired catchment study at Wagon Wheel Gap, Colorado, USA. It has since developed the Experimental Forests and Ranges Network, with over 80 long-term research study sites located across the contiguous USA, Alaska, Hawaii, and the Caribbean. This network provides a unique, powerful...

Invasive forest pathogens: Summary of issues, critical needs, and future goals for Forest Service Research and Development

Science.gov (United States)

Ned B. Klopfenstein; Jennifer Juzwik; Michael E. Ostry; Mee-Sook Kim; Paul J. Zambino; Robert C. Venette; Bryce A. Richardson; John E. Lundquist; D. Jean Lodge; Jessie A. Glaeser; Susan J. Frankel; William J. Otrosina; Pauline Spaine; Brian W. Geils

2010-01-01

Invasive pathogens have caused immeasurable ecological and economic damage to forest ecosystems. Damage will undoubtedly increase over time due to increased introductions and evolution of invasive pathogens in concert with complex environmental disturbances, such as climate change. Forest Service Research and Development must fulfill critical roles and responsibilities...

36 CFR 200.3 - Forest Service functions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

...), chapters 22 and 35. (b) Work of the Forest Service. Under delegated authority from the Secretary of...) Forage is scientifically managed for the use of domestic livestock whose numbers are kept in balance with... managed to safeguard the water supply and stabilize streamflow, (E) Recreation resources are managed for...

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES OF THE NIGER DELTA FORESTS ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

forest, the rural respondents had zero knowledge of many of the services. Despite the ... “production, regulating, habitat, carrier, and information, to provide capacity to produce a ... plants and birds, remain unstudied in large areas". Powell ... synonymous with life itself, with spiritual sustenance, with wealth and prosperity ...

The enhanced forest inventory and analysis program of the USDA forest service: historical perspective and announcements of statistical documentation

Science.gov (United States)

Ronald E. McRoberts; William A. Bechtold; Paul L. Patterson; Charles T. Scott; Gregory A. Reams

2005-01-01

The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the USDA Forest Service has initiated a transition from regional, periodic inventories to an enhanced national FIA program featuring annual measurement of a proportion of plots in each state, greater national consistency, and integration with the ground sampling component of the Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) program...

Forest owners' willingness to accept contracts for ecosystem service provision is sensitive to additionality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vedel, Suzanne Elizabeth; Jacobsen, Jette Bredahl; Thorsen, Bo Jellesmark

2015-01-01

A key prerequisite to ensure that payment for ecosystem services is effective is that the management measures landowners are paid to undertake are in fact additional to the status quo and hence bring about a change in provision. We investigated Danish forest owners' preferences for conditional...... owners may already provide some of these, e.g., if they derive private benefits from them, in which case additionality becomes an issue. This study investigates the link between forest owners' current management and their willingness to accept (WTA) payments for providing specific ecosystem services...... contracts for the provision of ecosystem services in Natura 2000 policies in a sample covering 12.5% of the total private forest area. This involves allowing old trees to decay naturally, setting aside forest areas, accepting a fixed percentage of broadleaves and increasing access for the public. Forest...

Forest biodiversity, carbon and other ecosystem services: relationships and impacts of deforestation and forest degradation

Science.gov (United States)

Ian D. Thompson; Joice Ferreira; Toby Gardner; Manuel Guariguata; Lian Pin Koh; Kimiko Okabe; Yude Pan; Christine B. Schmitt; Jason Tylianakis; Jos Barlow; Valerie Kapos; Werner A. Kurz; John A. Parrotta; Mark D. Spalding; Nathalie van Vliet

2012-01-01

REDD+ actions should be based on the best science and on the understanding that forests can provide more than a repository for carbon but also offer a wide range of services beneficial to people. Biodiversity underpins many ecosystem services, one of which is carbon sequestration, and individual species’ functional traits play an important role in determining...

TOWARDS THE LEGAL RECOGNITION AND GOVERNANCE OF FOREST ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN MOZAMBIQUE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S Norfolk

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Within the context of Mozambique, this paper examines the state of forest ecosystem services, the dependency of the population on these systems for their well-being, if an adaptive governance regime is being created which will ensure the resilience of the forest ecosystem services including the legal framework, the institutions operating within this framework, the tools available and their functioning, and how cooperative governance is operating.

Assessing Urban Forest Structure, Ecosystem Services, and Economic Benefits on Vacant Land

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gunwoo Kim

2016-07-01

Full Text Available An urban forest assessment is essential for developing a baseline from which to measure changes and trends. The most precise way to assess urban forests is to measure and record every tree on a site, but although this may work well for relatively small populations (e.g., street trees, small parks, it is prohibitively expensive for large tree populations. Thus, random sampling offers a cost-effective way to assess urban forest structure and the associated ecosystem services for large-scale assessments. The methodology applied to assess ecosystem services in this study can also be used to assess the ecosystem services provided by vacant land in other urban contexts and improve urban forest policies, planning, and the management of vacant land. The study’s findings support the inclusion of trees on vacant land and contribute to a new vision of vacant land as a valuable ecological resource by demonstrating how green infrastructure can be used to enhance ecosystem health and promote a better quality of life for city residents.

The Forest Service Safety Survey: results from an employee-wide safety attitude survey

Science.gov (United States)

Vanessa R. Lane; Ken Cordell; Stanley J. Zarnoch; Gary T. Green; Neelam Poudyal; Susan Fox

2014-01-01

The Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture launched a Safety Journey in 2011 aimed at elevating safety consciousness and practice in the Agency. All employees were required to attend an engagement session during the year to introduce them to the Safety Journey. In September, a survey was launched to help Forest Service leadership better understand employee...

Amazon Forest maintenance as a source of environmental services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philip M. Fearnside

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Amazonian forest produces environmental services such as maintenance of biodiversity, water cycling and carbon stocks. These services have a much greater value to human society than do the timber, beef and other products that are obtained by destroying the forest. Yet institutional mechanisms are still lacking to transform the value of the standing forest into the foundation of an economy based on maintaining rather than destroying this ecosystem. Forest management for commodities such as timber and non-timber forest products faces severe limitations and inherent contradictions unless income is supplemented based on environmenta lservices. Amazon forest is threatened by deforestation, logging, forest fires and climate change. Measures to avoid deforestation include repression through command and control, creation of protected areas, and reformulation of infrastructure decisions and development policies. An economy primarily based on the value of environmental services is essential for long-term maintenance of the forest. Much progress has been made in the decades since I first proposed such a transition, but many issues also remain unresolved. These include theoretical issues regarding accounting procedures, improved quantification of the services and of the benefits of different policy options, and effective uses of the funds generated in ways that maintain both the forest and the human population.A floresta amazônica produz serviços ambientais, tais como a manutenção da biodiversidade, da ciclagem de água e dos estoques de carbono. Estes serviços têm um valor muito maior para a sociedade humana do que a madeira, carne bovina e outros produtos que são obtidos destruindo a floresta. Mecanismos institucionais ainda estão faltando para transformar o valor da floresta em pé no alicerce de uma economia baseada em manter, em lugar de destruir, este ecossistema. Manejo florestal para madeira e para produtos florestais n

Exploring the willingness to pay for forest ecosystem services by residents of the Veneto Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paola Gatto

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Forests produce a wide array of goods, both private and public. The demand for forest ecosystem services is increasing in many European countries, yet there is still a scarcity of data on values at regional scale for Alpine areas. A Choice Experiment survey has been conducted in order to explore preferences, uses and the willingness of the Veneto population to pay for ecosystem services produced by regional mountain forests. The results show that willingness to pay is significant for recreation and C-sequestration but not for biodiversity conservation, landscape and other ecosystem services. These findings question the feasibility of developing market-based mechanisms in Veneto at present and cast light on the possible role of public institutions in promoting policy actions to increase the general awareness of forest-related ecosystem services.

Economic efficiency in forest service program development

Science.gov (United States)

Robert J. Hrubes

1984-01-01

This report analyzes the procedures used in three regions of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, for selecting the projects that constitute their annual program budget. Personnel at the Southwest (R-3), Pacific Southwest (R-5), and Southern (R-8) Regions were interviewed during September and October 1982. Of special concern was the extent to which...

USDA Forest Service goals and programs for monitoring neotropical migratory birds

Science.gov (United States)

Patricia Manley

1993-01-01

The USDA Forest Service (USFS) developed goals, objectives, and guidelines for monitoring neotropical migratory birds (NTMB) on National Forest System lands in response to the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Program Partners in Flight. A USFS task group developed a hierarchical monitoring framework designed to define priorities for type of monitoring data....

ADVANCED EARTH OBSERVATION APPROACH FOR MULTISCALE FOREST ECOSYSTEM SERVICES MODELING AND MAPPING (MIMOSE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Chirici

2014-04-01

Full Text Available In the last decade ecosystem services (ES have been proposed as a method for quantifying the multifunctional role of forest ecosystems. Their spatial distribution on large areas is frequently limited by the lack of information, because field data collection with traditional methods requires much effort in terms of time and cost.  In this contribution we propose a methodology (namely, MultIscale Mapping Of ecoSystem servicEs - MIMOSE based on the integration of remotely sensed images and field observation to produce a wall-to-wall geodatabase of forest parcels accompanied with several information useful as a basis for future trade-off analysis of different ES. Here, we present the application of the MIMOSE approach to a study area of 443,758 hectares  coincident with administrative Molise Region in Central Italy. The procedure is based on a local high resolution forest types map integrated with information on the main forest management approaches. Through the non-parametric k-Nearest Neighbors techniques, we produced a growing stock volume map integrating a local forest inventory with a multispectral satellite IRS LISS III imagery. With the growing stock volume map we derived a forest age map for even-aged forest types. Later these information were used to automatically create a vector forest parcels map by multidimensional image segmentation that were finally populated with a number of information useful for ES spatial estimation. The contribution briefly introduce to the MIMOSE methodology presenting the preliminary results we achieved which constitute the basis for a future implementation of ES modeling.

Detecting forest cover and ecosystem service change using ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Natural forests in Uganda have experienced both spatial and temporal modifications from different drivers which need to be monitored to assess the impacts of such changes on ecosystems and prevent related risks of reduction in ecosystem service benefits. Ground investigations may be complex because of dual ...

Institutional, individual, and socio-cultural domains of partnerships: a typology of USDA Forest Service recreation partners

Science.gov (United States)

Erin Seekamp; Lee K. Cerveny; Allie. McCreary

2011-01-01

Federal land management agencies, such as the USDA Forest Service, have expanded the role of recreation partners reflecting constrained growth in appropriations and broader societal trends towards civic environmental governance. Partnerships with individual volunteers, service groups, commercial outfitters, and other government agencies provide the USDA Forest Service...

Methods for estimating private forest ownership statistics: revised methods for the USDA Forest Service's National Woodland Owner Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Brenton J. ​Dickinson; Brett J. Butler

2013-01-01

The USDA Forest Service's National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS) is conducted to better understand the attitudes and behaviors of private forest ownerships, which control more than half of US forestland. Inferences about the populations of interest should be based on theoretically sound estimation procedures. A recent review of the procedures disclosed an error in...

Tropical and Highland Temperate Forest Plantations in Mexico: Pathways for Climate Change Mitigation and Ecosystem Services Delivery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vidal Guerra-De la Cruz

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Forest plantations are a possible way of increasing forest productivity in temperate and tropical forests, and therefore also increasing above- and belowground carbon pools. In the context of climate change, monospecific plantations might become an alternative to mitigate global warming; however, their contribution to the structural complexity, complementarity, and biodiversity of forests has not been addressed. Mixed forest plantations can ensure that objectives of climate change mitigation are met through carbon sequestration, while also delivering anticipated ecosystem services (e.g., nutrient cycling, erosion control, and wildlife habitat. However, mixed forest plantations pose considerable operational challenges and research opportunities. For example, it is essential to know how many species or functional traits are necessary to deliver a set of benefits, or what mixture of species and densities are key to maintaining productive plantations and delivering multiple ecosystem services. At the same time, the establishment of forest plantations in Mexico should not be motivated solely by timber production. Forest plantations should also increase carbon sequestration, maintain biodiversity, and provide other ecosystem services. This article analyzes some matters that affect the development of planted forests in the Mexican national context, and presents alternatives for forest resources management through the recommendation of mixed forest plantations as a means of contributing to climate change mitigation and the delivery of ecosystem services.

Basic principles of forest fuel reduction treatments

Science.gov (United States)

James K. Agee; Carl N. Skinner

2005-01-01

Successful fire exclusion in the 20th century has created severe fire problems across the West. Not every forest is at risk of uncharacteristically severe wildfire, but drier forests are in need of active management to mitigate fire hazard. We summarize a set of simple principles important to address in fuel reduction treatments: reduction of surface fuels, increasing...

Detecting Forest Cover and Ecosystem Service Change Using ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user

Mpigi, than in Butambala by 5.99%, disturbed forest was 3%, farm land ... climate change impacts on ecosystem services requires more attention and ... While these conceptual models usually assume relatively a causal-effect ... images with relatively low cloud cover or free-cloud imagery during the time period of interest.

Taking stock: payments for forest ecosystem services in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

D Evan Mercer; David Cooley; Katherine Hamilton

2011-01-01

Forests provide a variety of critical services to human societies, including carbon sequestration, water purification, and habitat for millions of species. Because landowners have traditionally not been paid for the services their land provides to society, financial incentives are usually too low to sustain production of services at optimal levels. To remedy this, a...

Forest ecosystem services in the context of climate change: A new concept for forestry in the Republic of Serbia

OpenAIRE

Trudić, Branislav; Orlović, Saša; Stojnić, Srđan; Pilipović, Andrej; Matović, Bratislav; Novčić, Zoran

2015-01-01

Ecosystem services are a relatively new concept in forestry. While the current forestry practice still describes non-timber forest products as secondary, the concept of ecosystem services originating from FAO and researchers of ecosystem services equally emphasises the economic significance of non-timber products and services forest ecosystems provide as of those primary products - timber biomass. Forest ecosystem services are only a segment of the overall context of ecosystem services in whi...

Urban Forest Ecosystem Service Optimization, Tradeoffs, and Disparities

Science.gov (United States)

Bodnaruk, E.; Kroll, C. N.; Endreny, T. A.; Hirabayashi, S.; Yang, Y.

2014-12-01

Urban land area and the proportion of humanity living in cities is growing, leading to increased urban air pollution, temperature, and stormwater runoff. These changes can exacerbate respiratory and heat-related illnesses and affect ecosystem functioning. Urban trees can help mitigate these threats by removing air pollutants, mitigating urban heat island effects, and infiltrating and filtering stormwater. The urban environment is highly heterogeneous, and there is no tool to determine optimal locations to plant or protect trees. Using spatially explicit land cover, weather, and demographic data within biophysical ecosystem service models, this research expands upon the iTree urban forest tools to produce a new decision support tool (iTree-DST) that will explore the development and impacts of optimal tree planting. It will also heighten awareness of environmental justice by incorporating the Atkinson Index to quantify disparities in health risks and ecosystem services across vulnerable and susceptible populations. The study area is Baltimore City, a location whose urban forest and environmental justice concerns have been studied extensively. The iTree-DST is run at the US Census block group level and utilizes a local gradient approach to calculate the change in ecosystem services with changing tree cover across the study area. Empirical fits provide ecosystem service gradients for possible tree cover scenarios, greatly increasing the speed and efficiency of the optimization procedure. Initial results include an evaluation of the performance of the gradient method, optimal planting schemes for individual ecosystem services, and an analysis of tradeoffs and synergies between competing objectives.

Afforestation, Subsequent Forest Fires and Provision of Hydrological Services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nunes, João Pedro; Naranjo Quintanilla, Paula; Santos, Juliana Marisa; Serpa, Dalila; Carvalho-Santos, Cláudia; Rocha, João; Keizer, Jan Jacob; Keesstra, Saskia Deborah

2018-01-01

Mediterranean landscapes have experienced extensive abandonment and reforestation in recent decades, which should have improved the provision of hydrological services such as flood mitigation, soil erosion protection and water quality regulation. However, these forests are fire-prone, and the

Impacts of Mastication: Soil Seed Bank Responses to a Forest Thinning Treatment in Three Colorado (USA Conifer Forest Types

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akasha M. Faist

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Mastication is a forest fuel thinning treatment that involves chipping or shredding small trees and shrubs and depositing the material across the forest floor. By decreasing forest density mastication has been shown to lessen crown fire hazard, yet other impacts have only recently started to be studied. Our study evaluates how mastication treatments alter the density and composition of soil seed banks in three Colorado conifer forest types. The three forest types were (1 lodgepole pine, (2 ponderosa pine and (3 pinyon pine-juniper. Results showed that masticated sites contained higher seed bank densities than untreated sites: a pattern primarily driven by treatment effects in ponderosa pine forests. The seed bank was dominated by forbs regardless of forest type or treatment. This pattern of forb dominance was not observed in the aboveground vegetation cover as it demonstrated more even proportions of the functional groups. Graminoids showed a higher seed density in treated sites than untreated and, similarly, the identified non-native species only occurred in the treated ponderosa pine sites suggesting a potential belowground invasion for this forest type. These results suggest that presence of masticated material might not be creating a physical barrier hindering the transfer of seeds as predicted.

Understanding Climate Change Perceptions, Attitudes, and Needs of Forest Service Resource Managers

Science.gov (United States)

Carlos Rodriguez-Franco; Tara J. Haan

2015-01-01

Surveys were collected to assess Forest Service (FS) resource managers' perceptions, attitudes, and informational needs related to climate change and its potential impacts on forests and grasslands. Resource managers with three background types were surveyed. All participants generally considered themselves to be well-informed on climate change issues, although...

Forest products cluster development in central Arizona—implications for landscape-scale forest restoration

Science.gov (United States)

David. Nicholls

2014-01-01

Since 2004, close to 50,000 ac of hazardous fuels have been mechanically treated in east-central Arizona as part of the USDA Forest Service's first 10-year stewardship project on national forest lands. The need for coordinated wood products and biomass utilization in Arizona is likely to increase as broad-scale restoration treatments across Arizona's national...

Synergy and contradictions between wood production and ecosystem services supplied to society - the case of private forests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Picard, Olivier

2012-01-01

Today, private foresters earn their income almost exclusively from the sale of wood, with a turnover of 105 Euro/ha. Ecosystem services could generate a value of 970 euros/ha/year, i.e. eight times the forestry income derived from timber. The question therefore arises: can these services supplement forest income or do they interfere with the production of wood? Foresters are faced with choices that are becoming increasingly complex, uncertain, risky and sometimes conflicting. They are of several kinds: legal, economic, environmental, social, technical, climatic, etc. Are they in a position to produce timber using appropriate silvicultural techniques while at the same time providing the services that society is demanding? Faced with these new challenges, what is the guidance that should be given to foresters? To develop messages that make sense to foresters, the 'Forestiers prives de France' (private owners) federation and the CNPF (National Centre for Forest Property) conducted a survey on forest owners called the ReSOFOp. (authors)

Quantifying resilience of multiple ecosystem services and biodiversity in a temperate forest landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Cantarello, Elena; Newton, Adrian C; Martin, Philip A; Evans, Paul M; Gosal, Arjan; Lucash, Melissa S

2017-11-01

Resilience is increasingly being considered as a new paradigm of forest management among scientists, practitioners, and policymakers. However, metrics of resilience to environmental change are lacking. Faced with novel disturbances, forests may be able to sustain existing ecosystem services and biodiversity by exhibiting resilience, or alternatively these attributes may undergo either a linear or nonlinear decline. Here we provide a novel quantitative approach for assessing forest resilience that focuses on three components of resilience, namely resistance, recovery, and net change, using a spatially explicit model of forest dynamics. Under the pulse set scenarios, we explored the resilience of nine ecosystem services and four biodiversity measures following a one-off disturbance applied to an increasing percentage of forest area. Under the pulse + press set scenarios, the six disturbance intensities explored during the pulse set were followed by a continuous disturbance. We detected thresholds in net change under pulse + press scenarios for the majority of the ecosystem services and biodiversity measures, which started to decline sharply when disturbance affected >40% of the landscape. Thresholds in net change were not observed under the pulse scenarios, with the exception of timber volume and ground flora species richness. Thresholds were most pronounced for aboveground biomass, timber volume with respect to the ecosystem services, and ectomycorrhizal fungi and ground flora species richness with respect to the biodiversity measures. Synthesis and applications . The approach presented here illustrates how the multidimensionality of stability research in ecology can be addressed and how forest resilience can be estimated in practice. Managers should adopt specific management actions to support each of the three components of resilience separately, as these may respond differently to disturbance. In addition, management interventions aiming to deliver resilience

Assisting the U.S. Forest Service in monitoring and managing the Pacific pine marten

Science.gov (United States)

Force, A.; Hadley, N.; Howell, B. L.; Holsinger, K.

2017-12-01

Innovative partnerships that bridge institutional sectors may be key in seizing many opportunities for highly effective projects. Adventure Scientists is a nonprofit organization that works in partnership with governments, universities, businesses and other nonprofits to support their need for actionable, research-grade data. In every partnership, it is critical that responsible decision-makers are involved and in place to use the data collected, such as to inform new resource management strategies or regulatory policies. In this presentation, we will highlight our experience working on one such partnership. In 2013, the U.S. Forest Service and Adventure Scientists collaborated on a two-year project to better understand Pacific pine marten (Martes caurina), a small native carnivore, in the Olympic National Forest. In response to the species' recent disappearance, Forest managers needed to gather more accurate data on martens' presence and abundance to support species management. Adventure Scientists was in a unique position to provide the agency this needed data-collection capacity. Volunteers collected data about the marten populations by positioning and monitoring camera traps throughout the area. Utilizing our volunteer-collected data, the U.S. Forest Service was able to inform the management and protection of these threatened species in U.S Forest Service Region 6. This project was also successful in establishing the foundation for an expanded, long-term relationship with the agency, where both parties continue to explore partnership opportunities for Adventure Scientists to collect data system-wide in support of U.S. Forest Service improved land management and policy decisions.

Research and development portfolio of the sustainability science team national sustainable operations USDA Forest Service

Science.gov (United States)

Trista Patterson; David Nicholls; Jonathan Long

2015-01-01

The Sustainability Science Team (SST) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service Sustainable Operations Initiative is a 18-member virtual research and development team, located across five regions and four research stations of the USDA Forest Service. The team provides research, publication, systems analysis, and decision support to the Sustainable...

Achieving sustainable ese of environment: a framework for payment for protected forest ecosystem service

Science.gov (United States)

Widicahyono, A.; Awang, S. A.; Maryudi, A.; Setiawan, M. A.; Rusdimi, A. U.; Handoko, D.; Muhammad, R. A.

2018-04-01

Over the last decade, deforestation in Indonesia has reduced the forest area down to more than 6 million hectares. There is conflict that the protected forest ecosystem service is still often perceived as public goods. Many of them went unrecognized in planning process and continue to be undervalued. The challenge lies in maintaining socioeconomic development and ecosystem services sustainability without overlooking the people’s opportunities and improving their livelihoods over the long term. An integrated approach is required to understand the comprehensive concept of protected forest ecosystem service. This research aims to formulate a scheme of payment for ecosystem service (PES) in a protected forest. It is a first step towards the attempt for the value of ecosystem services to be reflected in decision-making. Literatures, previous researches and secondary data are reviewed thoroughly to analyze the interrelated components by looking at the environment as a whole and recognize their linkages that have consequences to one another both positive and negative. The framework of implementation of PES schemes outlines the complexity of human-environment interconnecting relationships. It evaluates the contributing actors of different interest i.e. long term use and short term use. The concept of PES accommodates the fulfillment of both conservation and exploitation with an incentive scheme to the contributing parties who are willing to implement conservation and issuance of compensation expense for any exploitation means. The most crucial part in this concept is to have a good and effective communication between every policy makers concerning the forest ecosystem and local communities.

Ecosystem services: foundations, opportunities, and challenges for the forest products sector

Science.gov (United States)

Trista M. Patterson; Dana L. Coelho

2009-01-01

The ecosystem service concept has been proposed as a meaningful framework for natural resource management. In theory, it holds concomitant benefit and consequence for the forest product sector. However, numerous barriers impede practitioners from developing concrete and enduring responses to emerging ecosystem service markets, policies, and initiatives. Principal among...

Assessing impacts of intensified biomass production and biodiversity protection on ecosystem services provided by European forests

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verkerk, P.J.; Mavsar, R.; Giergiczny, M.; Lindner, M.; Edwards, D.; Schelhaas, M.J.

2014-01-01

To develop viable strategies for intensifying the use of forest biomass and for increasing forest protection, impacts on ecosystem services need to be assessed. We investigated the biophysical and economic impacts of increased forest biomass production and biodiversity protection on forest ecosystem

Regional and forest-level estimates of carbon stored in harvested wood products from the United States Forest Service Northern Region, 1906-2010

Science.gov (United States)

N. Anderson; J. Young; K. Stockmann; K. Skog; S. Healey; D. Loeffler; J.G. Jones; J. Morrison

2013-01-01

Global forests capture and store significant amounts of CO2 through photosynthesis. When carbon is removed from forests through harvest, a portion of the harvested carbon is stored in wood products, often for many decades. The United States Forest Service (USFS) and other agencies are interested in accurately accounting for carbon flux associated with harvested wood...

Hydrological services and biodiversity conservation under forestation scenarios: comparing options to improve watershed management

Science.gov (United States)

Carvalho-Santos, Claudia; Nunes, João Pedro; Sousa-Silva, Rita; Gonçalves, João; Pradinho Honrado, João

2015-04-01

Humans rely on ecosystems for the provision of hydrological services, namely water supply and water damage mitigation, and promoting forests is a widely used management strategy for the provision of hydrological services. Therefore, it is important to model how forests will contribute for this provision, taking into account the environmental characteristics of each region, as well as the spatio-temporal patterns of societal demand. In addition, ensuring forest protection and the delivery of forest ecosystem services is one of the aims included in the European Union biodiversity strategy to 2020. On the other hand, forest management for hydrological services must consider possible trade-offs with other services provision, as well as with biodiversity conservation. Accurate modeling and mapping of both hydrological services and biodiversity conservation value is thus important to support spatial planning and land management options involving forests. The objectives of this study were: to analyze the provision and spatial dynamics of hydrological services under two forest cover change scenarios (oak and eucalyptus/pine) compared to the current shrubland-dominated landscape; and to evaluate their spatial trade-offs with biodiversity conservation value. The Vez watershed (250km2), in northwest Portugal, was used as case-study area. SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) was applied to simulate the provision of hydrological services (water supply quantity, timing and quality; soil erosion and flood regulation), and was calibrated against daily discharge, sediments, nitrates and evapotranspiration. Good agreement was obtained between model predictions and field measurements. The maps for each service under the different scenarios were produced at the Hydrologic Response Unit (HRU) level. Biodiversity conservation value was based on nature protection regimes and on expert valuation applied to a land cover map. Statistical correlations between hydrological services provision

76 FR 43718 - Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Gila National...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-21

... Reservation, New Mexico (hereinafter referred to as ``The Tribes''). History and Description of the Remains... History, Chicago, IL AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Gila National Forest and the Field Museum of Natural History have...

Assessing and comparing risk to climate changes among forested locations: implications for ecosystem services

Science.gov (United States)

Stephen N. Matthews; Louis R. Iverson; Matthew P. Peters; Anantha M. Prasad; Sakthi. Subburayalu

2014-01-01

Forests provide key ecosystem services (ES) and the extent to which the ES are realized varies spatially, with forest composition and cultural context, and in breadth, depending on the dominant tree species inhabiting an area. We address the question of how climate change may impact ES within the temperate and diverse forests of the eastern United States. We quantify...

The US Forest Service Watershed Condition Classification: Status and Path Forward

Science.gov (United States)

Levinson, D. H.; Carlson, C. P.; Eberle, M. B.

2017-12-01

The US Forest Service Watershed Condition Classification (WCC) was developed as a tool to characterize the condition or health of watersheds on National Forests and Grasslands and assist the Agency in prioritizing actions to restore or maintain the condition of specified watersheds. After a number of years of exploring alternative approaches to assessing the health or condition of watersheds, the WCC and the associated Watershed Condition Framework were developed in response to concerns raised by the US Office of Management and Budget that the Forest Service was not able to demonstrate success in restoring watersheds on a national scale. The WCC was initially applied in 2011 to the roughly 15,000 HUC12 watersheds with an area of Forest Service management of 5% or greater. This initial watershed classification found that 52% (or 7,882) were Functioning Properly (Class 1), 45% (or 6,751) were Functioning at Risk (Class 2), and 3% (or 431) had Impaired Function (Class 3). The basic model used in the WCC was intended to provide a reconnaissance-level evaluation of watershed condition through the use of a systematic, flexible means of classifying and comparing watersheds based on a core set of national watershed condition indicators. The WCC consists of 12 indicators in four major process categories: (1) aquatic physical, (2) aquatic biological, (3) terrestrial physical, and (4) terrestrial biological. Each of the indicators is informed by one or more attributes. The attributes fall into three primary categories: numeric, descriptive, and map-derived, each of which is to be interpreted by an interdisciplinary team at the unit level. The descriptive and map-derived attributes are considered to be semi-quantitative or based on professional judgement of the team. The original description of the attributes anticipated that many of them would be improved as better data and information become available. With the advances in geographic information systems and remote sensing

Involving forest communities in identifying and constructing ecosystems services: millennium assessment and place specificity

Science.gov (United States)

Stanley T. Asah; Dale J. Blahna; Clare M. Ryan

2012-01-01

The ecosystem services (ES) approach entails integrating people into public forest management and managing to meet their needs and wants. Managers must find ways to understand what these needs are and how they are met. In this study, we used small group discussions, in a case study of the Deschutes National Forest, to involve community members and forest staff in...

Manual of design and installation of Forest Service water spray dry kiln

Science.gov (United States)

L.V. Teesdale

1920-01-01

The best thing that can be said of any dry kiln is that when it is run by a properly informed operator the temperature, humidity, and circulation are constant and uniform. In an endeavor to produce a kiln in which each of these could be regulated independently of the others, the Forest Products Laboratory designed and developed the "Forest Service Humidity...

78 FR 38287 - Bitterroot National Forest, Darby Ranger District, Como Forest Health Project

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-26

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Bitterroot National Forest, Darby Ranger District, Como Forest Health Project AGENCY: Forest Service. ACTION: Notice; Correction. SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service, Bitterroot National Forest, Darby Ranger District published a document in...

Soil and water related forest ecosystem services and resilience of social ecological system in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia

Science.gov (United States)

Tekalign, Meron; Muys, Bart; Nyssen, Jan; Poesen, Jean

2014-05-01

In the central highlands of Ethiopia, deforestation and forest degradation are occurring and accelerating during the last century. The high population pressure is the most repeatedly mentioned reason. However, in the past 30 years researchers agreed that the absence of institutions, which could define the access rights to particular forest resources, is another underlying cause of forest depletion and loss. Changing forest areas into different land use types is affecting the biodiversity, which is manifested through not proper functioning of ecosystem services. Menagesha Suba forest, the focus of this study has been explored from various perspectives. However the social dimension and its interaction with the ecology have been addressed rarely. This research uses a combined theoretical framework of Ecosystem Services and that of Resilience thinking for understanding the complex social-ecological interactions in the forest and its influence on ecosystem services. For understanding the history and extent of land use land cover changes, in-depth literature review and a GIS and remote sensing analysis will be made. The effect of forest conversion into plantation and agricultural lands on soil and above ground carbon sequestration, fuel wood and timber products delivery will be analyzed with the accounting of the services on five land use types. The four ecosystem services to be considered are Supporting, Provisioning, Regulating, and Cultural services as set by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. A resilience based participatory framework approach will be used to analyze how the social and ecological systems responded towards the drivers of change that occurred in the past. The framework also will be applied to predict future uncertainties. Finally this study will focus on the possible interventions that could contribute to the sustainable management and conservation of the forest. An ecosystem services trade-off analysis and an environmental valuation of the water

Cost-effectiveness of dryland forest restoration evaluated by spatial analysis of ecosystem services

Science.gov (United States)

Birch, Jennifer C.; Newton, Adrian C.; Aquino, Claudia Alvarez; Cantarello, Elena; Echeverría, Cristian; Kitzberger, Thomas; Schiappacasse, Ignacio; Garavito, Natalia Tejedor

2010-01-01

Although ecological restoration is widely used to combat environmental degradation, very few studies have evaluated the cost-effectiveness of this approach. We examine the potential impact of forest restoration on the value of multiple ecosystem services across four dryland areas in Latin America, by estimating the net value of ecosystem service benefits under different reforestation scenarios. The values of selected ecosystem services were mapped under each scenario, supported by the use of a spatially explicit model of forest dynamics. We explored the economic potential of a change in land use from livestock grazing to restored native forest using different discount rates and performed a cost–benefit analysis of three restoration scenarios. Results show that passive restoration is cost-effective for all study areas on the basis of the services analyzed, whereas the benefits from active restoration are generally outweighed by the relatively high costs involved. These findings were found to be relatively insensitive to discount rate but were sensitive to the market value of carbon. Substantial variation in values was recorded between study areas, demonstrating that ecosystem service values are strongly context specific. However, spatial analysis enabled localized areas of net benefits to be identified, indicating the value of this approach for identifying the relative costs and benefits of restoration interventions across a landscape. PMID:21106761

Bird and bat predation services in tropical forests and agroforestry landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Maas, Bea; Karp, Daniel S; Bumrungsri, Sara; Darras, Kevin; Gonthier, David; Huang, Joe C-C; Lindell, Catherine A; Maine, Josiah J; Mestre, Laia; Michel, Nicole L; Morrison, Emily B; Perfecto, Ivette; Philpott, Stacy M; Şekercioğlu, Çagan H; Silva, Roberta M; Taylor, Peter J; Tscharntke, Teja; Van Bael, Sunshine A; Whelan, Christopher J; Williams-Guillén, Kimberly

2016-11-01

Understanding distribution patterns and multitrophic interactions is critical for managing bat- and bird-mediated ecosystem services such as the suppression of pest and non-pest arthropods. Despite the ecological and economic importance of bats and birds in tropical forests, agroforestry systems, and agricultural systems mixed with natural forest, a systematic review of their impact is still missing. A growing number of bird and bat exclosure experiments has improved our knowledge allowing new conclusions regarding their roles in food webs and associated ecosystem services. Here, we review the distribution patterns of insectivorous birds and bats, their local and landscape drivers, and their effects on trophic cascades in tropical ecosystems. We report that for birds but not bats community composition and relative importance of functional groups changes conspicuously from forests to habitats including both agricultural areas and forests, here termed 'forest-agri' habitats, with reduced representation of insectivores in the latter. In contrast to previous theory regarding trophic cascade strength, we find that birds and bats reduce the density and biomass of arthropods in the tropics with effect sizes similar to those in temperate and boreal communities. The relative importance of birds versus bats in regulating pest abundances varies with season, geography and management. Birds and bats may even suppress tropical arthropod outbreaks, although positive effects on plant growth are not always reported. As both bats and birds are major agents of pest suppression, a better understanding of the local and landscape factors driving the variability of their impact is needed. © 2015 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Short and long-term carbon balance of bioenergy electricity production fueled by forest treatments

OpenAIRE

Kelsey, Katharine C; Barnes, Kallie L; Ryan, Michael G; Neff, Jason C

2014-01-01

Background Forests store large amounts of carbon in forest biomass, and this carbon can be released to the atmosphere following forest disturbance or management. In the western US, forest fuel reduction treatments designed to reduce the risk of high severity wildfire can change forest carbon balance by removing carbon in the form of biomass, and by altering future potential wildfire behavior in the treated stand. Forest treatment carbon balance is further affected by the fate of this biomass ...

A content analysis of USDA Forest Service recreation partnerships

Science.gov (United States)

Steve Selin

1995-01-01

The USDA Forest Service has been implementing a partnership initiative for 6 years as part of the National Recreation Strategy. Several internal efforts have been undertaken to evaluate the progress made in this initiative as well as to make adjustments in the initiative for the future. These evaluation efforts are extended to present a content analysis of recreation...

Lessons from native spruce forests in Alaska: managing Sitka spruce plantations worldwide to benefit biodiversity and ecosystem services

Science.gov (United States)

Robert L. Deal; Paul Hennon; Richard O' Hanlon; David D' Amore

2014-01-01

There is increasing interest worldwide in managing forests to maintain or improve biodiversity, enhance ecosystem services and assure long-term sustainability of forest resources. An important goal of forest management is to increase stand diversity, provide wildlife habitat and improve forest species diversity. We synthesize results from natural spruce forests in...

Short and long-term carbon balance of bioenergy electricity production fueled by forest treatments.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelsey, Katharine C; Barnes, Kallie L; Ryan, Michael G; Neff, Jason C

2014-01-01

Forests store large amounts of carbon in forest biomass, and this carbon can be released to the atmosphere following forest disturbance or management. In the western US, forest fuel reduction treatments designed to reduce the risk of high severity wildfire can change forest carbon balance by removing carbon in the form of biomass, and by altering future potential wildfire behavior in the treated stand. Forest treatment carbon balance is further affected by the fate of this biomass removed from the forest, and the occurrence and intensity of a future wildfire in this stand. In this study we investigate the carbon balance of a forest treatment with varying fates of harvested biomass, including use for bioenergy electricity production, and under varying scenarios of future disturbance and regeneration. Bioenergy is a carbon intensive energy source; in our study we find that carbon emissions from bioenergy electricity production are nearly twice that of coal for the same amount of electricity. However, some emissions from bioenergy electricity production are offset by avoided fossil fuel electricity emissions. The carbon benefit achieved by using harvested biomass for bioenergy electricity production may be increased through avoided pyrogenic emissions if the forest treatment can effectively reduce severity. Forest treatments with the use of harvested biomass for electricity generation can reduce carbon emissions to the atmosphere by offsetting fossil fuel electricity generation emissions, and potentially by avoided pyrogenic emissions due to reduced intensity and severity of a future wildfire in the treated stand. However, changes in future wildfire and regeneration regimes may affect forest carbon balance and these climate-induced changes may influence forest carbon balance as much, or more, than bioenergy production.

Vulnerability to climate-induced changes in ecosystem services of boreal forests

Science.gov (United States)

Holmberg, Maria; Rankinen, Katri; Aalto, Tuula; Akujärvi, Anu; Nadir Arslan, Ali; Liski, Jari; Markkanen, Tiina; Mäkelä, Annikki; Peltoniemi, Mikko

2016-04-01

Boreal forests provide an array of ecosystem services. They regulate climate, and carbon, water and nutrient fluxes, and provide renewable raw material, food, and recreational possibilities. Rapid climate warming is projected for the boreal zone, and has already been observed in Finland, which sets these services at risk. MONIMET (LIFE12 ENV/FI/000409, 2.9.2013 - 1.9.2017) is a project funded by EU Life programme about Climate Change Indicators and Vulnerability of Boreal Zone Applying Innovative Observation and Modeling Techniques. The coordinating beneficiary of the project is the Finnish Meteorological Institute. Associated beneficiaries are the Natural Resources Institute Finland, the Finnish Environment Institute and the University of Helsinki. In the MONIMET project, we use state-of-the-art models and new monitoring methods to investigate the impacts of a warming climate on the provision of ecosystem services of boreal forests. This poster presents results on carbon storage in soil and assessment of drought indices, as a preparation for assessing the vulnerability of society to climate-induced changes in ecosystem services. The risk of decreasing provision of ecosystem services depends on the sensitivity of the ecosystem as well as its exposure to climate stress. The vulnerability of society, in turn, depends on the risk of decreasing provision of a certain service in combination with society's demand for that service. In the next phase, we will look for solutions to challenges relating to the quantification of the demand for ecosystem services and differences in spatial extent and resolution of the information on future supply and demand.

Forecasts of forest conditions in regions of the United States under future scenarios: a technical document supporting the Forest Service 2012 RPA Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

David N. Wear; Robert Huggett; Ruhong Li; Benjamin Perryman; Shan Liu

2013-01-01

The 626 million acres of forests in the conterminous United States represent significant reserves of biodiversity and terrestrial carbon and provide substantial flows of highly valued ecosystem services, including timber products, watershed protection benefits, and recreation. This report describes forecasts of forest conditions for the conterminous United States in...

Examining USDA Forest Service recreation partnerships: institutional and relational interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Erin Seekamp; Lee K. Cerveny

2010-01-01

Since the 1980s, the USDA Forest Service budget has experienced limited growth. Downsizing and outsourcing characterize the agency's response to constrained appropriations. The agency increasingly works with partners to meet targets that otherwise could not be achieved. Partnerships may take many structural forms (e.g., memorandums of understanding, joint venture...

From failure to value: economic valuation for a selected set of products and services from Mediterranean forests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Davide Pettenella

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Aim of study: the paper estimates the economic value of a selected range of forest products and services, i.e. roundwood, non-wood forest products (NWFPs, and carbon-related services.Area of study: the research covers 21 Mediterranean countries, distinguished into four sub-regions.Material and methods: data have been gathered from official statistical sources (e.g. FAOSTAT, scientific literature and technical reports. Different estimation approaches based on market-price have been used for different products/services.Main results: the estimated value ranges between €10,512 and €11,158 million (M. Wood products represent more than 85% of the total value. Within them, industrial timber is the most relevant component (65%. Figures for NWFPs are likely to be underestimated because data are available only for some products and countries. When using alternative estimates for pine nuts, pine resin and cork, figures show a €36.8-572 M increase. In geographical terms, the economic value of Mediterranean forests is highly concentrated: North-West Mediterranean countries account for 70%, and nearly 90% is in just four countries (France, Spain, Turkey and Italy.Research highlights: enhancing the offer of Mediterranean forest products and increasing their role in the rural economy could help to reduce the costs of forest protection: a well-structured forest economy ensuring stable flows of incomes can provide a fundamental set of public non-market services and social values to both local people and the whole community. Understanding the true value of natural resources, then, is an essential step for promoting their protection and sustainable use.Abbreviations: Bln: billion; CUM: cubic meter; EM: East Mediterranean; FAO: Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations; FRA: Forest Resource Assessment; ha: hectare; M: million; NEM: North-East Mediterranean; NWFP: non-wood forest product; NWM: North-West Mediterranean; SM: South Mediterranean. 

Evaluating the Effectiveness Of Postfire Rehabilitation Treatments

Science.gov (United States)

Peter R. Robichaud; Jan L. Beyers; Daniel G. Neary

2000-01-01

Spending on postfire emergency watershed rehabilitation has increased during the past decade. A west-wide evaluation of USDA Forest Service burned area emergency rehabilitation (BAER) treatment effectiveness was undertaken as a joint project by USDA Forest Service Research and National Forest System staffs. This evaluation covers 470 fires and 321 BAER projects, from...

Human dimensions in ecosystem management: a USDA Forest Service perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Deborah S. Carr

1995-01-01

For many decades, the natural resource profession has approached the management of public lands as exclusively a natural science endeavor requiring purely technical solutions. With the adoption of an ecosystem management philosophy, the USDA Forest Service has acknowledged the centrality of people in land management policy and decision-making. This paper explores the...

Assessing human health risk in the USDA forest service

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hamel, D.R. [Department of Agriculture-Forest Service, Washington, DC (United States)

1990-12-31

This paper identifies the kinds of risk assessments being done by or for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service. Summaries of data sources currently in use and the pesticide risk assessments completed by the agency or its contractors are discussed. An overview is provided of the agency`s standard operating procedures for the conduct of toxicological, ecological, environmental fate, and human health risk assessments.

75 FR 8645 - Public Meetings on the Development of the Forest Service Land Management Planning Rule

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-25

...The USDA Forest Service is committed to developing a new Forest Service Land Management Planning Rule (planning rule) through a transparent and participatory process. To facilitate public participation, dialogue, and active collaboration, the Forest Service will host a national science forum, three national roundtables, and nine regional roundtables. Summaries of each session will be produced and posted on the planning rule Web site as part of the public record. While public participation in the forum and roundtables will be a valuable source of information for the rule-writing process, this participation is not a substitute for the submission of written comments through the formal National Environmental Policy Act and Administrative Procedure Act (NEPA/APA) processes. Any comments you wish to be considered as part of the formal NEPA/APA process must be made by you in writing during the appropriate comment period.

Habitat use by bats in two Indiana forests prior to silvicultural treatments for oak regeneration

Science.gov (United States)

Jeremy J. Sheets; Joseph E. Duchamp; Megan K. Caylor; Laura D' Acunto; John O. Whitaker; Virgil Jr. Brack; Dale W. Sparks

2013-01-01

As part of a study examining the effects of silvicultural treatments for oak regeneration on habitat use by bats, we surveyed forest stands prior to the implementation of treatments in two state forests in Indiana. Interior forest sites corresponding to areas designated for silvicultural treatments were surveyed for 2 nights each during the summers of 2007 and 2008....

Forest wildfire, fuel reduction treatments, and landscape carbon stocks: a sensitivity analysis

Science.gov (United States)

John L. Campbell; Alan A. Ager

2013-01-01

Fuel reduction treatments prescribed in fire-suppressed forests of western North America pose an apparent paradox with respect to terrestrial carbon management. Such treatments have the immediate effect of reducing forest carbon stocks but likely reduce future carbon losses through the combustion and mortality caused by high-severity wildfires. Assessing the long-term...

Environmental accounting of natural capital and ecosystem services for the US National Forest System

Science.gov (United States)

Elliot T. Campbell; Mark T. Brown; NO-VALUE

2012-01-01

The National Forests of the United States encompass 192.7 million acres (78 million hectares) of land, which is nearly five percent of the total land area of the nation. These lands are managed by the US Forest Service (USFS) for multiple uses, including extraction of timber, production of fossil fuels and minerals, public recreation, and the preservation of...

Quantifying Forest Ecosystem Services Tradeoff—Coupled Ecological and Economic Models

Science.gov (United States)

Haff, P. K.; Ling, P. Y.

2015-12-01

Quantification of the effect of carbon-related forestland management activities on ecosystem services is difficult, because knowledge about the dynamics of coupled social-ecological systems is lacking. Different forestland management activities, such as various amount, timing, and methods of harvesting, and natural disturbances events, such as wind and fires, create shocks and uncertainties to the forest carbon dynamics. A spatially explicit model, Landis-ii, was used to model the forest succession for different harvest management scenarios at the Grandfather District, North Carolina. In addition to harvest, the model takes into account of the impact of natural disturbances, such as fire and insects, and species competition. The result shows the storage of carbon in standing biomass and in wood product for each species for each scenario. In this study, optimization is used to analyze the maximum profit and the number of tree species that each forest landowner can gain at different prices of carbon, roundwood, and interest rates for different harvest management scenarios. Time series of roundwood production of different types were estimated using remote sensing data. Econometric analysis is done to understand the possible interaction and relations between the production of different types of roundwood and roundwood prices, which can indicate the possible planting scheme that a forest owner may make. This study quantifies the tradeoffs between carbon sequestration, roundwood production, and forest species diversity not only from an economic perspective, but also takes into account of the forest succession mechanism in a species-diverse region. The resulting economic impact on the forest landowners is likely to influence their future planting decision, which in turn, will influence the species composition and future revenue of the landowners.

Mechanical mastication as a fuels treatment in southeastern forests

Science.gov (United States)

Jesse K. Kreye; J. Morgan Varner; Leda N. Kobziar

2016-01-01

Mastication is an increasingly common fuels treatment that redistributes ‘‘ladder’’ fuels to the forest floor to reduce vertical fuel continuity, crown fire potential, and fireline intensity. Despite its widespread adoption, it remains unclear how mastication impacts fuels, fire behavior, or plant communities  across Southeastern forest ecosystems. We evaluated these...

From failure to value: economic valuation for a selected set of products and services from Mediterranean forests

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Masiero, M.; Pettenella, D.; Secco, L.

2016-07-01

Aim of study: the paper estimates the economic value of a selected range of forest products and services, i.e. roundwood, non-wood forest products (NWFPs), and carbon-related services. Area of study: the research covers 21 Mediterranean countries, distinguished into four sub-regions. Material and methods: data have been gathered from official statistical sources (e.g. FAOSTAT), scientific literature and technical reports. Different estimation approaches based on market-price have been used for different products/services. Main results: the estimated value ranges between €10,512 and €11,158 million (M). Wood products represent more than 85% of the total value. Within them, industrial timber is the most relevant component (65%). Figures for NWFPs are likely to be underestimated because data are available only for some products and countries. When using alternative estimates for pine nuts, pine resin and cork, figures show a €36.8-572 M increase. In geographical terms, the economic value of Mediterranean forests is highly concentrated: North-West Mediterranean countries account for 70%, and nearly 90% is in just four countries (France, Spain, Turkey and Italy). Research highlights: enhancing the offer of Mediterranean forest products and increasing their role in the rural economy could help to reduce the costs of forest protection: a well-structured forest economy ensuring stable flows of incomes can provide a fundamental set of public non-market services and social values to both local people and the whole community. Understanding the true value of natural resources, then, is an essential step for promoting their protection and sustainable use. (Author)

77 FR 18997 - Rim Lakes Forest Restoration Project; Apache-Sitgreavese National Forest, Black Mesa Ranger...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-29

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Rim Lakes Forest Restoration Project; Apache-Sitgreavese National Forest, Black Mesa Ranger District, Coconino County, AZ AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement. SUMMARY: The U.S. Forest Service (FS) will...

Contribution of ecosystem services to air quality and climate change mitigation policies: The case of urban forests in Barcelona, Spain

Science.gov (United States)

Francesc Baró; Lydia Chaparro; Erik Gómez-Baggethun; Johannes Langemeyer; David J. Nowak; Jaume. Terradas

2014-01-01

Mounting research highlights the contribution of ecosystem services provided by urban forests to quality of life in cities, yet these services are rarely explicitly considered in environmental policy targets. We quantify regulating services provided by urban forests and evaluate their contribution to comply with policy targets of air quality and climate change...

Forest resources of the Lincoln National Forest

Science.gov (United States)

John D. Shaw

2006-01-01

The Interior West Forest Inventory and Analysis (IWFIA) program of the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, as part of its national Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) duties, conducted forest resource inventories of the Southwestern Region (Region 3) National Forests. This report presents highlights of the Lincoln National Forest 1997 inventory...

Recreation equity: Is the Forest Service serving its diverse publics?

Science.gov (United States)

David Flores; Gennaro Falco; Nina S. Roberts; Francisco P. Valenzuela

2018-01-01

In 2044 the United States is expected to be a majority-minority nation. Promoting participation in outdoor recreation among racial and ethnic minority populations has long been a challenge facing the contemporary recreation manager. In this article, we compare data from the US Forest Service National Visitor Use Monitoring program from 2010-2014 to US Census data from...

Comparison of snag densities among regeneration treatments in mixed pine-hardwood forests

Science.gov (United States)

Roger W. Perry; Ronald E. Thill

2013-01-01

Standing dead trees (snags) are an important component of forest ecosystems, providing foraging, nesting, and roosting substrate for a variety of vertebrates. We examined the effects of four forest regeneration treatments on residual snag density and compared those with densities found in unharvested, naturally regenerated forests (controls) during the second, fourth,...

76 FR 70955 - Helena Nation Forest: Dalton Mountain Forest Restoration & Fuels Reduction Project

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-16

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Helena Nation Forest: Dalton Mountain Forest Restoration & Fuels Reduction Project AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement. SUMMARY: The Helena National Forest (HNF) is proposing on the Lincoln Ranger...

Implementation of the Forest Service Open Space Conservation Strategy in Washington State: Exploring the Role of the National Forest System

Science.gov (United States)

Richard J. Pringle; Lee K. Cerveny; Gordon A. Bradley

2015-01-01

The loss of open space was declared one of the “four threats to the health of our nation’s forests” by former USDA Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth in 2004. Since then, the agencywide Open Space Conservation Strategy (OSCS) was released and the “four threats” were incorporated into the agency’s National Strategic Plan. These actions indicate that the OSCS is in the...

Estimates of carbon stored in harvested wood products from United States Forest Service Northern Region, 1906-2012

Science.gov (United States)

Keith Stockmann; Nathaniel Anderson; Jesse Young; Ken Skog; Sean Healey; Dan Loeffler; Edward Butler; J. Greg Jones; James Morrison

2014-01-01

Global forests capture and store significant amounts of carbon through photosynthesis. When carbon is removed from forests through harvest, a portion of the harvested carbon is stored in wood products, often for many decades. The United States Forest Service (USFS) and other agencies are interested in accurately accounting for carbon flux associated with harvested wood...

Estimates of carbon stored in harvested wood products from United States Forest Service Southern Region, 1911-2012

Science.gov (United States)

Dan Loeffler; Nathaniel Anderson; Keith Stockmann; Ken Skog; Sean Healey; J. Greg Jones; James Morrison; Jesse Young

2014-01-01

Global forests capture and store significant amounts of carbon through photosynthesis. When carbon is removed from forests through harvest, a portion of the harvested carbon is stored in wood products, often for many decades. The United States Forest Service (USFS) and other agencies are interested in accurately accounting for carbon flux associated with harvested wood...

Estimates of carbon stored in harvested wood products from United States Forest Service Intermountain Region, 1911-2012

Science.gov (United States)

Keith Stockmann; Nathaniel Anderson; Jesse Young; Ken Skog; Sean Healey; Dan Loeffler; Edward Butler; J. Greg Jones; James Morrison

2014-01-01

Global forests capture and store significant amounts of carbon through photosynthesis. When carbon is removed from forests through harvest, a portion of the harvested carbon is stored in wood products, often for many decades. The United States Forest Service (USFS) and other agencies are interested in accurately accounting for carbon flux associated with harvested wood...

Estimates of carbon stored in harvested wood products from United States Forest Service Eastern Region, 1911-2012

Science.gov (United States)

Dan Loeffler; Nathaniel Anderson; Keith Stockmann; Ken Skog; Sean Healey; J. Greg Jones; James Morrison; Jesse Young

2014-01-01

Global forests capture and store significant amounts of carbon through photosynthesis. When carbon is removed from forests through harvest, a portion of the harvested carbon is stored in wood products, often for many decades. The United States Forest Service (USFS) and other agencies are interested in accurately accounting for carbon flux associated with harvested wood...

Estimates of carbon stored in harvested wood products from United States Forest Service Alaska Region, 1910-2012

Science.gov (United States)

Dan Loeffler; Nathaniel Anderson; Keith Stockmann; Ken Skog; Sean Healey; J. Greg Jones; James Morrison; Jesse Young

2014-01-01

Global forests capture and store significant amounts of carbon through photosynthesis. When carbon is removed from forests through harvest, a portion of the harvested carbon is stored in wood products, often for many decades. The United States Forest Service (USFS) and other agencies are interested in accurately accounting for carbon flux associated with harvested wood...

Estimates of carbon stored in harvested wood products from United States Forest Service Southwestern Region, 1909-2012

Science.gov (United States)

Edward Butler; Keith Stockmann; Nathaniel Anderson; Jesse Young; Ken Skog; Sean Healey; Dan Loeffler; J. Greg Jones; James Morrison

2014-01-01

Global forests capture and store significant amounts of carbon through photosynthesis. When carbon is removed from forests through harvest, a portion of the harvested carbon is stored in wood products, often for many decades. The United States Forest Service (USFS) and other agencies are interested in accurately accounting for carbon flux associated with harvested wood...

Private Capital, Public Goods: Forest Plantations' Investment in Local Infrastructure and Social Services in Rural Tanzania

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Degnet, M.B.; Werf, van der E.; Ingram, V.J.; Wesseler, Justus

2017-01-01

With the rapid expansion of private forest plantations worldwide, their impacts on local development are under scrutiny by NGOs and researchers alike. This study investigates the impacts of private forest plantations on local infrastructure and social services in rural Tanzania. We take a

76 FR 36896 - Salmon-Challis National Forest, ID; Forestwide Invasive Plant Treatment Environmental Impact...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-23

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Salmon-Challis National Forest, ID; Forestwide Invasive... to the biological diversity and ecological integrity within and outside the Salmon-Challis National... loss of recreational opportunities. Within the 3,108,904 acres of the of the Salmon-Challis National...

Forest restoration as a strategy to mitigate climate impacts on wildfire, vegetation, and water in semiarid forests.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Donnell, Frances C; Flatley, William T; Springer, Abraham E; Fulé, Peter Z

2018-06-25

Climate change and wildfire are interacting to drive vegetation change and potentially reduce water quantity and quality in the southwestern United States, Forest restoration is a management approach that could mitigate some of these negative outcomes. However, little information exists on how restoration combined with climate change might influence hydrology across large forest landscapes that incorporate multiple vegetation types and complex fire regimes. We combined spatially explicit vegetation and fire modeling with statistical water and sediment yield models for a large forested landscape (335,000 ha) on the Kaibab Plateau in northern Arizona, USA. Our objective was to assess the impacts of climate change and forest restoration on the future fire regime, forest vegetation, and watershed outputs. Our model results predict that the combination of climate change and high-severity fire will drive forest turnover, biomass declines, and compositional change in future forests. Restoration treatments may reduce the area burned in high-severity fires and reduce conversions from forested to non-forested conditions. Even though mid-elevation forests are the targets of restoration, the treatments are expected to delay the decline of high-elevation spruce-fir, aspen, and mixed conifer forests by reducing the occurrence of high-severity fires that may spread across ecoregions. We estimate that climate-induced vegetation changes will result in annual runoff declines of up to 10%, while restoration reduced or reversed this decline. The hydrologic model suggests that mid-elevation forests, which are the targets of restoration treatments, provide around 80% of runoff in this system and the conservation of mid- to high-elevation forests types provides the greatest benefit in terms of water conservation. We also predict that restoration treatments will conserve water quality by reducing patches of high-severity fire that are associated with high sediment yield. Restoration

USDA forest service southern region – It’s all about GRITS

Science.gov (United States)

Barbara S. Crane; Kevin M. Potter

2017-01-01

Genetic resource management programs across the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USDA FS) play a key role in supporting successful land management activities. The programs are responsible for developing and providing plant material for revegetation, seed management guidelines, emergency fire recovery assistance, genetic conservation strategies, climate...

Forest resources of Mississippi’s national forests, 2006

Science.gov (United States)

Sonja N. Oswalt

2011-01-01

This bulletin describes forest resource characteristics of Mississippi’s national forests, with emphasis on DeSoto National Forest, following the 2006 survey completed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis program. Mississippi’s national forests comprise > 1 million acres of forest land, or about 7 percent of all forest...

Tradeoffs between Three Forest Ecosystem Services across the State of New Hampshire, USA: Timber, Carbon, and Albedo

Science.gov (United States)

Lutz, D. A.; Burakowski, E. A.; Murphy, M. B.; Borsuk, M. E.; Niemiec, R. M.; Howarth, R. B.

2014-12-01

Albedo is an important physical property of the land surface which influences the total amount of incoming solar radiation that is reflected back into space. It is a critical ecosystem service that helps regulate the Earth's energy balance and, in the context of climate mitigation, has been shown to have a strong influence on the overall effectiveness of land management schemes designed to counteract climate change. Previously, we demonstrated that incorporating the physical effects of albedo into an ecological economic forest model of locations in the White Mountain National Forest, in New Hampshire, USA, leads to a substantially shorter optimal rotation period for forest harvest than under a carbon- and timber-only approach. In this study, we investigate similar tradeoffs at 565 sites across the entire state of New Hampshire in a variety of different forest types, latitudes, and elevations. Additionally, we use a regression tree approach to calculate the influence of biogeochemical and physical factors on the optimal rotation period. Our results suggest that in many instances, incorporating albedo may lead to optimal rotation times approaching zero, or, perpetual clear-cut. Overall, the difference between growing season and winter-time albedo for forested and harvested states was the most significant variable influencing the rotation period, followed by timber stumpage price, and biomass growth rate. These results provide an initial understanding of tradeoffs amongst these three ecosystem services and provide guidance for forest managers as to the relative important properties of their forests when these three services are incentivized economically.

Forest Service Turns to NREL for Help Fighting Fires More Sustainably |

Science.gov (United States)

to need power," said Mike Ferris, public information officer for the Forest Service. "We're going to need phones and some sort of internet connectivity." Ferris said he's worked in fire camps bring in a caterer and a shower unit," Ferris said. "Both of those are going to need power. If

Short and long-term carbon balance of bioenergy electricity production fueled by forest treatments

Science.gov (United States)

Katherine C. Kelsey; Kallie L. Barnes; Michael G. Ryan; Jason C. Neff

2014-01-01

Forests store large amounts of carbon in forest biomass, and this carbon can be released to the atmosphere following forest disturbance or management. In the western US, forest fuel reduction treatments designed to reduce the risk of high severity wildfire can change forest carbon balance by removing carbon in the form of biomass, and by altering future potential...

Short-term ecological consequences of collaborative restoration treatments in ponderosa pine forests of Colorado

Science.gov (United States)

Briggs, Jenny S.; Fornwalt, Paula J.; Feinstein, Jonas A.

2017-01-01

Ecological restoration treatments are being implemented at an increasing rate in ponderosa pine and other dry conifer forests across the western United States, via the USDA Forest Service’s Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) program. In this program, collaborative stakeholder groups work with National Forests (NFs) to adaptively implement and monitor ecological restoration treatments intended to offset the effects of many decades of anthropogenic stressors. We initiated a novel study to expand the scope of treatment effectiveness monitoring efforts in one of the first CFLR landscapes, Colorado’s Front Range. We used a Before/After/Control/Impact framework to evaluate the short-term consequences of treatments on numerous ecological properties. We collected pre-treatment and one year post-treatment data on NF and partner agencies’ lands, in 66 plots distributed across seven treatment units and nearby untreated areas. Our results reflected progress toward several treatment objectives: treated areas had lower tree density and basal area, greater openness, no increase in exotic understory plants, no decrease in native understory plants, and no decrease in use by tree squirrels and ungulates. However, some findings suggested the need for adaptive modification of both treatment prescriptions and monitoring protocols: treatments did not promote heterogeneity of stand structure, and monitoring methods may not have been robust enough to detect changes in surface fuels. Our study highlights both the effective aspects of these restoration treatments, and the importance of initiating and continuing collaborative science-based monitoring to improve the outcomes of broad-scale forest restoration efforts.

Impact assessment of the forest fires on Oarai Research and Development Center Waste Treatment Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimomura, Yusuke; Kitamura, Ryoichi; Hanari, Akira; Sato, Isamu

2016-03-01

In response to new standards for regulating waste treatment facility ('new regulatory standards'; December 18, 2013 enforcement), it was carried out impact assessment of forest fires on the Waste Treatment Facility existed in Oarai Research and Development Center of Japan Atomic Energy Agency. At first, a fire spread scenario of forest fires was assumed. The intensity of forest fires was evaluated from field surveys, forest fire evaluation models and so on. As models of forest fire intensity evaluation, Rothermel Model and Canadian Forest Fire Behavior Prediction (FBP) System were used. Impact assessment of radiant heat to the facility was carried out, and temperature change of outer walls for the assumed forest fires was estimated. The outer wall temperature of facility was estimated around 160degC at the maximum, it was revealed that it doesn't reach allowable temperature limit. Consequently, it doesn't influence the strength of concrete. In addition, a probability of fire breach was estimated to be about 20%. This report illustrates an example of evaluation of forest fires for the new regulatory standards through impact assessment of the forest fires on the Waste Treatment Facility. (author)

Ecosystem Services and Disservices of Mangrove Forests: Insights from Historical Colonial Observations

OpenAIRE

Daniel A. Friess

2016-01-01

Ecosystem services are now strongly applied to mangrove forests, though they are not a new way of viewing mangrove-people interactions; the benefits provided by such habitats, and the negative interactions (ecosystem disservices) between mangroves and people have guided perceptions of mangroves for centuries. This study quantified the ecosystem services and disservices of mangroves as written by colonial explorers from 1823–1883 through a literature survey of 96 expedition reports and studies...

A multi-ethnic comparison of perceptions of forest recreation service quality

Science.gov (United States)

Chieh-Lu Li; James D. Absher; Harry C. Zinn; Alan R. Graefe; Garry E. Chick

2010-01-01

This study examines perceptions of service quality on an ethnically diverse national forest adjacent to a large metropolitan area, specifically looking for differences among whites, Hispanics, and Asians. Published studies of recreation and ethnicity have focused primarily on activity participation rates and patterns. The literature contains few cross–cultural...

Large-scale budget applications of mathematical programming in the Forest Service

Science.gov (United States)

Malcolm Kirby

1978-01-01

Mathematical programming applications in the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, are growing. They are being used for widely varying problems: budgeting, lane use planning, timber transport, road maintenance and timber harvest planning. Large-scale applications are being mace in budgeting. The model that is described can be used by developing economies....

EUFODOS: European Forest Downstream Services - Improved Information on Forest Structure and Damage

Science.gov (United States)

Hirschmugl, M.; Gallaun, H.; Wack, R.; Granica, K.; Schardt, M.

2013-05-01

Forests play a key role in the European economy and environment. This role incorporates ecological functions which can be affected by the occurrence of insect infestations, forest fire, heavy snowfall or windfall events. Local or Regional Authorities (LRAs) thus require detailed information on the degradation status of their forests to be able to take appropriate measures for their forest management plans. In the EUFODOS project, state-of-the-art satellite and laser scanning technologies are used to provide forest authorities with cost-effective and comprehensive information on forest structure and damage. One of the six test sites is located in the Austrian province of Styria where regional forest authorities have expressed a strong need for detailed forest parameters in protective forest. As airborne laser-scanning data is available, it will be utilized to derive detailed forest parameters such as the upper forest border line, tree height, growth classes, forest density, vertical structure or volume. At the current project status, the results of (i) the forest border line, (ii) the segmentation of forest stands and (iii) the tree top detection are available and presented including accuracy assessment and interim results are shown for timber volume estimations. The final results show that the forest border can be mapped operationally with an overall accuracy of almost 99% from LiDAR data. For the segmentation of forest stands, a comparison of the automatically derived result with visual-manual delineation showed in general a more detailed segmentation result, but for all visual-manual segments a congruence of 87% within a 4 m buffer. Tree top detections were compared to stem numbers estimated based on angle-count samplings in a field campaign, which led to a correlation coefficient (R) of 0.79.

Quantifying the effect of fuel reduction treatments on fire behavior in boreal forests

Science.gov (United States)

B.W. Butler; R.D. Ottmar; T.S. Rupp; R. Jandt; E. Miller; K. Howard; R. Schmoll; S. Theisen; R.E. Vihnanek; D. Jimenez

2013-01-01

Mechanical (e.g., shearblading) and manual (e.g., thinning) fuel treatments have become the preferred strategy of many fire managers and agencies for reducing fire hazard in boreal forests. This study attempts to characterize the effectiveness of four fuel treatments through direct measurement of fire intensity and forest floor consumption during a single prescribed...

The Role of Phytodiversity in Riparian Alder Forests in Supporting the Provision of Ecosystem Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariničová Patrícia

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Nature, ecosystems and biodiversity provide human society with many benefits known as ecosystem services. Functional diversity is an important aspect of biodiversity. In this paper, we applied inductive approach to the identification, mapping and evaluation of ecosystem services of the Aegopodio-Alnetum glutinosae community in Tribeč Mts. The results from 2015 show that the alder floodplain forest represents one of the most productive forest ecosystems with seasonal maximum production of 59.03 g m−2, species diversity of N0 = 40 and functional diversity of FD = 10. The forage potential of this community is medium, the melliferous potential is high and the therapeutic potential was estimated as extremely rich in medicinal plants. From the functional groups for providing ecosystem services, woody plants and hemicryptophytes play the most significant role.

Ecological modeling for forest management in the Shawnee National Forest

Science.gov (United States)

Richard G. Thurau; J.F. Fralish; S. Hupe; B. Fitch; A.D. Carver

2008-01-01

Land managers of the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois are challenged to meet the needs of a diverse populace of stakeholders. By classifying National Forest holdings into management units, U.S. Forest Service personnel can spatially allocate resources and services to meet local management objectives. Ecological Classification Systems predict ecological site...

Ecosystem services and opportunity costs shift spatial priorities for conserving forest biodiversity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthias Schröter

Full Text Available Inclusion of spatially explicit information on ecosystem services in conservation planning is a fairly new practice. This study analyses how the incorporation of ecosystem services as conservation features can affect conservation of forest biodiversity and how different opportunity cost constraints can change spatial priorities for conservation. We created spatially explicit cost-effective conservation scenarios for 59 forest biodiversity features and five ecosystem services in the county of Telemark (Norway with the help of the heuristic optimisation planning software, Marxan with Zones. We combined a mix of conservation instruments where forestry is either completely (non-use zone or partially restricted (partial use zone. Opportunity costs were measured in terms of foregone timber harvest, an important provisioning service in Telemark. Including a number of ecosystem services shifted priority conservation sites compared to a case where only biodiversity was considered, and increased the area of both the partial (+36.2% and the non-use zone (+3.2%. Furthermore, opportunity costs increased (+6.6%, which suggests that ecosystem services may not be a side-benefit of biodiversity conservation in this area. Opportunity cost levels were systematically changed to analyse their effect on spatial conservation priorities. Conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services trades off against timber harvest. Currently designated nature reserves and landscape protection areas achieve a very low proportion (9.1% of the conservation targets we set in our scenario, which illustrates the high importance given to timber production at present. A trade-off curve indicated that large marginal increases in conservation target achievement are possible when the budget for conservation is increased. Forty percent of the maximum hypothetical opportunity costs would yield an average conservation target achievement of 79%.

Ecosystem Services and Opportunity Costs Shift Spatial Priorities for Conserving Forest Biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

Schröter, Matthias; Rusch, Graciela M.; Barton, David N.; Blumentrath, Stefan; Nordén, Björn

2014-01-01

Inclusion of spatially explicit information on ecosystem services in conservation planning is a fairly new practice. This study analyses how the incorporation of ecosystem services as conservation features can affect conservation of forest biodiversity and how different opportunity cost constraints can change spatial priorities for conservation. We created spatially explicit cost-effective conservation scenarios for 59 forest biodiversity features and five ecosystem services in the county of Telemark (Norway) with the help of the heuristic optimisation planning software, Marxan with Zones. We combined a mix of conservation instruments where forestry is either completely (non-use zone) or partially restricted (partial use zone). Opportunity costs were measured in terms of foregone timber harvest, an important provisioning service in Telemark. Including a number of ecosystem services shifted priority conservation sites compared to a case where only biodiversity was considered, and increased the area of both the partial (+36.2%) and the non-use zone (+3.2%). Furthermore, opportunity costs increased (+6.6%), which suggests that ecosystem services may not be a side-benefit of biodiversity conservation in this area. Opportunity cost levels were systematically changed to analyse their effect on spatial conservation priorities. Conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services trades off against timber harvest. Currently designated nature reserves and landscape protection areas achieve a very low proportion (9.1%) of the conservation targets we set in our scenario, which illustrates the high importance given to timber production at present. A trade-off curve indicated that large marginal increases in conservation target achievement are possible when the budget for conservation is increased. Forty percent of the maximum hypothetical opportunity costs would yield an average conservation target achievement of 79%. PMID:25393951

Estimates of carbon stored in harvested wood products from United States Forest Service Rocky Mountain Region, 1906-2012

Science.gov (United States)

Keith Stockmann; Nathaniel Anderson; Jesse Young; Ken Skog; Sean Healey; Dan Loeffler; Edward Butler; J. Greg Jones; James Morrison

2014-01-01

Global forests capture and store significant amounts of carbon through photosynthesis. When carbon is removed from forests through harvest, a portion of the harvested carbon is stored in wood products, often for many decades. The United States Forest Service (USFS) and other agencies are interested in accurately accounting for carbon flux associated with harvested wood...

Estimates of carbon stored in harvested wood products from United States Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region, 1909-2012

Science.gov (United States)

Edward Butler; Keith Stockmann; Nathaniel Anderson; Ken Skog; Sean Healey; Dan Loeffler; J. Greg Jones; James Morrison; Jesse Young

2014-01-01

Global forests capture and store significant amounts of carbon through photosynthesis. When carbon is removed from forests through harvest, a portion of the harvested carbon is stored in wood products, often for many decades. The United States Forest Service (USFS) and other agencies are interested in accurately accounting for carbon flux associated with harvested wood...

Estimates of carbon stored in harvested wood products from United States Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region, 1909-2012

Science.gov (United States)

Keith Stockmann; Nathaniel Anderson; Jesse Young; Ken Skog; Sean Healey; Dan Loeffler; Edward Butler; J. Greg Jones; James Morrison

2014-01-01

Global forests capture and store significant amounts of carbon through photosynthesis. When carbon is removed from forests through harvest, a portion of the harvested carbon is stored in wood products, often for many decades. The United States Forest Service (USFS) and other agencies are interested in accurately accounting for carbon flux associated with harvested wood...

Forest resources of the Nez Perce National Forest

Science.gov (United States)

Michele Disney

2010-01-01

As part of a National Forest System cooperative inventory, the Interior West Forest Inventory and Analysis (IWFIA) Program of the USDA Forest Service conducted a forest resource inventory on the Nez Perce National Forest using a nationally standardized mapped-plot design (for more details see the section "Inventory methods"). This report presents highlights...

Community occupancy responses of small mammals to restoration treatments in ponderosa pine forests, northern Arizona, USA.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalies, E L; Dickson, B G; Chambers, C L; Covington, W W

2012-01-01

In western North American conifer forests, wildfires are increasing in frequency and severity due to heavy fuel loads that have accumulated after a century of fire suppression. Forest restoration treatments (e.g., thinning and/or burning) are being designed and implemented at large spatial and temporal scales in an effort to reduce fire risk and restore forest structure and function. In ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests, predominantly open forest structure and a frequent, low-severity fire regime constituted the evolutionary environment for wildlife that persisted for thousands of years. Small mammals are important in forest ecosystems as prey and in affecting primary production and decomposition. During 2006-2009, we trapped eight species of small mammals at 294 sites in northern Arizona and used occupancy modeling to determine community responses to thinning and habitat features. The most important covariates in predicting small mammal occupancy were understory vegetation cover, large snags, and treatment. Our analysis identified two generalist species found at relatively high occupancy rates across all sites, four open-forest species that responded positively to treatment, and two dense-forest species that responded negatively to treatment unless specific habitat features were retained. Our results indicate that all eight small mammal species can benefit from restoration treatments, particularly if aspects of their evolutionary environment (e.g., large trees, snags, woody debris) are restored. The occupancy modeling approach we used resulted in precise species-level estimates of occupancy in response to habitat attributes for a greater number of small mammal species than in other comparable studies. We recommend our approach for other studies faced with high variability and broad spatial and temporal scales in assessing impacts of treatments or habitat alteration on wildlife species. Moreover, since forest planning efforts are increasingly focusing on

77 FR 33158 - Plumas National Forest, California, Sugarloaf Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-05

... Fuels Reduction Project AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an... National Forest (PNF) will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) on the Sugarloaf Hazardous Fuels... to the economic stability of rural communities through: fuels treatments; group selections (GS); area...

Institutional, Individual, and Socio-Cultural Domains of Partnerships: A Typology of USDA Forest Service Recreation Partners

Science.gov (United States)

Seekamp, Erin; Cerveny, Lee K.; McCreary, Allie

2011-09-01

Federal land management agencies, such as the USDA Forest Service, have expanded the role of recreation partners reflecting constrained growth in appropriations and broader societal trends towards civic environmental governance. Partnerships with individual volunteers, service groups, commercial outfitters, and other government agencies provide the USDA Forest Service with the resources necessary to complete projects and meet goals under fiscal constraints. Existing partnership typologies typically focus on collaborative or strategic alliances and highlight organizational dimensions (e.g., structure and process) defined by researchers. This paper presents a partner typology constructed from USDA Forest Service partnership practitioners' conceptualizations of 35 common partner types. Multidimensional scaling of data from unconstrained pile sorts identified 3 distinct cultural dimensions of recreation partners—specifically, partnership character, partner impact, and partner motivations—that represent institutional, individual, and socio-cultural cognitive domains. A hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis provides further insight into the various domains of agency personnel's conceptualizations. While three dimensions with high reliability (RSQ = 0.83) and corresponding hierarchical clusters illustrate commonality between agency personnel's partnership suppositions, this study also reveals variance in personnel's familiarity and affinity for specific partnership types. This real-world perspective on partner types highlights that agency practitioners not only make strategic choices when selecting and cultivating partnerships to accomplish critical task, but also elect to work with partners for the primary purpose of providing public service and fostering land stewardship.

Trees at work: economic accounting for forest ecosystem services in the U.S.South

Science.gov (United States)

Erin O. Sills; Susan E. Moore; Frederick W. Cubbage; Kelley D. McCarter; Thomas P. Holmes; D. Evan Mercer

2017-01-01

Southern forests provide a variety of critical ecosystem services, from purification of water and air to recreational opportunities for millions of people. Because many of these services are public goods with no observable market value, they are not fully accounted for in land use and policy decisions. There have been several efforts to remedy this by...

Comparison of USDA Forest Service and Stakeholder Motivations and Experiences in Collaborative Federal Forest Governance in the Western United States

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Emily Jane; White, Eric M.; Cerveny, Lee K.; Seesholtz, David; Nuss, Meagan L.; Ulrich, Donald R.

2017-11-01

In the United States, over 191 million acres of land is managed by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, a federal government agency. In several western U.S. states, organized collaborative groups have become a de facto governance approach to providing sustained input on management decisions on much public land. This is most extensive in Oregon, where at least 25 "forest collaboratives" currently exist. This affords excellent opportunities for studies of many common themes in collaborative governance, including trust, shared values, and perceptions of success. We undertook a statewide survey of participants in Oregon forest collaboratives to examine differences in motivations, perceptions of success, and satisfaction among Forest Service participants ("agency participants"), who made up 31% of the sample, and other respondents ("non-agency") who represent nonfederal agencies, interest groups, citizens, and non-governmental groups. We found that agency participants differed from non-agency participants. They typically had higher annual incomes, and were primarily motivated to participate to build trust. However, a majority of all respondents were similar in not indicating any other social or economic motivations as their primary reason for collaborating. A majority also reported satisfaction with their collaborative—despite not ranking collaborative performance on a number of specific potential outcomes highly. Together, this suggests that collaboration in Oregon is currently perceived as successful despite not achieving many specific outcomes. Yet there were significant differences in socioeconomic status and motivation that could affect the ability of agency and nonagency participants to develop and achieve mutually-desired goals.

Comparison of USDA Forest Service and Stakeholder Motivations and Experiences in Collaborative Federal Forest Governance in the Western United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Emily Jane; White, Eric M; Cerveny, Lee K; Seesholtz, David; Nuss, Meagan L; Ulrich, Donald R

2017-11-01

In the United States, over 191 million acres of land is managed by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, a federal government agency. In several western U.S. states, organized collaborative groups have become a de facto governance approach to providing sustained input on management decisions on much public land. This is most extensive in Oregon, where at least 25 "forest collaboratives" currently exist. This affords excellent opportunities for studies of many common themes in collaborative governance, including trust, shared values, and perceptions of success. We undertook a statewide survey of participants in Oregon forest collaboratives to examine differences in motivations, perceptions of success, and satisfaction among Forest Service participants ("agency participants"), who made up 31% of the sample, and other respondents ("non-agency") who represent nonfederal agencies, interest groups, citizens, and non-governmental groups. We found that agency participants differed from non-agency participants. They typically had higher annual incomes, and were primarily motivated to participate to build trust. However, a majority of all respondents were similar in not indicating any other social or economic motivations as their primary reason for collaborating. A majority also reported satisfaction with their collaborative-despite not ranking collaborative performance on a number of specific potential outcomes highly. Together, this suggests that collaboration in Oregon is currently perceived as successful despite not achieving many specific outcomes. Yet there were significant differences in socioeconomic status and motivation that could affect the ability of agency and nonagency participants to develop and achieve mutually-desired goals.

78 FR 73819 - Forest Resource Coordinating Committee

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-09

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Forest Resource Coordinating Committee AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of Cancellation. SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service was required to cancel the October 17-18, 2013 meeting of the Forest Resource Coordinating Committee...

Land grants of New Mexico and the United States Forest Service

Science.gov (United States)

Carol Raish; Alice M. McSweeney

2011-01-01

The U.S. Forest Service (FS) has a long, shared history with the Spanish and Mexican land grants of northern New Mexico. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the war between the United States and Mexico, was supposed to recognize and respect the property rights of the resident Hispano population. In many cases the intent of the Treaty was not honored. During...

A review of impacts by invasive exotic plants on forest ecosystem services

Science.gov (United States)

Kevin Devine; Songlin. Fei

2011-01-01

Many of our forest ecosystems are at risk due to the invasion of exotic invasive plant species. Invasive plant species pose numerous threats to ecosystems by decreasing biodiversity, deteriorating ecosystem processes, and degrading ecosystem services. Literature on Kentucky's most invasive exotic plant species was examined to understand their potential impacts on...

Contribution of ecosystem services to air quality and climate change mitigation policies: the case of urban forests in Barcelona, Spain.

Science.gov (United States)

Baró, Francesc; Chaparro, Lydia; Gómez-Baggethun, Erik; Langemeyer, Johannes; Nowak, David J; Terradas, Jaume

2014-05-01

Mounting research highlights the contribution of ecosystem services provided by urban forests to quality of life in cities, yet these services are rarely explicitly considered in environmental policy targets. We quantify regulating services provided by urban forests and evaluate their contribution to comply with policy targets of air quality and climate change mitigation in the municipality of Barcelona, Spain. We apply the i-Tree Eco model to quantify in biophysical and monetary terms the ecosystem services "air purification," "global climate regulation," and the ecosystem disservice "air pollution" associated with biogenic emissions. Our results show that the contribution of urban forests regulating services to abate pollution is substantial in absolute terms, yet modest when compared to overall city levels of air pollution and GHG emissions. We conclude that in order to be effective, green infrastructure-based efforts to offset urban pollution at the municipal level have to be coordinated with territorial policies at broader spatial scales.

Economic Value of the Carbon Sink Services of Tropical Secondary Forests and Its Management Implications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramirez, O.A.; Carpio, C.E.; Ortiz, R.; Finnegan, B.

2002-01-01

This paper explores the economic feasibility of secondary forest regeneration and conservation as an alternative in the campaign addressing the problem of global warming. Detailed measurements of tropical secondary forests over time, in different ecological zones of Costa Rica, are used to evaluate carbon storage models. The paper addresses key issues in the international discussion about cross- and within-country compensation for carbon storage services and illustrates a method to compute/predict their economic value over time under a variety of scenarios. The procedure is applicable to other developing countries where secondary forest growth is increasingly important

Frequency of streamflow measurements required to determine forest treatment effects

Science.gov (United States)

Kenneth G. Reinhart

1964-01-01

Most of the stream-discharge records for our experimental watersheds are taken by continuous measurements. But the question arises: are continuous measurements necessary to determine effects of forest treatments? Or could treatment effects be determined by measurement of discharge at intervals, say, once a day or once a week?

Effects of climate variability and accelerated forest thinning on watershed-scale runoff in southwestern USA ponderosa pine forests.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcos D Robles

Full Text Available The recent mortality of up to 20% of forests and woodlands in the southwestern United States, along with declining stream flows and projected future water shortages, heightens the need to understand how management practices can enhance forest resilience and functioning under unprecedented scales of drought and wildfire. To address this challenge, a combination of mechanical thinning and fire treatments are planned for 238,000 hectares (588,000 acres of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa forests across central Arizona, USA. Mechanical thinning can increase runoff at fine scales, as well as reduce fire risk and tree water stress during drought, but the effects of this practice have not been studied at scales commensurate with recent forest disturbances or under a highly variable climate. Modifying a historical runoff model, we constructed scenarios to estimate increases in runoff from thinning ponderosa pine at the landscape and watershed scales based on driving variables: pace, extent and intensity of forest treatments and variability in winter precipitation. We found that runoff on thinned forests was about 20% greater than unthinned forests, regardless of whether treatments occurred in a drought or pluvial period. The magnitude of this increase is similar to observed declines in snowpack for the region, suggesting that accelerated thinning may lessen runoff losses due to warming effects. Gains in runoff were temporary (six years after treatment and modest when compared to mean annual runoff from the study watersheds (0-3%. Nonetheless gains observed during drought periods could play a role in augmenting river flows on a seasonal basis, improving conditions for water-dependent natural resources, as well as benefit water supplies for downstream communities. Results of this study and others suggest that accelerated forest thinning at large scales could improve the water balance and resilience of forests and sustain the ecosystem services they provide.

Effects of climate variability and accelerated forest thinning on watershed-scale runoff in southwestern USA ponderosa pine forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Robles, Marcos D; Marshall, Robert M; O'Donnell, Frances; Smith, Edward B; Haney, Jeanmarie A; Gori, David F

2014-01-01

The recent mortality of up to 20% of forests and woodlands in the southwestern United States, along with declining stream flows and projected future water shortages, heightens the need to understand how management practices can enhance forest resilience and functioning under unprecedented scales of drought and wildfire. To address this challenge, a combination of mechanical thinning and fire treatments are planned for 238,000 hectares (588,000 acres) of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests across central Arizona, USA. Mechanical thinning can increase runoff at fine scales, as well as reduce fire risk and tree water stress during drought, but the effects of this practice have not been studied at scales commensurate with recent forest disturbances or under a highly variable climate. Modifying a historical runoff model, we constructed scenarios to estimate increases in runoff from thinning ponderosa pine at the landscape and watershed scales based on driving variables: pace, extent and intensity of forest treatments and variability in winter precipitation. We found that runoff on thinned forests was about 20% greater than unthinned forests, regardless of whether treatments occurred in a drought or pluvial period. The magnitude of this increase is similar to observed declines in snowpack for the region, suggesting that accelerated thinning may lessen runoff losses due to warming effects. Gains in runoff were temporary (six years after treatment) and modest when compared to mean annual runoff from the study watersheds (0-3%). Nonetheless gains observed during drought periods could play a role in augmenting river flows on a seasonal basis, improving conditions for water-dependent natural resources, as well as benefit water supplies for downstream communities. Results of this study and others suggest that accelerated forest thinning at large scales could improve the water balance and resilience of forests and sustain the ecosystem services they provide.

Effects of Climate Variability and Accelerated Forest Thinning on Watershed-Scale Runoff in Southwestern USA Ponderosa Pine Forests

Science.gov (United States)

Robles, Marcos D.; Marshall, Robert M.; O'Donnell, Frances; Smith, Edward B.; Haney, Jeanmarie A.; Gori, David F.

2014-01-01

The recent mortality of up to 20% of forests and woodlands in the southwestern United States, along with declining stream flows and projected future water shortages, heightens the need to understand how management practices can enhance forest resilience and functioning under unprecedented scales of drought and wildfire. To address this challenge, a combination of mechanical thinning and fire treatments are planned for 238,000 hectares (588,000 acres) of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests across central Arizona, USA. Mechanical thinning can increase runoff at fine scales, as well as reduce fire risk and tree water stress during drought, but the effects of this practice have not been studied at scales commensurate with recent forest disturbances or under a highly variable climate. Modifying a historical runoff model, we constructed scenarios to estimate increases in runoff from thinning ponderosa pine at the landscape and watershed scales based on driving variables: pace, extent and intensity of forest treatments and variability in winter precipitation. We found that runoff on thinned forests was about 20% greater than unthinned forests, regardless of whether treatments occurred in a drought or pluvial period. The magnitude of this increase is similar to observed declines in snowpack for the region, suggesting that accelerated thinning may lessen runoff losses due to warming effects. Gains in runoff were temporary (six years after treatment) and modest when compared to mean annual runoff from the study watersheds (0–3%). Nonetheless gains observed during drought periods could play a role in augmenting river flows on a seasonal basis, improving conditions for water-dependent natural resources, as well as benefit water supplies for downstream communities. Results of this study and others suggest that accelerated forest thinning at large scales could improve the water balance and resilience of forests and sustain the ecosystem services they provide. PMID

Effects of harvesting forest biomass on water and climate regulation services: A synthesis of long-term ecosystem experiments in eastern North America

Science.gov (United States)

Caputo, Jesse; Beier, Colin D; Groffman, Peter M; Burns, Douglas A.; Beall, Frederick D; Hazlett, Paul W.; Yorks, Thad E

2016-01-01

Demand for woody biomass fuels is increasing amidst concerns about global energy security and climate change, but there may be negative implications of increased harvesting for forest ecosystem functions and their benefits to society (ecosystem services). Using new methods for assessing ecosystem services based on long-term experimental research, post-harvest changes in ten potential benefits were assessed for ten first-order northern hardwood forest watersheds at three long-term experimental research sites in northeastern North America. As expected, we observed near-term tradeoffs between biomass provision and greenhouse gas regulation, as well as tradeoffs between intensive harvest and the capacity of the forest to remediate nutrient pollution. In both cases, service provision began to recover along with the regeneration of forest vegetation; in the case of pollution remediation, the service recovered to pre-harvest levels within 10 years. By contrast to these two services, biomass harvesting had relatively nominal and transient impacts on other ecosystem services. Our results are sensitive to empirical definitions of societal demand, including methods for scaling societal demand to ecosystem units, which are often poorly resolved. Reducing uncertainty around these parameters can improve confidence in our results and increase their relevance for decision-making. Our synthesis of long-term experimental studies provides insights on the social-ecological resilience of managed forest ecosystems to multiple drivers of change.

EUFODOS: European Forest Downstream Services – Improved Information on Forest Structure and Damage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Hirschmugl

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Forests play a key role in the European economy and environment. This role incorporates ecological functions which can be affected by the occurrence of insect infestations, forest fire, heavy snowfall or windfall events. Local or Regional Authorities (LRAs thus require detailed information on the degradation status of their forests to be able to take appropriate measures for their forest management plans. In the EUFODOS project, state-of-the-art satellite and laser scanning technologies are used to provide forest authorities with cost-effective and comprehensive information on forest structure and damage. One of the six test sites is located in the Austrian province of Styria where regional forest authorities have expressed a strong need for detailed forest parameters in protective forest. As airborne laser-scanning data is available, it will be utilized to derive detailed forest parameters such as the upper forest border line, tree height, growth classes, forest density, vertical structure or volume. At the current project status, the results of (i the forest border line, (ii the segmentation of forest stands and (iii the tree top detection are available and presented including accuracy assessment and interim results are shown for timber volume estimations. The final results show that the forest border can be mapped operationally with an overall accuracy of almost 99% from LiDAR data. For the segmentation of forest stands, a comparison of the automatically derived result with visual-manual delineation showed in general a more detailed segmentation result, but for all visual-manual segments a congruence of 87% within a 4 m buffer. Tree top detections were compared to stem numbers estimated based on angle-count samplings in a field campaign, which led to a correlation coefficient (R of 0.79.

Forests of east Texas, 2013

Science.gov (United States)

K.J.W. Dooley; T.J. Brandeis

2014-01-01

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in east Texas based on an inventory conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Southern Research Station in cooperation with the Texas A&M Forest Service. Forest resource estimates are based on field data collected using the FIA annualized sample design and...

Forest Fragmentation in the Lower Amazon Floodplain: Implications for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Provision to Riverine Populations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vivian Renó

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes the process of forest fragmentation of a floodplain landscape of the Lower Amazon over a 30-year period and its implications for the biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services to the riverine population. To this end, we created a multi-temporal forest cover map based on Landsat images, and then analyzed the fragmentation dynamics through landscape metrics. From the analyses of the landscape and bibliographic information, we made inferences regarding the potential impacts of fragmentation on the biodiversity of trees, birds, mammals and insects. Subsequently, we used data on the local populations’ environmental perception to assess whether the inferred impacts on biodiversity are perceived by these populations and whether the ecosystem services related to the biodiversity of the addressed groups are compromised. The results show a 70% reduction of the forest habitat as well as important changes in the landscape structure that constitute a high degree of forest fragmentation. The perceived landscape alterations indicate that there is great potential for compromise of the biodiversity of trees, birds, mammals and insects. The field interviews corroborate the inferred impacts on biodiversity and indicate that the ecosystem services of the local communities have been compromised. More than 95% of the communities report a decreased variety and/or abundance of animal and plant species, 46% report a decrease in agricultural productivity, and 19% confirm a higher incidence of pests during the last 30 years. The present study provides evidence of an accelerated process of degradation of the floodplain forests of the Lower Amazon and indicate substantial compromise of the ecosystem services provision to the riverine population in recent decades, including reductions of food resources (animals and plants, fire wood, raw material and medicine, as well as lower agricultural productivity due to probable lack of pollination

Ecosystem Services and Forest Management in the Nordic Countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Filyushkina, Anna

The main objective of this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of the impacts of forest management on provision of non-market ecosystem services and identify trade-offs and synergies for forestry decision-making in the Nordic countries. First, existing scientific literature on assessments...... judgment method (the Delphi technique) was applied to preservation of biodiversity and habitat in the boreal zone. Results suggested that management intensity has a negative effect on the potential to preserve biodiversity and habitat. A wide range of estimates was provided by respondents for functional...

Simulating fuel treatment effects in dry forests of the western United States: testing the principles of a fire-safe forest

Science.gov (United States)

Morris C. Johnson; Maureen C Kennedy; David L. Peterson

2011-01-01

We used the Fire and Fuels Extension to the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FFE-FVS) to simulate fuel treatment effects on stands in low- to midelevation dry forests (e.g., ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex. P. & C. Laws.) and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) of the western United States. We...

Restoring forest structure and process stabilizes forest carbon in wildfire-prone southwestern ponderosa pine forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Hurteau, Matthew D; Liang, Shuang; Martin, Katherine L; North, Malcolm P; Koch, George W; Hungate, Bruce A

2016-03-01

Changing climate and a legacy of fire-exclusion have increased the probability of high-severity wildfire, leading to an increased risk of forest carbon loss in ponderosa pine forests in the southwestern USA. Efforts to reduce high-severity fire risk through forest thinning and prescribed burning require both the removal and emission of carbon from these forests, and any potential carbon benefits from treatment may depend on the occurrence of wildfire. We sought to determine how forest treatments alter the effects of stochastic wildfire events on the forest carbon balance. We modeled three treatments (control, thin-only, and thin and burn) with and without the occurrence of wildfire. We evaluated how two different probabilities of wildfire occurrence, 1% and 2% per year, might alter the carbon balance of treatments. In the absence of wildfire, we found that thinning and burning treatments initially reduced total ecosystem carbon (TEC) and increased net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB). In the presence of wildfire, the thin and burn treatment TEC surpassed that of the control in year 40 at 2%/yr wildfire probability, and in year 51 at 1%/yr wildfire probability. NECB in the presence of wildfire showed a similar response to the no-wildfire scenarios: both thin-only and thin and burn treatments increased the C sink. Treatments increased TEC by reducing both mean wildfire severity and its variability. While the carbon balance of treatments may differ in more productive forest types, the carbon balance benefits from restoring forest structure and fire in southwestern ponderosa pine forests are clear.

Trade-offs between ecosystem services and alternative pathways toward sustainability in a tropical dry forest region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco Mora

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The design of strategies aimed at sustainable resource management requires an understanding of the trade-offs between the ecosystem services at stake, to determine appropriate ways in which to navigate them. We assess trade-offs between forage production for cattle ranching and the maintenance of carbon stocks or tree diversity in a Mexican tropical dry forest. Trade-offs between pairs of services were assessed by identifying their efficiency frontiers at both site and landscape scales. We also estimated service outcomes under current and hypothetical land-management conditions. We found stark trade-offs between fodder and carbon stocks and between fodder and tree species richness at the site scale. At the landscape scale, the efficiency frontier was concave, with a much less pronounced trade-off in the fodder-species richness case. Our estimates of current service supply levels showed a reduction of 18-21% for C stock and 41-43% for fodder biomass, relative to the maximum feasible values along the efficiency frontier. Choice of the optimum management strategy to reduce such inefficiency depended on deforestation level: secondary forest regeneration was most suitable when deforestation is low, whereas increased fodder productivity in the pastures is best when deforestation is high. Pasture enrichment with forage trees and secondary forest growth are potential management alternatives for achieving sustainability given the range of enabling ecological factors and to balance ecological and social sustainability given the requirements and preferences of local stakeholders. Given that analogous trade-offs are found across the tropics, this work contributes to reconciling tropical forest maintenance and its use for sustainable rural livelihoods.

Typology of recreation experiences: application in a Dutch forest service visitor monitoring survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cottrell, S.P.; Lengkeek, J.; Marwijk, van R.B.M.

2005-01-01

This study applied a tourist typology to an outdoor recreation experience (day-use) in a Forest Service preserve in Holland using 25-items representing five modes of experience: amusement, change, interest, rapture and dedication. The aim was to offer a typology of recreation experiences for

78 FR 37781 - Forest Resource Coordinating Committee; Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-24

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Forest Resource Coordinating Committee; Meeting AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of meeting; Correction. SUMMARY: The Forest Service published a... teleconference line. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maya Solomon, Forest Resource Coordinating Committee...

Interdisciplinary collaboration within project-level NEPA teams in the US Forest Service

Science.gov (United States)

James W. Freeman; Marc J. Stern; Michael Mortimer; Dale J. Blahna; Lee K. Cerveny

2011-01-01

Interdisciplinary teamwork has become a foundation of natural resources planning and management in the US. Yet, we know little about the degree of interdisciplinary collaboration of natural resource planning teams. We conducted 10 case studies of Forest Service NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) teams working on projects related to the 2005 Travel Management Rule...

Prioritizing forest fuels treatments based on the probability of high-severity fire restores adaptive capacity in Sierran forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Krofcheck, Daniel J; Hurteau, Matthew D; Scheller, Robert M; Loudermilk, E Louise

2018-02-01

In frequent fire forests of the western United States, a legacy of fire suppression coupled with increases in fire weather severity have altered fire regimes and vegetation dynamics. When coupled with projected climate change, these conditions have the potential to lead to vegetation type change and altered carbon (C) dynamics. In the Sierra Nevada, fuels reduction approaches that include mechanical thinning followed by regular prescribed fire are one approach to restore the ability of the ecosystem to tolerate episodic fire and still sequester C. Yet, the spatial extent of the area requiring treatment makes widespread treatment implementation unlikely. We sought to determine if a priori knowledge of where uncharacteristic wildfire is most probable could be used to optimize the placement of fuels treatments in a Sierra Nevada watershed. We developed two treatment placement strategies: the naive strategy, based on treating all operationally available area and the optimized strategy, which only treated areas where crown-killing fires were most probable. We ran forecast simulations using projected climate data through 2,100 to determine how the treatments differed in terms of C sequestration, fire severity, and C emissions relative to a no-management scenario. We found that in both the short (20 years) and long (100 years) term, both management scenarios increased C stability, reduced burn severity, and consequently emitted less C as a result of wildfires than no-management. Across all metrics, both scenarios performed the same, but the optimized treatment required significantly less C removal (naive=0.42 Tg C, optimized=0.25 Tg C) to achieve the same treatment efficacy. Given the extent of western forests in need of fire restoration, efficiently allocating treatments is a critical task if we are going to restore adaptive capacity in frequent-fire forests. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Historical range of variation assessment for wetland and riparian ecosystems, U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Region

Science.gov (United States)

Edward Gage; David J. Cooper

2013-01-01

This document provides an overview of historical range of variation concepts and explores their application to wetland and riparian ecosystems in the US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Region (Region 2), which includes National Forests and National Grasslands occurring in the states of Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, and South Dakota. For each of five ecosystem...

Possibilities of a Personal Laser Scanning System for Forest Mapping and Ecosystem Services

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Xinlian; Kukko, Antero; Kaartinen, Harri; Hyyppä, Juha; Yu, Xiaowei; Jaakkola, Anttoni; Wang, Yunsheng

2014-01-01

A professional-quality, personal laser scanning (PLS) system for collecting tree attributes was demonstrated in this paper. The applied system, which is wearable by human operators, consists of a multi-constellation navigation system and an ultra-high-speed phase-shift laser scanner mounted on a rigid baseplate and consisting of a single sensor block. A multipass-corridor-mapping method was developed to process PLS data and a 2,000 m2 forest plot was utilized in the test. The tree stem detection accuracy was 82.6%; the root mean square error (RMSE) of the estimates of tree diameter at breast height (DBH) was 5.06 cm; the RMSE of the estimates of tree location was 0.38 m. The relative RMSE of the DBH estimates was 14.63%. The results showed, for the first time, the potential of the PLS system in mapping large forest plots. Further research on mapping accuracy in various forest conditions, data correction methods and multi-sensoral positioning techniques is needed. The utilization of this system in different applications, such as harvester operations, should also be explored. In addition to collecting tree-level and plot-level data for forest inventory, other possible applications of PLS for forest ecosystem services include mapping of canopy gaps, measuring leaf area index of large areas, documenting and visualizing forest routes feasible for recreation, hiking and berry and mushroom picking. PMID:24434879

The public water supply protection value of forests: A watershed-scale ecosystem services based upon total organic carbon

Science.gov (United States)

We developed a cost-based methodology to assess the value of forested watersheds to improve water quality in public water supplies. The developed methodology is applicable to other source watersheds to determine ecosystem services for water quality. We assess the value of forest land for source wate...

Sustainability and wildland fire: The origins of Forest Service Wildland Fire Research

Science.gov (United States)

Diane M. Smith

2017-01-01

On June 1, 2015, the Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Branch of Research. Established in 1915 to centralize and elevate the pursuit of research throughout the agency, the Branch of Research focused on everything from silvicultural investigations conducted by the experiment stations to...

Translating National Level Forest Service Goals to Local Level Land Management: Carbon Sequestration

Science.gov (United States)

McNulty, S.; Treasure, E.

2017-12-01

The USDA Forest Service has many national level policies related to multiple use management. However, translating national policy to stand level forest management can be difficult. As an example of how a national policy can be put into action, we examined three case studies in which a desired future condition is evaluated at the national, region and local scale. We chose to use carbon sequestration as the desired future condition because climate change has become a major area of concern during the last decade. Several studies have determined that the 193 million acres of US national forest land currently sequester 11% to 15% of the total carbon emitted as a nation. This paper provides a framework by which national scale strategies for maintaining or enhancing forest carbon sequestration is translated through regional considerations and local constraints in adaptive management practices. Although this framework used the carbon sequestration as a case study, this framework could be used with other national level priorities such as the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) or the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Criterion 6, indicator 34 : value of capital investment and annual expenditure in forest management, wood and non-wood product industries, forest-based environmental services, recreation, and tourism

Science.gov (United States)

Ken Skog; John Bergstrom; Elizabeth Hill; Ken Cordell

2010-01-01

USDA Forest Service capital investment in management infrastructure was $501 and $390 million (2005$) for 2005 and 2007, respectively. National forest programs expenditures decreased from $3.0 to $2.7 billion between 2004 and 2007 and wildfire management expenditures increased from $1.7 to $2.1 billion (2005$). State forestry program expenditures for 1998, 2002, and...

A comparative study of transaction costs of payments for forest ecosystem services in Vietnam

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Phan, Thu Ha Dang; Brouwer, Roy; Davidson, Marc David; Hoang, Long Phi

2017-01-01

Two payments for forest ecosystem services (PFES) schemes under one common legal-institutional coordination mechanism but different historical-institutional background and organizational design are analyzed to measure and explain their transaction costs (TC). Data on TC related to payment

Woody biomass utilization trends, barriers, and strategies: Perspectives of U.S. Forest Service managers

Science.gov (United States)

Shiloh Sundstrom; Max Nielsen-Pincus; Cassandra Moseley; Sarah. McCaffrey

2012-01-01

The use of woody biomass is being promoted across the United States as a means of increasing energy independence, mitigating climate change, and reducing the cost of hazardous fuels reduction treatments and forest restoration projects. The opportunities and challenges for woody biomass use on the national forest system are unique. In addition to making woody biomass...

Comparison of USDA Forest Service and stakeholder motivations and experiences in collaborative federal forest governance in the Western United States

Science.gov (United States)

Emily Jane Davis; Eric M. White; Lee K. Cerveny; David Seesholtz; Meagan L. Nuss; Donald R. Ulrich

2017-01-01

In the United States, over 191 million acres of land is managed by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, a federal government agency. In several western U.S. states, organized collaborative groups have become a de facto governance approach to providing sustained input on management decisions on much public land. This is most extensive in Oregon,...

Forests of North Dakota, 2017

Science.gov (United States)

Charles S. Paulson

2018-01-01

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in North Dakota based on an inventory conducted by the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program within the Northern Research Station in cooperation with the North Dakota Forest Service. Estimates are based on field data collected using the FIA annualized sample design and are updated...

Forests of North Dakota, 2015

Science.gov (United States)

David E. Haugen

2016-01-01

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in North Dakota based on an inventory conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station in cooperation with the North Dakota Forest Service. Estimates are based on field data collected using the FIA annualized sample design and are updated...

Forests of North Dakota, 2013

Science.gov (United States)

David E. Haugen

2014-01-01

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in North Dakota based on an inventory conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station in cooperation with the North Dakota Forest Service. Estimates are based on field data collected using the FIA annualized sample design and are updated...

Forests of North Carolina, 2013

Science.gov (United States)

Mark J. Brown

2015-01-01

This periodic resource update provides an overview of forest resources in North Carolina based on an inventory conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Southern Research Station in cooperation with the North Carolina Forest Service. Data estimates are based on field data collected using the FIA annualized sample design...

Forests of North Dakota, 2014

Science.gov (United States)

D.E. Haugen; S.A. Pugh

2014-01-01

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in North Dakota based on an inventory conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station in cooperation with the North Dakota Forest Service. Estimates are based on field data collected using the FIA annualized sample design and are updated...

Forests of North Carolina, 2014

Science.gov (United States)

Mark Brown; Samuel Lambert

2016-01-01

This periodic resource update provides an overview of forest resources in North Carolina based on an inventory conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Southern Research Station in cooperation with the North Carolina Forest Service. Data estimates are based on field data collected using the FIA annualized sample design...

Forests of East Texas, 2014

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas J. Brandeis

2015-01-01

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in east Texas derived from an inventory conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program at the Southern Research Station in cooperation with the Texas A&M Forest Service. These estimates are based on field data collected using the FIA annualized sample design and are...

Restoration treatments in urban park forests drive long-term changes in vegetation trajectories.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Lea R; Handel, Steven N

2016-04-01

Municipalities are turning to ecological restoration of urban forests as a measure to improve air quality, ameliorate urban heat island effects, improve storm water infiltration, and provide other social and ecological benefits. However, community dynamics following urban forest restoration treatments are poorly documented. This study examines the long-term effects of ecological restoration undertaken in New York City, New York, USA, to restore native forest in urban park natural areas invaded by woody non-native plants that are regional problems. In 2009 and 2010, we sampled vegetation in 30 invaded sites in three large public parks that were restored 1988-1993, and 30 sites in three large parks that were similarly invaded but had not been restored. Data from these matched plots reveal that the restoration treatment achieved its central goals. After 15-20 years, invasive species removal followed by native tree planting resulted in persistent structural and compositional shifts, significantly lower invasive species abundance, a more complex forest structure, and greater native tree recruitment. Together, these findings indicate that successional trajectories of vegetation dynamics have diverged between restored forests and invaded forests that were not restored. In addition, the data suggest that future composition of these urban forest patches will be novel assemblages. Restored and untreated sites shared a suite of shade-intolerant, quickly-growing tree species that colonize disturbed sites, indicating that restoration treatments created sites hospitable for germination and growth of species adapted to high light conditions and disturbed soils. These findings yield an urban perspective on the use of succession theory in ecological restoration. Models of ecological restoration developed in more pristine environments must be modified for use in cities. By anticipating both urban disturbances and ecological succession, management of urban forest patches can be

Anthropogenic Decline of Ecosystem Services Threatens the Integrity of the Unique Hyrcanian (Caspian Forests in Northern Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ardavan Zarandian

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The unique Hyrcanian (Caspian forests of northern Iran provide vital ecosystem services for local and global communities. We assess the status and trends of key ecosystem services in this region where native forest conversion has accelerated to make way for housing and farm development. This is a mountainous forested area that is valuable for both conservation and multiple human uses including recreation and farming. It contains globally significant natural habitats for in situ conservation of biological diversity. A rapid, qualitative, and participatory approach was used including interviews with local households and experts in combination with assessment of land use/cover remote sensing data to identify and map priority ecosystem services in the Geographic Information System (GIS. Based on the interests of the beneficiaries, eight priority services (food production, water supply, raw materials, soil conservation, water regulation, climate regulation, biodiversity, and recreation were identified and mapped. The results indicate the current typical spatial distribution of the provided services based on structural characteristics of the study landscape and their changing trends through a comparison of past, present and future land use, and land cover. Although food production and recreation have greatly increased in recent decades, the other services, in particular timber production, biodiversity, and water purification and supply are being gradually lost. The results of this study and of others elsewhere should raise awareness of ecosystem service status and trends and the value of examining these since they provide much of the information to inform natural resources policy and decision making. The declines in supply of key ecosystem services both within and outside the protected area are creating conflicts within communities as well as impacting on the integrity of the area and careful planning and conservation is required to provide win

Forest inventory: role in accountability for sustainable forest management

Science.gov (United States)

Lloyd C. Irland

2007-01-01

Forest inventory can play several roles in accountability for sustainable forest management. A first dimension is accountability for national performance. The new field of Criteria and Indicators is an expression of this need. A more familiar role for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program is for assessment and...

Delivering Service Quality in Alcohol Treatment: A Qualitative Comparison of Public and Private Treatment Centres by Service Users and Service Providers

Science.gov (United States)

Resnick, Sheilagh M.; Griffiths, Mark D.

2012-01-01

In the UK, quality of care has now been placed at the centre of the National Health Service (NHS) modernisation programme. To date, there has been little research on the service quality delivery of alcohol treatment services from the perspective of both the service user and service provider. Therefore, this qualitative study explored the…

Possibilities of a Personal Laser Scanning System for Forest Mapping and Ecosystem Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xinlian Liang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A professional-quality, personal laser scanning (PLS system for collecting tree attributes was demonstrated in this paper. The applied system, which is wearable by human operators, consists of a multi-constellation navigation system and an ultra-high-speed phase-shift laser scanner mounted on a rigid baseplate and consisting of a single sensor block. A multipass-corridor-mapping method was developed to process PLS data and a 2,000 m2 forest plot was utilized in the test. The tree stem detection accuracy was 82.6%; the root mean square error (RMSE of the estimates of tree diameter at breast height (DBH was 5.06 cm; the RMSE of the estimates of tree location was 0.38 m. The relative RMSE of the DBH estimates was 14.63%. The results showed, for the first time, the potential of the PLS system in mapping large forest plots. Further research on mapping accuracy in various forest conditions, data correction methods and multi-sensoral positioning techniques is needed. The utilization of this system in different applications, such as harvester operations, should also be explored. In addition to collecting tree-level and plot-level data for forest inventory, other possible applications of PLS for forest ecosystem services include mapping of canopy gaps, measuring leaf area index of large areas, documenting and visualizing forest routes feasible for recreation, hiking and berry and mushroom picking.

Strategies for Preserving Owner Privacy in the National Information Management System of the USDA Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis Unit

Science.gov (United States)

Andrew Lister; Charles Scott; Susan King; Michael Hoppus; Brett Butler; Douglas Griffith

2005-01-01

The Food Security Act of 1985 prohibits the disclosure of any information collected by the USDA Forest Service's FIA program that would link individual landowners to inventory plot information. To address this, we developed a technique based on a "swapping" procedure in which plots with similar characteristics are exchanged, and on a ...

Forests of east Texas, 2016

Science.gov (United States)

Kerry Dooley

2018-01-01

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in east Texas based on an inventory conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Southern Research Station (SRS) in cooperation with Texas A&M Forest Service. The 254 counties of Texas are consolidated into seven FIA survey units—Southeast (unit 1),...

Should we pay, and to whom, for biodiversity enhancement in private forests? An empirical study of attitudes towards payments for forest ecosystem services in Poland

OpenAIRE

Anna Bartczak; Katarzyna Metelska-Szaniawska

2015-01-01

This paper investigates the possibility of forest policy changes in Poland. The main objective is to investigate whether, and to whom, the society would be willing to pay for providing biodiversity enhancement in private forests. The empirical evidence is derived from a stated preference survey conducted on the national level and analyzed using a multinomial logit model (MNL). Our findings show a rather strong potential for the implementation of payments for ecosystem services (PES) in privat...

Forestry-service entrepreneurs as producers of services

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koistinen, A.

1999-01-01

The concept of forestry-service enterprise used in the joint study (1997-7999) by the TTS-Institute and the Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla) refers to enterprises and co-operatives (including forest workers operating as entrepreneurs) offering services in the fields of silviculture, basic forest improvement, planning and wood-harvesting sector. Companies practicing large-scale wood-conversion and traditional forestry-machine and road haulage contractors are not included in this approach. It can be estimated that there is a total of 450 such entrepreneurs in the country Those engaged in only a minor degree in providing forestry services are not included in the figure. The nation-wide research material was collected in the form of a mail questionnaire addressed to forestry-service entrepreneurs (n=320) in the spring of 1998. Almost all forestry-service entrepreneurs provide timber felling as a service. More than half of them do planting, cleaning of young stands, tending of young stands, and forest haulage of timber. Forestry planning is done by nearly a quarter. With the focus of operations as calculated from the enterprises turnover serving as the basis, it became apparent that the majority of entrepreneurship takes place in the form of logging. The means of transport is mostly an agricultural tractor. Most of entrepreneurs have switched to entrepreneurship only recently. Nearly a third have college level education in forestry, 39 % have switched over from their previous occupation of forest worker. Most entrepreneurs are full-time, private practitioners. Their median turnover in 1997 was FIM 180 000. Non-industrial private forest owners form the clientele for 82 % of the entrepreneurs, while local forest management associations are sources of employment for 68 % of the entrepreneurs. As to the average breakdown of the sources of their turnover 31 % is earned from jobs done for local forest management associations, 31 % comes from local forest management

Long-Term Impacts of China’s New Commercial Harvest Exclusion Policy on Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity in the Temperate Forests of Northeast China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kai Liu

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Temperate forests in Northeast China have been severely exploited by timber harvesting in the last century. To reverse this trend, China implemented the Classified Forest Management policy in the Natural Forest Conservation Program in 1998 to protect forests from excessive harvesting. However, the policy was unable to meet the 2020 commitment of increasing growing stock (set in the Kyoto Protocol because of high-intensity harvesting. Accordingly, China banned all commercial harvesting in Northeast China in 2014. In this study, we investigated the long-term impacts of the no commercial harvest (NCH policy on ecosystem services and biodiversity using a forest landscape model, LANDIS PRO 7.0, in the temperate forests of the Small Khingan Mountains, Northeast China. We designed three management scenarios: The H scenario (the Classified Forest Management policy used in the past, the NCH scenario (the current Commercial Harvest Exclusion policy, and the LT scenario (mitigation management, i.e., light thinning. We compared total aboveground forest biomass, biomass by tree species, abundance of old-growth forests, and diversity of tree species and age class in three scenarios from 2010 to 2100. We found that compared with the H scenario, the NCH scenario increased aboveground forest biomass, abundance of old-growth forests, and biomass of most timber species over time; however, it decreased the biomass of rare and protected tree species and biodiversity. We found that the LT scenario increased the biomass of rare and protected tree species and biodiversity in comparison with the NCH scenario, while it maintained aboveground forest biomass and abundance of old-growth forests at a high level (slightly less than the NCH scenario. We concluded there was trade-off between carbon storage and biodiversity. We also concluded that light thinning treatment was able to regulate the trade-off and alleviate the negative effects associated with the NCH policy. Our

Fuel treatment impacts on estimated wildfire carbon loss from forests in Montana, Oregon, California, and Arizona

Science.gov (United States)

Stephens, Scott L.; Boerner, Ralph E.J.; Maghaddas, Jason J.; Maghaddas, Emily E.Y.; Collins, Brandon M.; Dow, Christopher B.; Edminster, Carl; Fiedler, Carl E.; Fry, Danny L.; Hartsough, Bruce R.; Keeley, Jon E.; Knapp, Eric E.; McIver, James D.; Skinner, Carl N.; Youngblood, Andrew P.

2012-01-01

Using forests to sequester carbon in response to anthropogenically induced climate change is being considered across the globe. A recent U.S. executive order mandated that all federal agencies account for sequestration and emissions of greenhouse gases, highlighting the importance of understanding how forest carbon stocks are influenced by wildfire. This paper reports the effects of the most common forest fuel reduction treatments on carbon pools composed of live and dead biomass as well as potential wildfire emissions from six different sites in four western U.S. states. Additionally, we predict the median forest product life spans and uses of materials removed during mechanical treatments. Carbon loss from modeled wildfire-induced tree mortality was lowest in the mechanical plus prescribed fire treatments, followed by the prescribed fire-only treatments. Wildfire emissions varied from 10–80 Mg/ha and were lowest in the prescribed fire and mechanical followed by prescribed fire treatments at most sites. Mean biomass removals per site ranged from approximately 30–60 dry Mg/ha; the median lives of products in first use varied considerably (from 50 years). Our research suggests most of the benefits of increased fire resistance can be achieved with relatively small reductions in current carbon stocks. Retaining or growing larger trees also reduced the vulnerability of carbon loss from wildfire. In addition, modeled vulnerabilities to carbon losses and median forest product life spans varied considerably across our study sites, which could be used to help prioritize treatment implementation.

Forest nursery pests

Science.gov (United States)

Michelle M. Cram; Michelle S. Frank; Katy M. Mallams

2012-01-01

This edition of Forest Nursery Pests, Agriculture Handbook No. 680, was made possible by the work of many people from around the country. Contributing authors include U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service and Agricultural Research Service entomologists and pathologists, university professors and researchers, State extension specialists, consultants, and plant...

Perceptions of legally mandated public involvement processes in the U.S. Forest Service

Science.gov (United States)

S. Andrew Predmore; Marc J. Stern; Michael J. Mortimer; David N. Seesholtz

2011-01-01

Results from an agency-wide survey of U.S. Forest Service personnel indicate that respondents in our sample engage in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) public involvement processes primarily to accomplish two goals. The most commonly supported goal was to inform and disclose as mandated by the act. The other goal reflected interests in managing agency...

Tropical forestry research at the USDA Forest Service's Institute of Pacific Island Forestry

Science.gov (United States)

C. Eugene Conrad; Jerry A. Sesco

1992-01-01

Deforestation during the last decade has grown at an alarming rate, giving rise to concern for its potential adverse effects on global climate. The impetus for focusing greater emphasis on tropical forestry management and research was provided by the International Forestry Cooperation Act enacted into law in 1990. The Act enables the Forest Service to intensify its...

36 CFR 223.110 - Delegation to regional forester.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Delegation to regional forester. 223.110 Section 223.110 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF... § 223.110 Delegation to regional forester. The Chief, Forest Service, after approval of conditions of...

Hydrologic influences of forest vegetation in a changing world: Learning from Forest Service experimental forests, ranges, and watersheds

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas E. Lisle; Mary Beth Adams; Leslie M. Reid; Kelly Elder

2010-01-01

The importance of forests in providing reliable sources of clean water cannot be underestimated. Therefore, there is a pressing need to understand how hydrologic systems function in forested ecosystems, in response to a variety of traditional and novel stressors and environments. Long-term watershed research on Experimental Forests and Ranges (EFRs) of the Forest...

An optimization modeling approach to awarding large fire support wildfire helicopter contracts from the US Forest Service

Science.gov (United States)

Stephanie A. Snyder; Keith D. Stockmann; Gaylord E. Morris

2012-01-01

The US Forest Service used contracted helicopter services as part of its wildfire suppression strategy. An optimization decision-modeling system was developed to assist in the contract selection process. Three contract award selection criteria were considered: cost per pound of delivered water, total contract cost, and quality ratings of the aircraft and vendors....

Spatial analysis of fuel treatment options for chaparral on the Angeles national forest

Science.gov (United States)

G. Jones; J. Chew; R. Silverstein; C. Stalling; J. Sullivan; J. Troutwine; D. Weise; D. Garwood

2008-01-01

Spatial fuel treatment schedules were developed for the chaparral vegetation type on the Angeles National Forest using the Multi-resource Analysis and Geographic Information System (MAGIS). Schedules varied by the priority given to various wildland urban interface areas and the general forest, as well as by the number of acres treated per decade. The effectiveness of...

Modelling the role of forests on water provision services: a hydro-economic valuation approach

Science.gov (United States)

Beguería, S.; Campos, P.

2015-12-01

Hydro-economic models that allow integrating the ecological, hydrological, infrastructure, economic and social aspects into a coherent, scientifically- informed framework constitute preferred tools for supporting decision making in the context of integrated water resources management. We present a case study of water regulation and provision services of forests in the Andalusia region of Spain. Our model computes the physical water flows and conducts an economic environmental income and asset valuation of forest surface and underground water yield. Based on available hydrologic and economic data, we develop a comprehensive water account for all the forest lands at the regional scale. This forest water environmental valuation is integrated within a much larger project aiming at providing a robust and easily replicable accounting tool to evaluate yearly the total income and capital of forests, encompassing all measurable sources of private and public incomes (timber and cork production, auto-consumption, recreational activities, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, water production, etc.). We also force our simulation with future socio-economic scenarios to quantify the physical and economic efects of expected trends or simulated public and private policies on future water resources. Only a comprehensive integrated tool may serve as a basis for the development of integrated policies, such as those internationally agreed and recommended for the management of water resources.

Impact of professional foresters on timber harvests on West Virginia nonindustrial private forests

Science.gov (United States)

Stuart A. Moss; Eric. Heitzman

2013-01-01

Timber harvests conducted on 90 nonindustrial private forest properties in West Virginia were investigated to determine the effects that professional foresters have on harvest and residual stand attributes. Harvests were classified based on the type of forester involved: (1) consulting/state service foresters representing landowners, (2) industry foresters representing...

CTFS-ForestGEO: a worldwide network monitoring forests in an era of global change

Science.gov (United States)

Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira; Stuart J. Davies; Amy C. Bennett; Erika B. Gonzalez-Akre; Helene C. Muller-Landau; S. Joseph Wright; Kamariah Abu Salim; Angélica M. Almeyda Zambrano; Alfonso Alonso; Jennifer L. Baltzer; Yves Basset; Norman A. Bourg; Eben N. Broadbent; Warren Y. Brockelman; Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin; David F. R. P. Burslem; Nathalie Butt; Min Cao; Dairon Cardenas; George B. Chuyong; Keith Clay; Susan Cordell; Handanakere S. Dattaraja; Xiaobao Deng; Matteo Detto; Xiaojun Du; Alvaro Duque; David L. Erikson; Corneille E.N. Ewango; Gunter A. Fischer; Christine Fletcher; Robin B. Foster; Christian P. Giardina; Gregory S. Gilbert; Nimal Gunatilleke; Savitri Gunatilleke; Zhanqing Hao; William W. Hargrove; Terese B. Hart; Billy C.H. Hau; Fangliang He; Forrest M. Hoffman; Robert W. Howe; Stephen P. Hubbell; Faith M. Inman-Narahari; Patrick A. Jansen; Mingxi Jiang; Daniel J. Johnson; Mamoru Kanzaki; Abdul Rahman Kassim; David Kenfack; Staline Kibet; Margaret F. Kinnaird; Lisa Korte; Kamil Kral; Jitendra Kumar; Andrew J. Larson; Yide Li; Xiankun Li; Shirong Liu; Shawn K.Y. Lum; James A. Lutz; Keping Ma; Damian M. Maddalena; Jean-Remy Makana; Yadvinder Malhi; Toby Marthews; Rafizah Mat Serudin; Sean M. McMahon; William J. McShea; Hervé R. Memiaghe; Xiangcheng Mi; Takashi Mizuno; Michael Morecroft; Jonathan A. Myers; Vojtech Novotny; Alexandre A. de Oliveira; Perry S. Ong; David A. Orwig; Rebecca Ostertag; Jan den Ouden; Geoffrey G. Parker; Richard P. Phillips; Lawren Sack; Moses N. Sainge; Weiguo Sang; Kriangsak Sri-ngernyuang; Raman Sukumar; I-Fang Sun; Witchaphart Sungpalee; Hebbalalu Sathyanarayana Suresh; Sylvester Tan; Sean C. Thomas; Duncan W. Thomas; Jill Thompson; Benjamin L. Turner; Maria Uriarte; Renato Valencia; Marta I. Vallejo; Alberto Vicentini; Tomáš Vrška; Xihua Wang; Xugao Wang; George Weiblen; Amy Wolf; Han Xu; Sandra Yap; Jess Zimmerman

2014-01-01

Global change is impacting forests worldwide, threatening biodiversity and ecosystem services including climate regulation. Understanding how forests respond is critical to forest conservation and climate protection. This review describes an international network of 59 long-term forest dynamics research sites (CTFS-ForestGEO) useful for characterizing forest responses...

78 FR 14072 - Trestle Forest Health Project, Eldorado National Forest, El Dorado County, CA

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-04

... fulfilling the role the Forest Service has in providing a wood supply for local manufacturers; (6) provide a..., woods workers, and Forest Service employee safety. Dead and unstable live trees that do not present a...

Filling Service Gaps: Providing Intensive Treatment Services for Offenders

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Douglas W.; Farrell, Jill L.; Henderson, Craig E.; Taxman, Faye S.

2009-01-01

Consistent with the few studies that have previously examined treatment prevalence and access in the adult and juvenile justice systems, the recent National Criminal Justice Treatment Practices (NCJTP) survey indicated that there is a particular need to expand intensive treatment modalities for offenders in both institutional and community corrections settings. Applying multilevel modeling techniques to NCJTP survey data, this study explores conditions and factors that may underlie the wide variation among states in the provision of intensive treatment for offenders. Results indicate that states' overall rates of substance abuse and dependence, funding resources, and the state governor's political party affiliation were significantly associated with intensive treatment provision. Numerous factors that have been implicated in recent studies of evidence-based practice adoption, including state agency executives' views regarding rehabilitation, agency culture and climate, and other state-level measures (e.g., household income, crime rates, expenditures on treatment for the general population) were not associated with treatment provision. Future research should examine further variations in offenders' service needs, the role of legislators' political affiliations, and how other factors may interact with administrator characteristics in the adoption and expansion of intensive treatment services for offenders. PMID:19261394

Unmet needs for comprehensive services in outpatient addiction treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Pringle, Janice L; Emptage, Nicholas P; Hubbard, Robert L

2006-04-01

Many addiction treatment patients suffer from health and psychosocial problems in addition to substance misuse at the time of their treatment entry. Outpatient treatment programs have attempted to address these problems by providing or facilitating access to comprehensive health and social services. Nevertheless, previous research have suggested high levels of unmet needs for these services in the addiction treatment population. Using data from a large study on community-based outpatient addiction treatment, this article provides additional information on levels of unmet service needs and the relationship between need and receipt of services during treatment. Our results suggest extremely high levels of unmet needs for a wide variety of health and psychosocial services. Specifically, the data suggest that unmet service needs may be far more prevalent than previous estimates and that addiction treatment populations in rural areas may be particularly disadvantaged.

Plantation forests, climate change and biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

S.M. Pawson; A. Brin; E.G. Brockerhoff; D. Lamb; T.W. Payn; A. Paquette; J.A. Parrotta

2013-01-01

Nearly 4 % of the world’s forests are plantations, established to provide a variety of ecosystem services, principally timber and other wood products. In addition to such services, plantation forests provide direct and indirect benefits to biodiversity via the provision of forest habitat for a wide range of species, and by reducing negative impacts on natural forests...

Aerial wildland firefighting resources in fire suppression activities: an example USDA Forest Service

Science.gov (United States)

A. González-Cabán

2011-01-01

Wildfires are a significant social problem affecting millions of people worldwide and causing major economic impacts at all levels. In the US, the severe fires of 1910 in Idaho and Montana galvanized a fire policy excluding fire from the ecosystem by the U.S.Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USDAFS). Fire management policy changed in 1935, 1978,1995, and 2001....

Searching for resilience: addressing the impacts of changing disturbance regimes on forest ecosystem services

Science.gov (United States)

Seidl, Rupert; Spies, Thomas A.; Peterson, David L.; Stephens, Scott L.; Hicke, Jeffrey A.

2016-01-01

Summary 1. The provisioning of ecosystem services to society is increasingly under pressure from global change. Changing disturbance regimes are of particular concern in this context due to their high potential impact on ecosystem structure, function and composition. Resilience-based stewardship is advocated to address these changes in ecosystem management, but its operational implementation has remained challenging. 2. We review observed and expected changes in disturbance regimes and their potential impacts on provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting ecosystem services, concentrating on temperate and boreal forests. Subsequently, we focus on resilience as a powerful concept to quantify and address these changes and their impacts, and present an approach towards its operational application using established methods from disturbance ecology. 3. We suggest using the range of variability concept – characterizing and bounding the long-term behaviour of ecosystems – to locate and delineate the basins of attraction of a system. System recovery in relation to its range of variability can be used to measure resilience of ecosystems, allowing inferences on both engineering resilience (recovery rate) and monitoring for regime shifts (directionality of recovery trajectory). 4. It is important to consider the dynamic nature of these properties in ecosystem analysis and management decision-making, as both disturbance processes and mechanisms of resilience will be subject to changes in the future. Furthermore, because ecosystem services are at the interface between natural and human systems, the social dimension of resilience (social adaptive capacity and range of variability) requires consideration in responding to changing disturbance regimes in forests. 5. Synthesis and applications. Based on examples from temperate and boreal forests we synthesize principles and pathways for fostering resilience to changing disturbance regimes in ecosystem management. We

CTFS-ForestGEO: A worldwide network monitoring forests in an era of global change

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Anderson-Teixeira, K.J.; Davies, S.J.; Bennett, A.C.; Gonzalez-Akre, E.B.; Muller-Landau, H.C.; Wright, S.J.; Abu Salim, K.; Almeyda Zambrano, A.M.; Jansen, P.A.; Ouden, den J.

2015-01-01

Global change is impacting forests worldwide, threatening biodiversity and ecosystem services including climate regulation. Understanding how forests respond is critical to forest conservation and climate protection. This review describes an international network of 59 long-term forest dynamics

Butternut: Strategies for managing a threatened tree. Forest Service general technical report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ostry, M.E.; Mielke, M.E.; Skilling, D.D.

1994-01-01

Butternut (Juglans cinerea) is being killed throughout its range in North America by Sirococcus clavigignenti-juglandacearum, a fungus of unknown origin causing multiple branch and stem cankers that eventually girdle infected trees (USDA Forest Service 1993). Sprouts, if they develop, are also infected and killed usually within the first few years. The fungus was described as a new species in 1979 (Nair et al. 1979) and only butternut is known as its natural host.

An Integrated Model for Identifying Linkages Between the Management of Fuel Treatments, Fire and Ecosystem Services

Science.gov (United States)

Bart, R. R.; Anderson, S.; Moritz, M.; Plantinga, A.; Tague, C.

2015-12-01

Vegetation fuel treatments (e.g. thinning, prescribed burning) are a frequent tool for managing fire-prone landscapes. However, predicting how fuel treatments may affect future wildfire risk and associated ecosystem services, such as forest water availability and streamflow, remains a challenge. This challenge is in part due to the large range of conditions under which fuel treatments may be implemented, as response is likely to vary with species type, rates of vegetation regrowth, meteorological conditions and physiographic properties of the treated site. It is also due to insufficient understanding of how social factors such as political pressure, public demands and economic constraints affect fuel management decisions. To examine the feedbacks between ecological and social dimensions of fuel treatments, we present an integrated model that links a biophysical model that simulates vegetation and hydrology (RHESSys), a fire spread model (WMFire) and an empirical fuel treatment model that accounts for agency decision-making. We use this model to investigate how management decisions affect landscape fuel loads, which in turn affect fire severity and ecosystem services, which feedback to management decisions on fuel treatments. We hypothesize that this latter effect will be driven by salience theory, which predicts that fuel treatments are more likely to occur following major wildfire events. The integrated model provides a flexible framework for answering novel questions about fuel treatments that span social and ecological domains, areas that have previously been treated separately.

The effects of thinning and similar stand treatments on fire behavior in Western forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Russell T. Graham; Alan E. Harvey; Theresa B. Jain; Jonalea R. Tonn

1999-01-01

In the West, thinning and partial cuttings are being considered for treating millions of forested acres that are overstocked and prone to wildfire. The objectives of these treatments include tree growth redistribution, tree species regulation, timber harvest, wildlife habitat improvement, and wildfire-hazard reduction. Depending on the forest type and its structure,...

AVTA Federal Fleet PEV Readiness Data Logging and Characterization Study for the United States Forest Service: Caribou-Targhee National Forest

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stephen Schey; Jim Francfort; Ian Nienhueser

2014-06-01

Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC, managing and operating contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, is the lead laboratory for U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Vehicle Testing. Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC contracted with Intertek Testing Services, North America (ITSNA) to collect and evaluate data on federal fleet operations as part of the Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity’s Federal Fleet Vehicle Data Logging and Characterization study. The Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity study seeks to collect and evaluate data to validate the utilization of advanced electric drive vehicle transportation. This report focuses on the Caribou-Targhee National Forest (CTNF) fleet to identify daily operational characteristics of select vehicles and report findings on vehicle and mission characterizations to support the successful introduction of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) into the agencies’ fleets. Individual observations of these selected vehicles provide the basis for recommendations related to electric vehicle adoption and whether a battery electric vehicle (BEV) or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) (collectively plug-in electric vehicles, or PEVs) can fulfill the mission requirements. ITSNA acknowledges the support of Idaho National Laboratory and CTNF for participation in the study. ITSNA is pleased to provide this report and is encouraged by enthusiasm and support from the Forest Service and CTNF personnel.

Integrating Expert Knowledge into Mapping Ecosystem Services Trade-offs for Sustainable Forest Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adrienne Grêt-Regamey

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Mountain ecosystems are highly sensitive to global change. In fact, the continued capacity of mountain regions to provide goods and services to society is threatened by the impact of environmental changes on ecosystems. Although mapping ecosystem services values is known to support sustainable resource management, the integration of spatially explicit local expert knowledge on ecosystem dynamics and social responses to global changes has not yet been integrated in the modeling process. This contribution demonstrates the importance of integrating local knowledge into the spatially explicit valuation of ecosystem services. Knowledge acquired by expert surveys flows into a GIS-based Bayesian Network for valuing forest ecosystem services under a land-use and a climate change scenario in a case study in the Swiss Alps. Results show that including expert knowledge in ecosystem services mapping not only reduces uncertainties considerably, but also has an important effect on the ecosystem services values. Particularly the iterative process between integrating expert knowledge into the modeling process and mapping ecosystem services guarantees a continuous improvement of ecosystem services values maps while opening a new way for mutual learning between scientists and stakeholders which might support adaptive resource management.

Forest treatment residues for thermal energy compared with disposal by onsite burning: Emissions and energy return

Science.gov (United States)

Greg Jones; Dan Loeffler; David Calkin; Woodam Chung

2010-01-01

Mill residues from forest industries are the source for most of the current wood-based energy in the US, approximately 2.1% of the nation's energy use in 2007. Forest residues from silvicultural treatments, which include limbs, tops, and small non-commercial trees removed for various forest management objectives, represent an additional source of woody biomass for...

Extended benefit cost analysis as an instrument of economic valuated in Petungkriyono forest ecosystem services

Science.gov (United States)

Damayanti, Irma; Nur Bambang, Azis; Retnaningsih Soeprobowati, Tri

2018-05-01

Petungkriyono is the last tropical forest in Java and provides biodiversity including rare flora and fauna that must be maintained, managed and utilized in order to give meaning for humanity and sustainability. Services of Forest Ecosystem in Petungkriyono are included such as goods supply, soil-water conservation, climate regulation, purification environment and flora fauna habitats. The approach of this study is the literature review from various studies before perceiving the influenced of economic valuation in determining the measurement conservation strategies of Petungkriyono Natural Forest Ecosystem in Pekalongan Regency. The aims of this study are to analyzing an extended benefit cost of natural forest ecosystems and internalizing them in decision making. The method of quantification and valuation of forest ecosystem is Cost and Benefit Analysis (CBA) which is a standard economic appraisal tools government in development economics. CBA offers the possibility capturing impact of the project. By using productivity subtitution value and extended benefit cost analysis any comodity such as Backwoods,Pine Woods, Puspa woods and Pine Gum. Water value, preventive buildings of landslide and carbon sequestration have total economic value of IDR.163.065.858.080, and the value of Extended Benefit Cost Ratio in Petungkriyono is 281.35 %. However, from the result is expected the local government of Pekalongan to have high motivation in preserve the existence of Petungkriyono forest.

Evaluating and monitoring forest fuel treatments using remote sensing applications in Arizona, U.S.A.

Science.gov (United States)

Petrakis, Roy; Villarreal, Miguel; Wu, Zhuoting; Hetzler, Robert; Middleton, Barry R.; Norman, Laura M.

2018-01-01

The practice of fire suppression across the western United States over the past century has led to dense forests, and when coupled with drought has contributed to an increase in large and destructive wildfires. Forest management efforts aimed at reducing flammable fuels through various fuel treatments can help to restore frequent fire regimes and increase forest resilience. Our research examines how different fuel treatments influenced burn severity and post-fire vegetative stand dynamics on the San Carlos Apache Reservation, in east-central Arizona, U.S.A. Our methods included the use of multitemporal remote sensing data and cloud computing to evaluate burn severity and post-fire vegetation conditions as well as statistical analyses. We investigated how forest thinning, commercial harvesting, prescribed burning, and resource benefit burning (managed wildfire) related to satellite measured burn severity (the difference Normalized Burn Ratio – dNBR) following the 2013 Creek Fire and used spectral measures of post-fire stand dynamics to track changes in land surface characteristics (i.e., brightness, greenness and wetness). We found strong negative relationships between dNBR and post-fire greenness and wetness, and a positive non-linear relationship between dNBR and brightness, with greater variability at higher severities. Fire severity and post-fire surface changes also differed by treatment type. Our results showed harvested and thinned sites that were not treated with prescribed fire had the highest severity fire. When harvesting was followed by a prescribed burn, the sites experienced lower burn severity and reduced post-fire changes in vegetation greenness and wetness. Areas that had previously experienced resource benefit burns had the lowest burn severities and the highest post-fire greenness measurements compared to all other treatments, except for where the prescribed burn had occurred. These results suggest that fire treatments may be most effective at

Forest statistics for Arkansas' Ouachita counties - 1995

Science.gov (United States)

James F. Rosson; Jack D. London

1997-01-01

Periodic surveys of forest resources are authorized by the Forest Service and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 1978. These surveys are a continuing, nationwide undertaking by the Regional Experiment Stations of the USDA Forest Service. In the Southern United States, these surveys are conducted by the two Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Research Work...

Forest structure of oak plantations after silvicultural treatment to enhance habitat for wildlife

Science.gov (United States)

Twedt, Daniel J.; Phillip, Cherrie-Lee P.; Guilfoyle, Michael P.; Wilson, R. Randy; Schweitzer, Callie Jo; Clatterbuck, Wayne K.; Oswalt, Christopher M.

2016-01-01

During the past 30 years, thousands of hectares of oak-dominated bottomland hardwood plantations have been planted on agricultural fields in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Many of these plantations now have closed canopies and sparse understories. Silvicultural treatments could create a more heterogeneous forest structure, with canopy gaps and increased understory vegetation for wildlife. Lack of volume sufficient for commercial harvest in hardwood plantations has impeded treatments, but demand for woody biomass for energy production may provide a viable means to introduce disturbance beneficial for wildlife. We assessed forest structure in response to prescribed pre-commercial perturbations in hardwood plantations resulting from silvicultural treatments: 1) row thinning by felling every fourth planted row; 2) multiple patch cuts with canopy gaps of gaps appear likely to be filled by regenerating saplings.

Understory vegetation response to mechanical mastication and other fuels treatments in a ponderosa pine forest

Science.gov (United States)

Jeffrey M. Kane; J. Morgan Varner; Eric E. Knapp

2010-01-01

Questions: What influence does mechanical mastication and other fuel treatments have on: (1) canopy and forest floor response variables that influence understory plant development; (2) initial understory vegetation cover, diversity, and composition; and (3) shrub and non-native species density in a secondgrowth ponderosa pine forest....

Forests of Virginia, 2016

Science.gov (United States)

T.J. Brandeis; A.J. Hartsell; K.C. Randolph; C.M. Oswalt

2018-01-01

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in Virginia based on an inventory conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Southern Research Station in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Forestry.

Hybrid MCDA Methods to Integrate Multiple Ecosystem Services in Forest Management Planning: A Critical Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Uhde, Britta; Hahn, W Andreas; Griess, Verena C; Knoke, Thomas

2015-08-01

Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is a decision aid frequently used in the field of forest management planning. It includes the evaluation of multiple criteria such as the production of timber and non-timber forest products and tangible as well as intangible values of ecosystem services (ES). Hence, it is beneficial compared to those methods that take a purely financial perspective. Accordingly, MCDA methods are increasingly popular in the wide field of sustainability assessment. Hybrid approaches allow aggregating MCDA and, potentially, other decision-making techniques to make use of their individual benefits and leading to a more holistic view of the actual consequences that come with certain decisions. This review is providing a comprehensive overview of hybrid approaches that are used in forest management planning. Today, the scientific world is facing increasing challenges regarding the evaluation of ES and the trade-offs between them, for example between provisioning and regulating services. As the preferences of multiple stakeholders are essential to improve the decision process in multi-purpose forestry, participatory and hybrid approaches turn out to be of particular importance. Accordingly, hybrid methods show great potential for becoming most relevant in future decision making. Based on the review presented here, the development of models for the use in planning processes should focus on participatory modeling and the consideration of uncertainty regarding available information.

Hybrid MCDA Methods to Integrate Multiple Ecosystem Services in Forest Management Planning: A Critical Review

Science.gov (United States)

Uhde, Britta; Andreas Hahn, W.; Griess, Verena C.; Knoke, Thomas

2015-08-01

Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is a decision aid frequently used in the field of forest management planning. It includes the evaluation of multiple criteria such as the production of timber and non-timber forest products and tangible as well as intangible values of ecosystem services (ES). Hence, it is beneficial compared to those methods that take a purely financial perspective. Accordingly, MCDA methods are increasingly popular in the wide field of sustainability assessment. Hybrid approaches allow aggregating MCDA and, potentially, other decision-making techniques to make use of their individual benefits and leading to a more holistic view of the actual consequences that come with certain decisions. This review is providing a comprehensive overview of hybrid approaches that are used in forest management planning. Today, the scientific world is facing increasing challenges regarding the evaluation of ES and the trade-offs between them, for example between provisioning and regulating services. As the preferences of multiple stakeholders are essential to improve the decision process in multi-purpose forestry, participatory and hybrid approaches turn out to be of particular importance. Accordingly, hybrid methods show great potential for becoming most relevant in future decision making. Based on the review presented here, the development of models for the use in planning processes should focus on participatory modeling and the consideration of uncertainty regarding available information.

Ecosystem Services and Disservices of Mangrove Forests: Insights from Historical Colonial Observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel A. Friess

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Ecosystem services are now strongly applied to mangrove forests, though they are not a new way of viewing mangrove-people interactions; the benefits provided by such habitats, and the negative interactions (ecosystem disservices between mangroves and people have guided perceptions of mangroves for centuries. This study quantified the ecosystem services and disservices of mangroves as written by colonial explorers from 1823–1883 through a literature survey of 96 expedition reports and studies. Ecosystem disservices were most commonly discussed (60%, with settlers considering mangroves as reservoirs of diseases such as malaria, with wide-ranging implications, such as the global drainage of wetlands in the 19th–20th centuries. Multiple ecosystem services were discussed, especially provisioning services for export, representing colonial views of new lands as ripe for economic use. Interestingly, regulating services of mangroves such as erosion control and sediment accretion that are a focus of much contemporary research were recognized as early as 1865. This study shows that the ecosystem service paradigm has a long history in mangroves. We should not underestimate mangrove ecosystem disservices, and how contemporary perceptions of mangroves may be influenced by such historical viewpoints. Archival materials provide a rich resource to study human-environment interactions, and how they change through time.

How to Find HIV Treatment Services

Science.gov (United States)

... also find federally funded health centers through HRSA’s mobile apps . HIV.gov Service Locator This database from ... help with mental health or substance abuse and addiction. SAMHSA’s Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator allows visitors ...

Ponderosa Pine Forest Restoration Treatment Longevity: Implications of Regeneration on Fire Hazard

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Wade T. Tinkham

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Restoration of pine forests has become a priority for managers who are beginning to embrace ideas of highly heterogeneous forest structures that potentially encourages high levels of regeneration. This study utilizes stem-mapped stands to assess how simulated regeneration timing and magnitude influence longevity of reduced fire behavior by linking growth and yield model outputs to a crown fire prediction model. Treatment longevity was assessed as return time to within 10% of pre-treatment predicted wind speeds for the onset of passive (Torching and active (Crowning crown fire behavior. Treatment longevity in terms of Torching and Crowning was reduced 5 years for every 550 and 150 seedlings ha−1, respectively. Introducing regeneration as a single pulse further reduced Torching treatment longevity 10 years compared to other regeneration distributions. Crowning treatment longevity increased at higher site indices, where a 6 m increase in site index increased longevity 4.5 year. This result was contrary to expectations that canopy openings after treatments would close faster on higher productivity sites. Additionally, Torching longevity was influenced by the rate of crown recession, were reducing the recession rate decreased longevity in areas with higher site indices. These dependencies highlight a need for research exploring stand development in heterogeneous sites.

Forest Ecosystem Processes at the Watershed Scale: Ecosystem services, feedback and evolution in developing mountainous catchments

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Band, Larry

2010-05-01

Mountain watersheds provide significant ecosystem services both locally and for surrounding regions, including the provision of freshwater, hydropower, carbon sequestration, habitat, forest products and recreational/aesthetic opportunities. The hydrologic connectivity along hillslopes in sloping terrain provides an upslope subsidy of water and nutrients to downslope ecosystem patches, producing characteristic ecosystem patterns of vegetation density and type, and soil biogeochemical cycling. Recent work suggests that optimal patterns of forest cover evolve along these flowpaths which maximize net primary productivity and carbon sequestration at the hillslope to catchment scale. These watersheds are under significant pressure from potential climate change, changes in forest management, increasing population and development, and increasing demand for water export. As water balance and flowpaths are altered by shifting weather patterns and new development, the spatial distribution and coupling of water, carbon and nutrient cycling will spur the evolution of different ecosystem patterns. These issues have both theoretical and practical implications for the coupling of water, carbon and nutrient cycling at the landscape level, and the potential to manage watersheds for bundled ecosystem services. If the spatial structure of the ecosystem spontaneously adjusts to maximize landscape level use of limiting resources, there may be trade-offs in the level of services provided. The well known carbon-for-water tradeoff reflects the growth of forests to maximize carbon uptake, but also transpiration which limits freshwater availability in many biomes. We provide examples of the response of bundled ecosystem services to climate and land use change in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of the United States. These mountains have very high net primary productivity, biodiversity and water yields, and provide significant freshwater resources to surrounding regions. There has been a

Marketing of non-wood forest products: Case study of the enterprise for forest mushroom processing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keča Ljiljana

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Under the impact of climate changes it is increasingly obvious that forestry should rely more strongly on the multi­functional character of the managed resources. In addition to wood, there is a series of non­wood products and services offered by forests. Non­wood forest products and services consist of various fruits of forest trees and shrubs, mushrooms, various objects made of non­wood material, and especially forest social services, such as recreation, tourism, hunting, photo­safari, etc. This paper presents a marketing analysis on the example of the enterprise dealing with the purchase, processing and sale of wild mushrooms and products made of mushrooms. The study applies a modern methodological approach implemented in similar researches.

European mixed forests

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bravo-Oviedo, Andres; Pretzsch, Hans; Ammer, Christian

2014-01-01

Aim of study: We aim at (i) developing a reference definition of mixed forests in order to harmonize comparative research in mixed forests and (ii) review the research perspectives in mixed forests. Area of study: The definition is developed in Europe but can be tested worldwide. Material...... and Methods: Review of existent definitions of mixed forests based and literature review encompassing dynamics, management and economic valuation of mixed forests. Main results: A mixed forest is defined as a forest unit, excluding linear formations, where at least two tree species coexist at any...... density in mixed forests, (iii) conversion of monocultures to mixed-species forest and (iv) economic valuation of ecosystem services provided by mixed forests. Research highlights: The definition is considered a high-level one which encompasses previous attempts to define mixed forests. Current fields...

Managing Sierra Nevada forests

Science.gov (United States)

Malcolm North

2012-01-01

There has been widespread interest in applying new forest practices based on concepts presented in U.S. Forest Service General Technical Report PSW-GTR-220, "An Ecosystem Management Strategy for Sierran Mixed-Conifer Forests." This collection of papers (PSW-GTR-237) summarizes the state of the science in some topics relevant to this forest management approach...

Measuring the effect of fuel treatments on forest carbon using landscape risk analysis

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A. A. Ager

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Wildfire simulation modelling was used to examine whether fuel reduction treatments can potentially reduce future wildfire emissions and provide carbon benefits. In contrast to previous reports, the current study modelled landscape scale effects of fuel treatments on fire spread and intensity, and used a probabilistic framework to quantify wildfire effects on carbon pools to account for stochastic wildfire occurrence. The study area was a 68 474 ha watershed located on the Fremont-Winema National Forest in southeastern Oregon, USA. Fuel reduction treatments were simulated on 10% of the watershed (19% of federal forestland. We simulated 30 000 wildfires with random ignition locations under both treated and untreated landscapes to estimate the change in burn probability by flame length class resulting from the treatments. Carbon loss functions were then calculated with the Forest Vegetation Simulator for each stand in the study area to quantify change in carbon as a function of flame length. We then calculated the expected change in carbon from a random ignition and wildfire as the sum of the product of the carbon loss and the burn probabilities by flame length class. The expected carbon difference between the non-treatment and treatment scenarios was then calculated to quantify the effect of fuel treatments. Overall, the results show that the carbon loss from implementing fuel reduction treatments exceeded the expected carbon benefit associated with lowered burn probabilities and reduced fire severity on the treated landscape. Thus, fuel management activities resulted in an expected net loss of carbon immediately after treatment. However, the findings represent a point in time estimate (wildfire immediately after treatments, and a temporal analysis with a probabilistic framework used here is needed to model carbon dynamics over the life cycle of the fuel treatments. Of particular importance is the long-term balance between emissions from the

Measuring the effect of fuel treatments on forest carbon using landscape risk analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Ager, A. A.; Finney, M. A.; McMahan, A.; Cathcart, J.

2010-12-01

Wildfire simulation modelling was used to examine whether fuel reduction treatments can potentially reduce future wildfire emissions and provide carbon benefits. In contrast to previous reports, the current study modelled landscape scale effects of fuel treatments on fire spread and intensity, and used a probabilistic framework to quantify wildfire effects on carbon pools to account for stochastic wildfire occurrence. The study area was a 68 474 ha watershed located on the Fremont-Winema National Forest in southeastern Oregon, USA. Fuel reduction treatments were simulated on 10% of the watershed (19% of federal forestland). We simulated 30 000 wildfires with random ignition locations under both treated and untreated landscapes to estimate the change in burn probability by flame length class resulting from the treatments. Carbon loss functions were then calculated with the Forest Vegetation Simulator for each stand in the study area to quantify change in carbon as a function of flame length. We then calculated the expected change in carbon from a random ignition and wildfire as the sum of the product of the carbon loss and the burn probabilities by flame length class. The expected carbon difference between the non-treatment and treatment scenarios was then calculated to quantify the effect of fuel treatments. Overall, the results show that the carbon loss from implementing fuel reduction treatments exceeded the expected carbon benefit associated with lowered burn probabilities and reduced fire severity on the treated landscape. Thus, fuel management activities resulted in an expected net loss of carbon immediately after treatment. However, the findings represent a point in time estimate (wildfire immediately after treatments), and a temporal analysis with a probabilistic framework used here is needed to model carbon dynamics over the life cycle of the fuel treatments. Of particular importance is the long-term balance between emissions from the decay of dead trees

USDA Forest Service Roadless Areas: Potential Biodiversity Conservation Reserves

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Colby Loucks

2003-12-01

Full Text Available In January 2001, approximately 23 x 106 ha of land in the U.S. National Forest System were slated to remain roadless and protected from timber extraction under the Final Roadless Conservation Rule. We examined the potential contributions of these areas to the conservation of biodiversity. Using GIS, we analyzed the concordance of inventoried roadless areas (IRAs with ecoregion-scale biological importance and endangered and imperiled species distributions on a scale of 1:24,000. We found that more than 25% of IRAs are located in globally or regionally outstanding ecoregions and that 77% of inventoried roadless areas have the potential to conserve threatened, endangered, or imperiled species. IRAs would increase the conservation reserve network containing these species by 156%. We further illustrate the conservation potential of IRAs by highlighting their contribution to the conservation of the grizzly bear (Ursos arctos, a wide-ranging carnivore. The area created by the addition of IRAs to the existing system of conservation reserves shows a strong concordance with grizzly bear recovery zones and habitat range. Based on these findings, we conclude that IRAs belonging to the U.S. Forest Service are one of the most important biotic areas in the nation, and that their status as roadless areas could have lasting and far-reaching effects for biodiversity conservation.

Fuels planning: science synthesis and integration; forest structure and fire hazard fact sheet 04: role of silviculture in fuel treatments

Science.gov (United States)

Rocky Mountain Research Station USDA Forest Service

2004-01-01

The principal goals of fuel treatments are to reduce fireline intensities, reduce the potential for crown fires, improve opportunities for successful fire suppression, and improve forest resilience to forest fires. This fact sheet discusses thinning, and surface fuel treatments, as well as challenges associated with those treatments.

U.S. forest products module : a technical document supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Peter J. Ince; Andrew D. Kramp; Kenneth E. Skog; Henry N. Spelter; David N. Wear

2011-01-01

The U.S. Forest Products Module (USFPM) is a partial market equilibrium model of the U.S. forest sector that operates within the Global Forest Products Model (GFPM) to provide long-range timber market projections in relation to global economic scenarios. USFPM was designed specifically for the 2010 RPA forest assessment, but it is being used also in other applications...

Adaptation and mitigation options for forests and forest management in a changing climate

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Johnston, M.; Lindner, M.; Parotta, J.; Giessen, L.

2012-01-01

Climate change is now accepted as an important issue for forests and forest management around the world. Climate change will affect forests' ability to provide ecosystem goods and services on which human communities depend: biodiversity, carbon sequestration, regulation of water quality and

Outdoor recreation trends and futures: a technical document supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

H. Ken Cordell

2012-01-01

This publication presents a national study of outdoor recreation trends as part of the Renewable Resources Planning Act Assessment by the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. The objectives are to review past trends in outdoor recreation participation by Americans, to describe in detail current outdoor recreation participation patterns, and to compare...

Forest-related ecosystem services

Science.gov (United States)

Sandra Luque; Louis Iverson

2016-01-01

Forests are a crucial element not only of landscapes but also of human living conditions. Covering nearly a third of the earth's land surtace, they stabilize surface soil, prevent erosion and play an essential role in water resource management at the watershed and local levels. They regulate climate and improve air quality. At the same time they are an important...

Integrated services to support detection, prevention and planning of the agricultural-forest-rural land against fires

Science.gov (United States)

Scipioni, A.; Tagliaferri, F.

2009-04-01

Objective of the document is to define lines of development and distribution of the services to support detection, prevention and planning of the agricultural-forest-rural land against fire. The services will be a valid support on hand of the Regional and National Administrations involved in the agricultural-forest-rural activities (Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry Policies, National Forest Police, ecc..), through the employment of the SIAN "National Agricultural Informative System", that is the integrated national information system for the entire agriculture, forestry and fisheries Administration. The services proposals would be distributed through the GIS (Geographic Information Systems) of the SIAN: the GIS database is a single nation-wide digital graphic database consisting of: - Ortophotos: Aerial images of approz. 45 km2 each with ground resolution of 50 cm; - Cadastral maps: Land maps; - Thematic layers: Land use and crops identification The GIS services can take full advantage of the benefits of SIAN architectural model designed for best integration and interoperability with other Central and Local P.A. bodies whose main items are: - Integration of information from different sources; - Maintainance of the internal coeherence of any integrated information; - Flexibility with respect to technical or organizational changes The "innovative "services described below could be useful to support the development of institutional tasks of public Agencies and Administrations (es. Regions or Civil Protection agencies) according to than previewed from the D.Lgs. 173/98. Services of support to the management of the phenomenon of wildland fires The activities outlined in below figure, don't have a linear and defined temporal sequence, but a dynamic and time integration. It guarantees not only the integrated use of the various information, but also the value of every product, for level of accuracy, coherence and timeliness of the information. Description of four main

Desirable forest structures for a restored Front Range

Science.gov (United States)

Yvette L. Dickinson; Rob Addington; Greg Aplet; Mike Babler; Mike Battaglia; Peter Brown; Tony Cheng; Casey Cooley; Dick Edwards; Jonas Feinstein; Paula Fornwalt; Hal Gibbs; Megan Matonis; Kristen Pelz; Claudia Regan

2014-01-01

As part of the federal Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program administered by the US Forest Service, the Colorado Front Range Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project (FR-CFLRP, a collaborative effort of the Front Range Roundtable1 and the US Forest Service) is required to define desired conditions for lower montane ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa...

Influence of forest management systems on natural resource use and provision of ecosystem services in Tanzania.

Science.gov (United States)

Strauch, Ayron M; Rurai, Masegeri T; Almedom, Astier M

2016-09-15

Social, religious and economic facets of rural livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa are heavily dependent on natural resources, but improper resource management, drought, and social instability frequently lead to their unsustainable exploitation. In rural Tanzania, natural resources are often governed locally by informal systems of traditional resource management (TRM), defined as cultural practices developed within the context of social and religious institutions over hundreds of years. However, following independence from colonial rule, centralized governments began to exercise jurisdictional control over natural resources. Following decades of mismanagement that resulted in lost ecosystem services, communities demanded change. To improve resource protection and participation in management among stakeholders, the Tanzanian government began to decentralize management programs in the early 2000s. We investigated these two differing management approaches (traditional and decentralized government) in Sonjo communities, to examine local perceptions of resource governance, management influences on forest use, and their consequences for forest and water resources. While 97% of households understood the regulations governing traditionally-managed forests, this was true for only 39% of households for government-managed forests, leading to differences in forest use. Traditional management practices resulted in improved forest condition and surface water quality. This research provides an essential case study demonstrating the importance of TRM in shaping decision frameworks for natural resource planning and management. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

U.S. Forest Service Region 1 Lake Chemistry, NADP, and IMPROVE air quality data analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Jill Grenon; Mark Story

2009-01-01

This report was developed to address the need for comprehensive analysis of U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Region 1 air quality monitoring data. The monitoring data includes Phase 3 (long-term data) lakes, National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP), and Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE). Annual and seasonal data for the periods of record...

78 FR 73187 - Black Hills National Forest Advisory Board

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-05

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Black Hills National Forest Advisory Board AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: The Black Hills National Forest Advisory Board (Board... all members of the Advisory Board; (2) provide orientation to Board Members on Basic Laws governing...

Geographic patterns of at-risk species: A technical document supporting the USDA Forest Service Interim Update of the 2000 RPA Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Curtis H. Flather; Michael S. Knowles; Jason McNees

2008-01-01

This technical document supports the Forest Service's requirement to assess the status of renewable natural resources as mandated by the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974. It updates past reports on the trends and geographic patterns of species formally listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. We...

Invasive plants found in east Texas forests, 2009 forest inventory and analysis factsheet

Science.gov (United States)

Sonja N. Oswalt; Christopher M. Oswalt

2011-01-01

This science update provides information on the presence and cover of nonnative invasive plants found in forests of the eastern region of the State of Texas based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program at the Southern Research Station of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service in cooperation with the Texas Forest...

Solid Waste Management in Recreational Forest Areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Spooner, Charles S.

The Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, requested the Bureau of Solid Waste Management to conduct a study of National Forest recreation areas to establish waste generation rates for major recreation activities and to determine the cost of solid waste handling for selected Forest Service Districts. This report describes the 1968 solid…

US forest carbon calculation tool: forest-land carbon stocks and net annual stock change

Science.gov (United States)

James E. Smith; Linda S. Heath; Michael C. Nichols

2007-01-01

The Carbon Calculation Tool 4.0, CCTv40.exe, is a computer application that reads publicly available forest inventory data collected by the U.S. Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis Program (FIA) and generates state-level annualized estimates of carbon stocks on forest land based on FORCARB2 estimators. Estimates can be recalculated as...

Fuel accumulation and forest structure change following hazardous fuel reduction treatments throughout California

Science.gov (United States)

Nicole M. Vaillant; Erin K. Noonan-Wright; Alicia L. Reiner; Carol M. Ewell; Benjamin M. Rau; Josephine A. Fites-Kaufman; Scott N. Dailey

2015-01-01

Altered fuel conditions coupled with changing climate have disrupted fire regimes of forests historically characterised by high-frequency and low-to-moderate-severity fire. Managers use fuel treatments to abate undesirable fire behaviour and effects. Short-term effectiveness of fuel treatments to alter fire behaviour and effects is well documented; however, long-term...

Developing markets for forest environmental services: an opportunity for promoting equity while securing efficiency?

Science.gov (United States)

Landell-Mills, Natasha

2002-08-15

Market-based approaches to environmental management are all the rage. Claims that market mechanisms can encourage environmental protection and promote greater economic efficiency while saving taxpayers' money are tantalizing. In the forestry sector, policy makers are widely heeding this advice and shrinking command-and-control systems in favour of incentive mechanisms that seek to align private enthusiasm with the public good. In some cases, governments are even promoting the creation of markets where none existed before. In others, markets are evolving of their own accord. In such times of change, it is difficult to stand back and take stock. Yet, it is during such times that guidance is most needed. In the rush to introduce market-based solutions to environmental problems, a particular concern is how markets are impacting on the poor. In this paper an effort is made to draw on a recent review of markets for four forest environmental services (biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, watershed protection and landscape beauty) to draw out preliminary insights into how markets are performing with respect to their impacts on the poor. The evidence suggests a need for caution. While the potential benefits are significant, the poor face an uphill battle in realizing them. Key constraints facing the poor include a lack of property rights over forest resources and their environmental services; inadequate skills and education; poor market information; lack of market contacts; inadequate communication infrastructure; inappropriate contract design; and lack of access to financial resources. To tackle these, four potential ways forward are highlighted: (1) assign property rights to forest assets and their related environmental services in ways that respect customary arrangements and poor people's tenure; (2) strengthen capacity for market participation, e.g. through training and education; (3) invest in the provision of market information, advice and, essentially, a

A socioeconomic assessment of Forest Service American Recovery and Reinvestment Act projects: eight case studies

Science.gov (United States)

Susan Charnley; Pamela J. Jakes; John Schelhas

2011-01-01

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 aimed to create jobs and jumpstart the economy while addressing the Nation’s social and environmental needs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, received $1.15 billion in recovery funding to support projects in wildland fire management, capital improvement and maintenance, and biomass utilization. This...

A synthesis of post-fire Burned Area Reports from 1972 to 2009 for western US Forest Service lands: Trends in wildfire characteristics and post-fire stabilisation treatments and expenditures

Science.gov (United States)

Peter R. Robichaud; Hakjun Rhee; Sarah A. Lewis

2014-01-01

Over 1200 post-fire assessment and treatment implementation reports from four decades (1970s-2000s) of western US forest fires have been examined to identify decadal patterns in fire characteristics and the justifications and expenditures for the post-fire treatments. The main trends found were: (1) the area burned by wildfire increased over time and the rate of...

Hydrological services in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil: An ecosystem-based adaptation using ecohydrological monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denise Taffarello

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA involves using services on which human well-being depends to help people adapt to the impacts of climate change. Aiming at strengthening ecosystem resilience and reducing ecosystem and people’s vulnerability, EbA has been encouraged worldwide as an option for climate change. Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES are incentives offered to farmers and landowners to provide an ecological service and are currently proposed as a method for EbA and water resources sustainability on a global scale. However, organized information on PES in Brazil is limited. This paper provides a concise review of PES initiatives in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, where various PES projects on watershed protection (Water-PES have been set up. We found 16 ongoing Water-PES in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. The first initiative was launched in 2005 and since then these projects have grown rapidly. In spite of the advances made in many of these initiatives, they seldom have baseline hydrologic data and an implemented strategy for ecohydrological monitoring. Thus, we discuss how PES projects could be more effective by implementing hydrological monitoring based on ecohydrological concepts. Special attention has been given to explaining how the recent Impact-Vulnerability-Adaptation idea could be integrated into Water-PES. As can be seen from the review, these projects contribute as EbA options for climate change, thereby carrying practical implications for environmental policy makers.

Service quality in alcohol treatment: a research note.

Science.gov (United States)

Resnick, Sheilagh M; Griffiths, Mark D

2011-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate service quality in a UK privately funded alcohol treatment clinic. Data were gathered via interviews with two groups of participants using the SERVQUAL questionnaire. The first group comprised 32 patients and the second 15 clinic staff. The SERVQUAL instrument measures service quality expectations and perceptions across five service dimensions and identifies gaps between service expectations and perceptions of what was delivered. Patients' service quality expectations were exceeded on four of five dimensions. However, staff members felt services fell below expectations on four of five dimensions with the "reliability" service dimension emerging as the common service element falling below expectations for both participant groups. It was concluded that achieving consistent service delivery and increasing empathy between staff and patients improves overall service quality perceptions. The paper relies on self-report methods from a relatively small number of individuals. There have been limited research studies measuring alcohol treatment service quality in the private sector.

Satellite-Based Derivation of High-Resolution Forest Information Layers for Operational Forest Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Johannes Stoffels

2015-06-01

Full Text Available A key factor for operational forest management and forest monitoring is the availability of up-to-date spatial information on the state of forest resources. Earth observation can provide valuable contributions to these information needs. The German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate transferred its inherited forest information system to a new architecture that is better able to serve the needs of centralized inventory and planning services, down to the level of forest districts. During this process, a spatially adaptive classification approach was developed to derive high-resolution forest information layers (e.g., forest type, tree species distribution, development stages based on multi-temporal satellite data. This study covers the application of the developed approach to a regional scale (federal state level and the further adaptation of the design to meet the information needs of the state forest service. The results confirm that the operational requirements for mapping accuracy can, in principle, be fulfilled. However, the state-wide mapping experiment also revealed that the ability to meet the required level of accuracy is largely dependent on the availability of satellite observations within the optimum phenological time-windows.

Southern pine beetle infestations in relation to forest stand conditions, previous thinning, and prescribed burning: evaluation of the Southern Pine Beetle Prevention Program

Science.gov (United States)

John T. Nowak; James R. Meeker; David R. Coyle; Chris A. Steiner; Cavell Brownie

2015-01-01

Since 2003, the Southern Pine Beetle Prevention Program (SPBPP) (a joint effort of the USDA Forest Service and Southern Group of State Foresters) has encouraged and provided cost-share assistance for silvicultural treatments to reduce stand/forest susceptibility to the southern pine beetle (SPB)(Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann) in the southeastern United States....

Monitoring nontimber forest products using forest inventory data: an example with slippery elm bark

Science.gov (United States)

Jobriath S. Kauffman; Stephen P. Prisley; James L. Chamberlain

2015-01-01

The USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysi (FIA) program collects data on a wealth of variables related to trees in forests. Some of these trees produce nontimber forest products (NTFPs) (e.g., fruit, bark and sap) that are harvested for culinary, decorative, building, and medicinal purposes. At least 11 tree species inventoried by FIA are valued for their...

Fuels planning: science synthesis and integration; forest structure and fire hazard fact sheet 06: Guide to fuel treatments in dry forests of the Western United States: assessing forest structure and fire hazard

Science.gov (United States)

Rocky Mountain Research Station USDA Forest Service

2005-01-01

The Guide to Fuel Treatments analyzes a range of potential silvicultural thinnings and surface fuel treatments for 25 representative dry-forest stands in the Western United States. The guide provides quantitative guidelines and visualization for treatment based on scientific principles identified for reducing potential crown fires. This fact sheet identifies the...

Afforestation, subsequent forest fires and provision of hydrological services: a model-based analysis for a Mediterranean mountainous catchment

Science.gov (United States)

Nunes, João Pedro; Naranjo Quintanilla, Paula; Santos, Juliana; Serpa, Dalila; Carvalho-Santos, Cláudia; Rocha, João; Keizer, Jan Jacob; Keesstra, Saskia

2017-04-01

Mediterranean landscapes have experienced extensive abandonment and reforestation in recent decades, which should have improved the provision of hydrological services, such as flood mitigation, soil erosion protection and water quality regulation. However, these forests are fire-prone, and the post-fire increase in runoff, erosion and sediment exports could negatively affect service provision. This issue was assessed using the SWAT model for a small mountain agroforestry catchment, which was monitored between 2010 and 2014 and where some eucalypt stands burned in 2011 and were subsequently plowed for replanting. The model was calibrated and validated for streamflow, sediment yield and erosion in agricultural fields and the burnt hillslopes, showing that it can be adapted for post-fire simulation. It was then used to perform a decadal assessment of surface runoff, erosion, and sediment exports between 2004 and 2014. Results show that the fire did not noticeably affect flood mitigation but that it increased erosion by 3 orders of magnitude, which subsequently increased sediment yield. Erosion in the burnt forest during this decade was one order of magnitude above that in agricultural fields. SWAT was also used to assess different fire and land-use scenarios during the same period. Results indicate that the impacts of fire were lower without post-fire soil management, and when the fire occurred in pine forests (i.e. before the 1990s) or in shrublands (i.e. before afforestation in the 1930s). These impacts were robust to changes in post-fire weather conditions and to a lower fire frequency (20-year intervals). The results suggest that, in the long term, fire-prone forests might not provide the anticipated soil protection and water quality regulation services in wet Mediterranean regions.

EnviroAtlas - Ecosystem Service Market and Project Locations, U.S., 2015, Forest Trends' Ecosystem Marketplace

Science.gov (United States)

This EnviroAtlas dataset contains points depicting the location of market-based programs, referred to herein as markets, and projects addressing ecosystem services protection in the United States. The data were collected via surveys and desk research conducted by Forest Trends' Ecosystem Marketplace from 2008 to 2016 on biodiversity (i.e., imperiled species/habitats; wetlands and streams), carbon, and water markets. Additional biodiversity data were obtained from the Regulatory In-lieu Fee and Bank Information Tracking System (RIBITS) database in 2015. Points represent the centroids (i.e., center points) of market coverage areas, project footprints, or project primary impact areas in which ecosystem service markets or projects operate. National-level markets are an exception to this norm with points representing administrative headquarters locations. Attribute data include information regarding the methodology, design, and development of biodiversity, carbon, and water markets and projects. This dataset was produced by Forest Trends' Ecosystem Marketplace for EnviroAtlas in order to support public access to and use of information related to environmental markets. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) o

National forest economic clusters: a new model for assessing national-forest-based natural resources products and services.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas D. Rojas

2007-01-01

National forest lands encompass numerous rural and urban communities. Some national-forest-based communities lie embedded within national forests, and others reside just outside the official boundaries of national forests. The urban and rural communities within or near national forest lands include a wide variety of historical traditions and cultural values that affect...

Fuel treatment effects on tree-based forest carbon storage and emissions under modeled wildfire scenarios

Science.gov (United States)

M. Hurteau; M. North

2009-01-01

Forests are viewed as a potential sink for carbon (C) that might otherwise contribute to climate change. It is unclear, however, how to manage forests with frequent fire regimes to maximize C storage while reducing C emissions from prescribed burns or wildfire. We modeled the effects of eight different fuel treatments on treebased C storage and release over a century,...

An analysis of forest land use, forest land cover, and change at policy-relevant scales

Science.gov (United States)

John W. Coulston; Greg Reams; Dave N. Wear; C. Kenneth Brewer

2014-01-01

Quantifying the amount of forest and change in the amount of forest are key to ensure that appropriate management practices and policies are in place to maintain the array of ecosystem services provided by forests. There are a range of analytical techniques and data available to estimate these forest parameters, however, not all ‘forest’ is the same and various...

Effects of fuel treatments on carbon-disturbance relationships in forests of the northern Rocky Mountains

Science.gov (United States)

Elizabeth Reinhardt; Lisa Holsinger

2010-01-01

Fuel treatments alter conditions in forested stands at the time of the treatment and subsequently. Fuel treatments reduce on-site carbon and also change the fire potential and expected outcome of future wildfires, including their carbon emissions. We simulated effects of fuel treatments on 140 stands representing seven major habitat type groups of the northern Rocky...

Forests of Kentucky, 2012

Science.gov (United States)

C.M. Oswalt

2015-01-01

This resource update provides an overview of forest resource attributes for the Commonwealth of Kentucky based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program at the Southern Research Station of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture in cooperation with the Kentucky Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry....

Integrating remote sensing and forest inventory data for assessing forest blowdown in the boundary waters canoe area wilderness

Science.gov (United States)

Mark D. Nelson; W. Keith Moser

2007-01-01

The USDA Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program conducts strategic inventories of our Nation's forest resources. There is increasing need to assess effects of forest disturbance from catastrophic events, often within geographic extents not typically addressed by strategic forest inventories. One such event occurred within the Boundary...

Vermont's Forest Resources, 2006

Science.gov (United States)

R.S. Morin; R. De Geus

2008-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for Vermont based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These annual estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information regarding past inventory reports...

Forests of Alabama, 2014

Science.gov (United States)

Andy Hartsell

2016-01-01

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in Alabama based on an inventory conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Southern Research Station in cooperation with the Alabama Forestry Commission. Estimates are based on field data collected using the FIA annualized sample design and are updated yearly....

Forests of Wisconsin, 2013

Science.gov (United States)

Charles H. Perry

2014-01-01

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in Wisconsin based on an inventory conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station in cooperation with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Data estimates are based on field data collected using the FIA annualized sample design and...

Connecticut's forest resources, 2010

Science.gov (United States)

Brett J. Butler; Cassandra Kurtz; Christopher Martin; W. Keith Moser

2011-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for Connecticut based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information please refer to page 4 of this report...

Connecticut's forest resources, 2009

Science.gov (United States)

Brett J. Butler; Christopher Martin

2011-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for Connecticut based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information please refer to page 4 of this report...

Forests of Connecticut, 2015

Science.gov (United States)

Brett J. Butler

2016-01-01

This report provides an overview of forest resources in Connecticut based on an inventory conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the Northern Research Station. Estimates are based on field data collected using the FIA annualized sample design. Results are for the measurement years 2010-2015 with comparisons made to 2005-...

Forests of Iowa, 2015

Science.gov (United States)

Mark D. Nelson; Matt Brewer; Dacia M. Meneguzzo; Kathryne. Clark

2016-01-01

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in Iowa based on inventories conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station in cooperation with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Estimates are based on field data collected using the FIA annualized sample design and are updated...

Forests of Nebraska, 2014

Science.gov (United States)

Dacia M. Meneguzzo; Susan J. Crocker

2015-01-01

This resource update provides an overview of forest resource attributes for Nebraska based on annual inventories conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program of the Northern Research Station (NRS), U.S. Forest Service. The estimates presented in this update are based on field data collected in 2010-2014 with comparisons made to data collected from 2005-...

Forests of Pennsylvania, 2014

Science.gov (United States)

Richard H. Widmann

2015-01-01

This resource update provides an overview of the forest resources in Pennsylvania based on inventories conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the Northern Research Station. Estimates are based on field data collected using the FIA annualized sample design and are updated yearly (see footnote 1 on page 4). Information about...

Pennsylvania's forest resources, 2012

Science.gov (United States)

G.L. McCaskill; W.H. McWilliams; C.J. Barnett

2013-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for Pennsylvania based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These annual estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information please refer to page 4 of...

Pennsylvania's forest resources, 2009

Science.gov (United States)

G.L. McCaskill; W.H. McWilliams; B.J. Butler; D.M. Meneguzzo; C.J. Barnett; M.H. Hansen

2011-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for Pennsylvania based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These annual estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information please refer to page 4 of...

Pennsylvania's forest resources, 2011

Science.gov (United States)

G.L. McCaskill; W.H. McWilliams; C.J. Barnett

2012-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for Pennsylvania based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These annual estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information please refer to page 4 of...

Pennsylvania's forest resources, 2008

Science.gov (United States)

G.L. McCaskill; W.H. McWilliams; B.J. Butler; D.M. Meneguzzo; C.J. Barnett; M.H. Hansen

2011-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for Pennsylvania based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These annual estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information please refer to page 4 of...

Forests of Pennsylvania, 2015

Science.gov (United States)

Richard H. Widmann

2016-01-01

This resource update provides an overview of the forest resources in Pennsylvania based on inventories conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the Northern Research Station (NRS). Estimates are based on field data collected using the FIA annualized sample design and are updated yearly1(see footnote 1, page 2). Information...

Pennsylvania's forest resources, 2010

Science.gov (United States)

G.L. McCaskill; W.H. McWilliams; C.J. Barnett

2011-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for Pennsylvania based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These annual estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information please refer to page 4 of...

Pennsylvania's forest resources, 2007

Science.gov (United States)

G.L. McCaskill; W.H. McWilliams; B.J. Butler; D.M. Meneguzzo; C.J. Barnett; M.H. Hansen

2011-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for Pennsylvania based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These annual estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information, please refer to page 6 of...

Forests of Pennsylvania, 2013

Science.gov (United States)

George L. McCaskill

2014-01-01

This publication provides an overview of the forest resources in Pennsylvania based upon inventories conducted by the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the Northern Research Station. Information about the national and regional FIA program is available online at http://fia.fs.fed.us. Since 1999, FIA has implemented an annual inventory...

Wisconsin's forest resources, 2010

Science.gov (United States)

C.H. Perry

2011-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for Wisconsin based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information please refer to page 4 of this report...

Wisconsin's forest resources, 2006

Science.gov (United States)

C.H. Perry; V.A. Everson

2007-01-01

Figure 2 was revised by the author in August 2008. This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for Wisconsin based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service from 2002-2006. These estimates, along with associated core tables postedon the Internet, are...

Wisconsin's Forest Resources, 2007

Science.gov (United States)

C.H. Perry; V.A. Everson

2008-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for Wisconsin based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station. These estimates, along with web-posted core tables, are updated annually. For more information please refer to page 4 of this report.

Wisconsin's forest resources, 2009

Science.gov (United States)

C.H. Perry

2011-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for Wisconsin based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information, please refer to page 4 of this report...

Forest Service's Northern Research Station FIA launches 24-state study of forest regeneration

Science.gov (United States)

Will McWilliams; Shawn Lehman; Paul Roth; Jim. Westfall

2012-01-01

Inventory foresters often quake when asked to count tree seedlings, because the work is tedious and sometimes means tallying hundreds of stems. They also know that the density and quality of advance regeneration are key to the success of new stand establishment. Seedling counts provide valuable information on regeneration adequacy, forest diversity, wildlife habitat,...

Science exchange in an era of diminished capacity: recreation management in the U.S. Forest Service

Science.gov (United States)

Clare M. Ryan; Lee K. Cerveny

2010-01-01

Promotion of effective science exchange between government scientists and managers requires thoughtful arrangement and operation of research and management functions. The U.S. Forest Service was established at the peak of the Progressive Era, when science exchange was designed to occur between researchers and resource managers who worked in distinct arms of the agency...

78 FR 17632 - Caribou-Targhee National Forest; Idaho and Wyoming; Amendment to the Targhee Revised Forest Plan...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-22

...; Amendment to the Targhee Revised Forest Plan--Canada Lynx Habitat AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION... Forest proposes to amend the Targhee Revised Forest Plan (1997) to include a map identifying specific... Administrative Review Process: The decision on this proposed plan amendment will be subject to the objection...

Collaborative restoration effects on forest structure in ponderosa pine-dominated forests of Colorado

Science.gov (United States)

Jeffery B. Cannon; Kevin J. Barrett; Benjamin M. Gannon; Robert N. Addington; Mike A. Battaglia; Paula J. Fornwalt; Gregory H. Aplet; Antony S. Cheng; Jeffrey L. Underhill; Jennifer S. Briggs; Peter M. Brown

2018-01-01

In response to large, severe wildfires in historically fire-adapted forests in the western US, policy initiatives, such as the USDA Forest Service’s Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP), seek to increase the pace and scale of ecological restoration. One required component of this program is collaborative adaptive management, in which monitoring...

State property tax incentives for promoting ecosystem goods and services from private forest land in the United States: a review and analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Michael A. Kilgore; Paul B. Ellefson; Travis J. Funk; Gregory E. Frey

2017-01-01

Financial incentives provided by State property tax programs are a means of promoting ecosystem services from private forest land. Identified by this 50-State 2015 review, categories of ecosystem services frequently promoted by such programs are open space and scenic resources, conservation of...

New inclinations of research, development and innovation for public forest in regard to bio-economy perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deleuze, Christine; Richter, Claudine; Ulrich, Erwin; Musch, Brigitte; Descroix, Laurent; Pousse, Noemie; Legay, Myriam; Dreyfus, Philippe; Bock, Jerome; Riond, Catherine

2016-01-01

The area of French forest has grew by 60% in a century, and is at the fourth position on the European rank; Its harvesting was doubled at the same time; however the national trade-balance of the wood products sector is still in deficit. This forest is also facing important changes: climatic (composition and productivity of forest are affected, frequency and intensity of forest disturbances increase), societal (workers are fewer in the forest and we are more aware of benefits and services to society provided by forest) and bio-economic (fossil resources decrease and we need of renewable materials). Wood is a versatile material which is renewable and can be used from construction, furniture to pulp and composite material, with a final recycling in energy. This cascading use of wood products enables a low carbon production of materials and energy, particularly effective for new challenges in bio-economy. To address this joint challenge of stronger and differentiated demands on wood resource and threats and constraints on the forest, some innovations and research of the public forest service are presented in this paper. The diversity of solutions (in harvesting, silvicultural treatment, species, soil monitoring...) underlines the potential of innovations in forest management and the need to mix and transfer them. (authors)

Private forests, housing growth, and America’s water supply: A report from the Forests on the Edge and Forests to Faucets Projects

Science.gov (United States)

M. H. Mockrin; R. L. Lilja; E. Weidner; S. M. Stein; M. A. Carr

2014-01-01

America’s private forests provide a vast array of public goods and services, including abundant, clean surface water. Forest loss and development can affect water quality and quantity when forests are removed and impervious surfaces, such as paved roads, spread across the landscape. We rank watersheds across the conterminous United States according to the contributions...

The Forests of Southern New England, 2007: A report on the forest resources of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island

Science.gov (United States)

Brett J. Butler; Charles J. Barnett; Susan J. Crocker; Grant M. Domke; Dale Gormanson; William N. Hill; Cassandra M. Kurtz; Tonya Lister; Christopher Martin; Patrick D. Miles; Randall Morin; W. Keith Moser; Mark D. Nelson; Barbara O' Connell; Bruce Payton; Charles H. Perry; Ronald J. Piva; Rachel Riemann; Christopher W. Woodall

2011-01-01

This report summarizes the results of the fifth forest inventory of the forests of Southern New England, defined as Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and analysis program. Information on forest attributes, ownership, land use change, carbon, timber products, forest health, and statistics and quality...

Resiliency of an Interior Ponderosa Pine Forest to Bark Beetle Infestations Following Fuel-Reduction and Forest-Restoration Treatments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher J. Fettig

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Mechanical thinning and the application of prescribed fire are commonly used to restore fire-adapted forest ecosystems in the Western United States. During a 10-year period, we monitored the effects of fuel-reduction and forest-restoration treatments on levels of tree mortality in an interior ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws., forest in California. Twelve experimental plots, ranging in size from 77–144 ha, were established to create two distinct forest structural types: mid-seral stage (low structural diversity; LoD and late-seral stage (high structural diversity; HiD. Following harvesting, half of each plot was treated with prescribed fire (B. A total of 16,473 trees (8.7% of all trees died during the 10-year period. Mortality was primarily attributed to bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae (10,655 trees, specifically fir engraver, Scolytus ventralis LeConte, mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, western pine beetle, D. brevicomis LeConte, pine engraver, Ips pini (Say, and, to a much lesser extent, Jeffrey pine beetle, D. jeffreyi Hopkins. Trees of all ages and size classes were killed, but mortality was concentrated in the smaller-diameter classes (19–29.2 and 29.3–39.3 cm at 1.37 m in height. Most mortality occurred three to five years following prescribed burns. Higher levels of bark beetle-caused tree mortality were observed on LoD + B (8.7% than LoD (4.2%. The application of these and other results to the   management of interior P. ponderosa forests are discussed, with an emphasis on the maintenance of large trees.

45 CFR 96.131 - Treatment services for pregnant women.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant § 96.131 Treatment services for pregnant women. (a) The State is required to, in accordance with this section, ensure that each pregnant woman in the State who... 45 Public Welfare 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Treatment services for pregnant women. 96.131...

75 FR 16422 - Plumas National Forest, California, Keddie Ridge Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an... District will prepare and environmental impact statement (EIS) on the Keddie Ridge Hazardous Fuels...: fuels treatments, group selections, road improvements, and herbicide and mechanical applications in the...

Estimates of carbon stored in harvested wood products from United States Forest Service's Sierra Nevada Bio-Regional Assessment Area of the Pacific Southwest Region, 1909-2012

Science.gov (United States)

Keith Stockmann; Nathaniel Anderson; Jesse Young; Ken Skog; Sean Healey; Dan Loeffler; Edward Butler; J. Greg Jones; James Morrison

2014-01-01

Global forests capture and store significant amounts of carbon through photosynthesis. When carbon is removed from forests through harvest, a portion of the harvested carbon is stored in wood products, often for many decades. The United States Forest Service (USFS) and other agencies are interested in accurately accounting for carbon flux associated with harvested wood...

Amphibian and reptile response to prescribed burning and thinning in pine-hardwood forests: pre-treatment results

Science.gov (United States)

William B. Sutton; Yong Wang; Callie J. Schweitzer

2010-01-01

Analysis of pretreatment data is essential to determine long-term effects of forest management on amphibians and reptiles. We present pre-treatment amphibian and reptile capture data from April 2005 to May 2006 for a long-term study on herpetofaunal response to prescribed burning and tree thinning in the William B. Bankhead National Forest, AL, United States....

75 FR 16728 - Beaver Creek Landscape Management Project, Ashland Ranger District, Custer National Forest...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-02

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Beaver Creek Landscape Management Project, Ashland Ranger... manner that increases resiliency of the Beaver Creek Landscape Management Project area ecosystem to... requirements to require. The Beaver Creek Landscape Management Project includes treatments previously proposed...

28 CFR 550.52 - Non-residential drug abuse treatment services.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Non-residential drug abuse treatment... INSTITUTIONAL MANAGEMENT DRUG PROGRAMS Drug Abuse Treatment Program § 550.52 Non-residential drug abuse treatment services. All institutions must have non-residential drug abuse treatment services, provided...

Forests on the edge: evaluating contributions of and threats to America's private forest lands

Science.gov (United States)

Mark Hatfield; Ronald E. McRoberts; Dacia M. Meneguzzo; Mike Dechter; < i> et al< /i>

2007-01-01

The Forests on the Edge project, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, uses geographic information systems to construct and analyze maps depicting ecological, social, and economic contributions of America's private forest lands and threats to those contributions. Watersheds across the conterminous United States are ranked relative to the...

Service dog training program for treatment of posttraumatic stress in service members.

Science.gov (United States)

Yount, Rick A; Olmert, Meg D; Lee, Mary R

2012-01-01

In July 2008, social worker and certified service dog trainer Rick Yount created the first Warrior dog-training program designed to be a safe, effective, nonpharmaceutical intervention to treat the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury in Veterans and service members undergoing treatment at a large Veterans Administration residential treatment facility. In 2009, Yount was asked to establish the program at a prominent Department of Defense medical center. In October 2010, Yount was invited to create a service dog training program to support the research and treatment mission at the new National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE), in Bethesda, Maryland. This program, now being offered through the nonprofit foundation Warrior Canine Connection, continues to produce anecdotal evidence that training service dogs reduces the PTSD symptoms of Warrior-trainers and that the presence of the dogs enhances the sense of wellness in the NICoE staff and the families of our Wounded Warriors. Under the research leadership of the NICoE, the Warrior Canine Connection research team plans to systematically investigate the physiological, psychological, and behavioral benefits of this program.

CTFS-ForestGEO: a worldwide network monitoring forests in an era of global change

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anderson-Teixeira, Kristina J. [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; Smithsonian Conservation Biology Inst. (SCBI), Front Royal, VA (United States). National Zoological Park. Conservation Ecology Center; Davies, Stuart J. [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC (United States). Dept. of Botany; Bennett, Amy C. [Smithsonian Conservation Biology Inst. (SCBI), Front Royal, VA (United States). National Zoological Park. Conservation Ecology Center; Gonzalez-Akre, Erika B. [Smithsonian Conservation Biology Inst. (SCBI), Front Royal, VA (United States). National Zoological Park. Conservation Ecology Center; Muller-Landau, Helene C. [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; Joseph Wright, S. [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; Abu Salim, Kamariah [Univ. of Brunei Darussalam, Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei). Faculty of Science. Environmental and Life Sciences; Almeyda Zambrano, Angélica M. [Smithsonian Conservation Biology Inst. (SCBI), Front Royal, VA (United States). National Zoological Park. Conservation Ecology Center; Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Stanford Woods Inst. for the Environment; Univ. of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (United States). Dept. of Geography; Alonso, Alfonso [Smithsonian Conservation Biology Inst., Washington, DC (United States). National Zoological Park. Center for Conservation Education and Sustainability; Baltzer, Jennifer L. [Wilfrid Laurier Univ., Waterloo, ON (Canada). Dept. of Biology; Basset, Yves [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; Bourg, Norman A. [Smithsonian Conservation Biology Inst. (SCBI), Front Royal, VA (United States). National Zoological Park. Conservation Ecology Center; Broadbent, Eben N. [Smithsonian Conservation Biology Inst. (SCBI), Front Royal, VA (United States). National Zoological Park. Conservation Ecology Center; Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Stanford Woods Inst. for the Environment; Univ. of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (United States). Dept. of Geography; Brockelman, Warren Y. [Mahidol Univ., Bangkok (Thailand). Dept. of Biology; Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh [Dept. of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Bangkok (Thailand). Research Office; Burslem, David F. R. P. [Univ. of Aberdeen (United Kingdom). School of Biological Sciences; Butt, Nathalie [Univ. of Queensland, St. Lucia (Australia). School of Biological Sciences; Univ. of Oxford (United Kingdom). School of Geography and the Environment. Environmental Change Inst.; Cao, Min [Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Kunming (China). Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden. Key Lab. of Tropical Forest Ecology; Cardenas, Dairon [Sinchi Amazonic Inst. of Scientific Research, Bogota (Colombia); Chuyong, George B. [Univ. of Buea (Cameroon). Dept. of Botany and Plant Physiology; Clay, Keith [Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States). Dept. of Biology; Cordell, Susan [USDA Forest Service, Hilo, HI (United States). Inst. of Pacific Islands Forestry; Dattaraja, Handanakere S. [Indian Inst. of Science, Bangalore (India). Centre for Ecological Sciences; Deng, Xiaobao [Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Kunming (China). Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden. Key Lab. of Tropical Forest Ecology; Detto, Matteo [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; Du, Xiaojun [Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Inst. of Botany; Duque, Alvaro [Univ. Nacional de Colombia, Medellin (Colombia). Dept. de Ciencias Forestales; Erikson, David L. [National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC (United States). Dept. of Botany; Ewango, Corneille E. N. [Okapi Wildlife Reserve, Epulu (Democratic Republic of the Congo). Centre de Formation et de Recherche en Conservation Forestiere (CEFRECOF); Fischer, Gunter A. [Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, Tai Po, Hong Kong (China); Fletcher, Christine [Forest Research Inst. Malaysia (FRIM), Selangor (Malaysia); Foster, Robin B. [The Field Museum, Chicago, IL (United States). Botany Dept.; Giardina, Christian P. [USDA Forest Service, Hilo, HI (United States). Inst. of Pacific Islands Forestry; Gilbert, Gregory S. [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States). Environmental Studies Dept.; Gunatilleke, Nimal [Univ. of Peradeniya (Sri Lanka). Faculty of Science. Dept. of Botany; Gunatilleke, Savitri [Univ. of Peradeniya (Sri Lanka). Faculty of Science. Dept. of Botany; Hao, Zhanqing [Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shenyang (China). State Key Lab. of Forest and Soil Ecology. Inst. of Applied Ecology; Hargrove, William W. [USDA-Forest Service Station Headquarters, Asheville, NC (United States). Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center; Hart, Terese B. [Lukuru Wildlife Research Foundation, Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo). Tshuapa-Lomami-Lualaba Project; Hau, Billy C. H. [Univ. of Hong Kong (China). School of Biological Sciences. Kadoorie Inst.; He, Fangliang [Univ. of Alberta, Edmonton, AB (Canada). Dept. of Renewable Resources; Hoffman, Forrest M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Computational Earth Sciences Group; Howe, Robert W. [Univ. of Wisconsin, Green Bay, WI (United States). Dept. of Natural and Applied Sciences; Hubbell, Stephen P. [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Inman-Narahari, Faith M. [Univ. of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI (United States). College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources; Jansen, Patrick A. [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; Wageningen Univ. (Netherlands). Resource Ecology Group; Jiang, Mingxi [Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Wuhan (China). Wuhan Botanical Garden; Johnson, Daniel J. [Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States). Dept. of Biology; Kanzaki, Mamoru [Kyoto Univ. (Japan). Graduate School of Agriculture; Kassim, Abdul Rahman [Forest Research Inst. Malaysia (FRIM), Selangor (Malaysia); Kenfack, David [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC (United States). Dept. of Botany; Kibet, Staline [National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi (Kenya); Univ. of Nairobi (Kenya). Land Resource Management and Agricultural Technology Dept.; Kinnaird, Margaret F. [Mpala Research Centre, Nanyuki (Kenya); Wildlife Conservation Society, New York, NY (United States). Global Conservation Programs; Korte, Lisa [Smithsonian Conservation Biology Inst., Washington, DC (United States). National Zoological Park. Center for Conservation Education and Sustainability; Kral, Kamil [Silva Tarouca Research Inst., Brno (Czech Republic). Dept. of Forest Ecology; Kumar, Jitendra [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Computational Earth Sciences Group; Larson, Andrew J. [Univ. of Montana, Missoula, MT (United States). College of Forestry and Conservation. Dept. of Forest Management; Li, Yide [Chinese Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou (China). Research Inst. of Tropical Forestry; Li, Xiankun [Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Guilin (China). Guangxi Inst. of Botany; Liu, Shirong [Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing (China). Research Inst. of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection; Lum, Shawn K. Y. [Nanyang Technological Univ. (Singapore). National Inst. of Education. Natural Sciences and Science Education Academic Group; Lutz, James A. [Utah State Univ., Logan, UT (United States). Wildland Resources Dept.; Ma, Keping [Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Inst. of Botany; Maddalena, Damian M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Computational Earth Sciences Group; Makana, Jean-Remy [Wildlife Conservation Society, Brazzaville (Democratic Republic of the Congo); Malhi, Yadvinder [Univ. of Oxford (United Kingdom). School of Geography and the Environment. Environmental Change Inst.; Marthews, Toby [Univ. of Oxford (United Kingdom). School of Geography and the Environment. Environmental Change Inst.; Mat Serudin, Rafizah [Univ. of Brunei Darussalam, Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei). Faculty of Science. Environmental and Life Sciences; McMahon, Sean M. [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD (United States). Forest Ecology Group; McShea, William J. [Smithsonian Conservation Biology Inst., Front Royal, VA (United States). National Zoological Park. Conservation Ecology Center; Memiaghe, Hervé R. [Inst. de Recherche en Ecologie Tropicale, Libreville (Gabon). Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique; Mi, Xiangcheng [Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Inst. of Botany; Mizuno, Takashi [Kyoto Univ. (Japan). Graduate School of Agriculture; Morecroft, Michael [Natural England, Sheffield (United Kingdom); Myers, Jonathan A. [Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States). Dept. of Biology; Novotny, Vojtech [New Guinea Binatang Research Centre, Madang (Papua New Guinea); Univ. of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice (Czech Republic). Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Faculty of Science. Biology Centre; de Oliveira, Alexandre A. [Univ. of Sao Paulo (Brazil). Inst. of Biosciences. Ecology Dept.; Ong, Perry S. [Univ. of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City (Philippines). Inst. of Biology; Orwig, David A. [Harvard Univ., Petersham, MA (United States). Harvard Forest; Ostertag, Rebecca [Univ. of Hawaii, Hilo, HI (United States). Dept. of Biology; den Ouden, Jan [Wageningen Univ. (Netherlands). Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group; Parker, Geoffrey G. [Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD (United States). Forest Ecology Group; Phillips, Richard P. [Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States). Dept. of Biology; Sack, Lawren [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Sainge, Moses N. [Tropical Plant Exploration Group (TroPEG), Mundemba (Cameroon); Sang, Weiguo [Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Inst. of Botany; Sri-ngernyuang, Kriangsak [Maejo Univ., Chiang Mai (Thailand). Faculty of Architecture and Environmental Design; Sukumar, Raman [Indian Inst. of Science, Bangalore (India). Centre for Ecological Sciences; Sun, I-Fang [National Dong Hwa Univ., Hualian (Taiwan). Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies; Sungpalee, Witchaphart [Maejo Univ., Chiang Mai (Thailand). Faculty of Architecture and Environmental Design; Suresh, Hebbalalu Sathyanarayana [Indian Inst. of Science, Bangalore (India). Centre for Ecological Sciences; Tan, Sylvester [Sarawak Forest Dept., Kuching (Malaysia); Thomas, Sean C. [Univ. of Toronto, ON (Canada). Faculty of Forestry; Thomas, Duncan W. [Washington State Univ., Vancouver, WA (United States). School of Biological Sciences; Thompson, Jill [Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Penicuik, Scotland (United Kingdom); Univ. of Puerto Rico Rio Pedras, San Juan (Puerto Rico). Dept. of Environmental Science. Inst. for Tropical Ecosystem Studies; Turner, Benjamin L. [Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst. (STRI), Panama (Panama). Center for Tropical Forest Science. Forest Global Earth Observatory; Uriarte, Maria [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States). Dept. of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology; Valencia, Renato [Pontifical Catholic Univ. of Ecuador, Quito (Ecuador). Dept. of Biological Sciences; Vallejo, Marta I. [Inst. Alexander von Humboldt, Bogota (Colombia); Vicentini, Alberto [National Inst. of Amazonian Research (INPA), Manaus (Brazil); Vrška, Tomáš [Silva Tarouca Research Inst., Brno (Czech Republic). Dept. of Forest Ecology; Wang, Xihua [East China Normal Univ. (ECNU), Shanghai (China). School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences; Wang, Xugao [Lukuru Wildlife Research Foundation, Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo). Tshuapa-Lomami-Lualaba Project; Weiblen, George [Univ. of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN (United States). Dept. of Plant Biology; Wolf, Amy [Univ. of Wisconsin, Green Bay, WI (United States). Dept. of Biology. Dept. of Natural and Applied Sciences; Xu, Han [Chinese Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou (China). Research Inst. of Tropical Forestry; Yap, Sandra [Univ. of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City (Philippines). Inst. of Biology; Zimmerman, Jess [Univ. of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras, San Juan (Puerto Rico). Dept. of Environmental Science. Inst. for Tropical Ecosystem Studies

2014-09-25

Global change is impacting forests worldwide, threatening biodiversity and ecosystem services, including climate regulation. Understanding how forests respond is critical to forest conservation and climate protection. This review describes an international network of 59 long-term forest dynamic research sites useful for characterizing forest responses to global change. The broad suite of measurements made at the CTFS-ForestGEO sites make it possible to investigate the complex ways in which global change is impacting forest dynamics. ongoing research across the network is yielding insights into how and why the forests are changing, and continued monitoring will provide vital contributions to understanding worldwide forest diversity and dynamics in a era of global change

Forests of Kansas, 2015

Science.gov (United States)

Dacia M. Meneguzzo

2016-01-01

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in Kansas based on inventories conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the Northern Research Station. For annual inventory years 2001-2013, the sample length was equal to 5 years. Beginning in 2014, the cycle length was changed to 7 years. For the 2015 inventory,...

Forests of Kansas, 2016

Science.gov (United States)

Dacia M. Meneguzzo

2017-01-01

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in Kansas based on inventories conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the Northern Research Station. For annual inventory years 2001-2013, the sample length was equal to 5 years. Beginning in 2014, the cycle length was changed to 7 years. For the 2016 inventory,...

Forests of Nebraska, 2015

Science.gov (United States)

Dacia M. Meneguzzo

2016-01-01

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in Nebraska based on inventories conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the Northern Research Station. For annual inventory years 2001-2013, the sample length was equal to 5 years. Beginning in 2014, the cycle length was changed to 7 years. For the 2015 inventory...

76 FR 19313 - Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, Wisconsin, Lakewood Southeast Project

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-07

... stream bank improvement, forest age, forest composition, and stocking. DATES: Comments concerning the... Southeast Project AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement. SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to document the...

The Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project: the effects of forest management on the forest ecosystem

Science.gov (United States)

Brian Brookshire; Carl Hauser

1993-01-01

The effects of forest management on non-timber resources are of growing concern to forest managers and the public. While many previous studies have reported effects of stand-level treatments (less than 15 ha) on various stand-level attributes, few studies have attempted to document the influence of forest management on the biotic and abiotic characteristics of entire...

78 FR 34131 - Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-06

..., USDA Forest Service Law Enforcement seized a hide robe from Flora's daughter that had been collected by Flora at the Falls Creek Rock Shelters. Subsequently, in 2009, Bureau of Land Management Law Enforcement..., Cambridge, MA, and by the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History, Boulder, CO. In February 2009...

Tawny owl (Strix aluco) as a potential transmitter of Enterobacteriaceae epidemiologically relevant for forest service workers, nature protection service and ornithologists.

Science.gov (United States)

Grzywaczewski, Grzegorz; Kowalczyk-Pecka, Danuta; Cios, Szymon; Bojar, Wiktor; Jankuszew, Andrzej; Bojar, Hubert; Kolejko, Marcin

2017-03-31

Established taxa within the Enterobacteriaceae wereisolated from cloacal swabs of Strix aluco chicks in nest boxes located at five research sites. ChromID ESBL medium (bioMerieux) was used to select a pool of Enterobacteriaceae strains producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamases. Drug sensitivity of the chosen strains was determined from the full pool of Enterobacteriaceae to 6 chemotherapeutics of different mechanisms of action. The study evaluated the sensitivity of ESBL-synthesizing isolates to substances belonging to penicillins, cephalosporins, cephamycins, clavams, carbapenems and monobactams. Analysis of the results indicated a potential role of Strix aluco in the dissemination of epidemiologically-relevant Enterobacteriaceae, and, importantly, pose health risks to forest service workers, nature protection service and ornithologists. The results can also serve as the basis for further environmental studies.

Trade-offs between three forest ecosystem services across the state of New Hampshire, USA: timber, carbon, and albedo.

Science.gov (United States)

Lutz, David A; Burakowski, Elizabeth A; Murphy, Mackenzie B; Borsuk, Mark E; Niemiec, Rebecca M; Howarth, Richard B

2016-01-01

Forests are more frequently being managed to store and sequester carbon for the purposes of climate change mitigation. Generally, this practice involves long-term conservation of intact mature forests and/or reductions in the frequency and intensity of timber harvests. However, incorporating the influence of forest surface albedo often suggests that long rotation lengths may not always be optimal in mitigating climate change in forests characterized by frequent snowfall. To address this, we investigated trade-offs between three ecosystem services: carbon storage, albedo-related radiative forcing, and timber provisioning. We calculated optimal rotation length at 498 diverse Forest Inventory and Analysis forest sites in the state of New Hampshire, USA. We found that the mean optimal rotation lengths across all sites was 94 yr (standard deviation of sample means = 44 yr), with a large cluster of short optimal rotation lengths that were calculated at high elevations in the White Mountain National Forest. Using a regression tree approach, we found that timber growth, annual storage of carbon, and the difference between annual albedo in mature forest vs. a post-harvest landscape were the most important variables that influenced optimal rotation. Additionally, we found that the choice of a baseline albedo value for each site significantly altered the optimal rotation lengths across all sites, lowering the mean rotation to 59 yr with a high albedo baseline, and increasing the mean rotation to 112 yr given a low albedo baseline. Given these results, we suggest that utilizing temperate forests in New Hampshire for climate mitigation purposes through carbon storage and the cessation of harvest is appropriate at a site-dependent level that varies significantly across the state.

Shaping forest safety nets with markets: Adaptation to climate change under changing roles of tropical forests in Congo Basin

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nkem, J.; Kalame, F.B.; Idinoba, M.; Somorin, O.A.; Ndoye, O.; Awono, A.

2010-01-01

Tropical forests hold several goods and services used by forest-dependent people as safety nets to traverse difficult periods of resource supply. These same goods and services are constantly surrounded by emerging markets linking remote communities with major urban centers nationally and

Forests and Phenology: Designing the Early Warning System to Understand Forest Change

Science.gov (United States)

Pierce, T.; Phillips, M. B.; Hargrove, W. W.; Dobson, G.; Hicks, J.; Hutchins, M.; Lichtenstein, K.

2010-12-01

Vegetative phenology is the study of plant development and changes with the seasons, such as the greening-up and browning-down of forests, and how these events are influenced by variations in climate. A National Phenology Data Set, based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer satellite images covering 2002 through 2009, is now available from work by NASA, the US Forest Service, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This new data set provides an easily interpretable product useful for detecting changes to the landscape due to long-term factors such as climate change, as well as finding areas affected by short-term forest threats such as insects or disease. The Early Warning System (EWS) is a toolset being developed by the US Forest Service and the University of North Carolina-Asheville to support distribution and use of the National Phenology Data Set. The Early Warning System will help research scientists, US Forest Service personnel, forest and natural resources managers, decision makers, and the public in the use of phenology data to better understand unexpected change within our nation’s forests. These changes could have multiple natural sources such as insects, disease, or storm damage, or may be due to human-induced events, like thinning, harvest, forest conversion to agriculture, or residential and commercial use. The primary goal of the Early Warning System is to provide a seamless integration between monitoring, detection, early warning and prediction of these forest disturbances as observed through phenological data. The system consists of PC and web-based components that are structured to support four user stages of increasing knowledge and data sophistication. Building Literacy: This stage of the Early Warning System educates potential users about the system, why the system should be used, and the fundamentals about the data the system uses. The channels for this education include a website, interactive tutorials, pamphlets, and other technology

Satellite Image-based Estimates of Snow Water Equivalence in Restored Ponderosa Pine Forests in Northern Arizona

Science.gov (United States)

Sankey, T.; Springer, A. E.; O'Donnell, F. C.; Donald, J.; McVay, J.; Masek Lopez, S.

2014-12-01

The U.S. Forest Service plans to conduct forest restoration treatments through the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) on hundreds of thousands of acres of ponderosa pine forest in northern Arizona over the next 20 years with the goals of reducing wildfire hazard and improving forest health. The 4FRI's key objective is to thin and burn the forests to create within-stand openings that "promote snowpack accumulation and retention which benefit groundwater recharge and watershed processes at the fine (1 to 10 acres) scale". However, little is known about how these openings created by restoration treatments affect snow water equivalence (SWE) and soil moisture, which are key parts of the water balance that greatly influence water availability for healthy trees and for downstream water users in the Sonoran Desert. We have examined forest canopy cover by calculating a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), a key indicator of green vegetation cover, using Landsat satellite data. We have then compared NDVI between treatments at our study sites in northern Arizona and have found statistically significant differences in tree canopy cover between treatments. The control units have significantly greater forest canopy cover than the treated units. The thinned units also have significantly greater tree canopy cover than the thin-and-burn units. Winter season Landsat images have also been analyzed to calculate Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI), a key indicator of snow water equivalence and snow accumulation at the treated and untreated forests. The NDSI values from these dates are examined to determine if snow accumulation and snow water equivalence vary between treatments at our study sites. NDSI is significantly greater at the treated units than the control units. In particular, the thinned forest units have significantly greater snow cover than the control units. Our results indicate that forest restoration treatments result in increased snow pack

Biological invasions in forest ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Andrew M. Liebhold; Eckehard G. Brockerhoff; Susan Kalisz; Martin A. Nuñez; David A. Wardle; Michael J. Wingfield

2017-01-01

Forests play critical roles in global ecosystem processes and provide numerous services to society. But forests are increasingly affected by a variety of human influences, especially those resulting from biological invasions. Species invading forests include woody and herbaceous plants, many animal species including mammals and invertebrates, as well as a variety of...

FIA BioSum: a tool to evaluate financial costs, opportunities and effectiveness of fuel treatments.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeremy Fried; Glenn. Christensen

2004-01-01

FIA BioSum, a tool developed by the USDA Forest Services Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program, generates reliable cost estimates, identifies opportunities and evaluates the effectiveness of fuel treatments in forested landscapes. BioSum is an analytic framework that integrates a suite of widely used computer models with a foundation of attribute-rich,...

36 CFR 261.57 - National Forest wilderness.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

...-burnable food or beverage containers, including deposit bottles, except for non-burnable containers... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false National Forest wilderness. 261.57 Section 261.57 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE...

Forest, trees and agroforestry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rahman, Syed Ajijur; Foli, Samson; Al Pavel, Muha Abdullah

2015-01-01

Scientific community is concerned to address contemporary issues of food production and conserve tropical forests that support the livelihoods of millions of people. A review of the literature on deforestation, forest utilization, and landscape management for ecosystem services was conducted to i...

Status and future of the forest health indicators program of the USA

Science.gov (United States)

Christopher William Woodall; Michael C. Amacher; William A. Bechtold; John W. Coulston; Sarah Jovan; Charles H. Perry; KaDonna C. Randolph; Beth K. Schulz; Gretchen C. Smith; Susan. Will-Wolf

2011-01-01

For two decades, the US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, has been charged with implementing a nationwide field-based forest health monitoring effort. Given its extensive nature, the monitoring program has been gradually implemented across forest health indicators and inventoried states. Currently, the Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis...

Woodland salamander responses to a shelterwood harvest-prescribed burn silvicultural treatment within Appalachian mixed-oak forests

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, W. Mark; Mahoney, Kathleen R.; Russell, Kevin R.; Rodrigue, Jane L.; Riddle, Jason D.; Schuler, Thomas M.; Adams, Mary Beth

2015-01-01

Forest management practices that mimic natural canopy disturbances, including prescribed fire and timber harvests, may reduce competition and facilitate establishment of favorable vegetative species within various ecosystems. Fire suppression in the central Appalachian region for almost a century has contributed to a transition from oak-dominated to more mesophytic, fire-intolerant forest communities. Prescribed fire coupled with timber removal is currently implemented to aid in oak regeneration and establishment but responses of woodland salamanders to this complex silvicultural system is poorly documented. The purpose of our research was to determine how woodland salamanders respond to shelterwood harvests following successive burns in a central Appalachian mixed-oak forest. Woodland salamanders were surveyed using coverboard arrays in May, July, and August–September 2011 and 2012. Surveys were conducted within fenced shelterwood-burn (prescribed fires, shelterwood harvest, and fencing to prevent white-tailed deer [Odocoileus virginianus] herbivory), shelterwood-burn (prescribed fires and shelterwood harvest), and control plots. Relative abundance was modeled in relation to habitat variables measured within treatments for mountain dusky salamanders (Desmognathus ochrophaeus), slimy salamanders (Plethodon glutinosus), and eastern red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus). Mountain dusky salamander relative abundance was positively associated with canopy cover and there were significantly more individuals within controls than either shelterwood-burn or fenced shelterwood-burn treatments. Conversely, habitat variables associated with slimy salamanders and eastern red-backed salamanders did not differ among treatments. Salamander age-class structure within controls did not differ from shelterwood-burn or fenced shelterwood-burn treatments for any species. Overall, the woodland salamander assemblage remained relatively intact throughout the shelterwoodburn

Threats to private forest lands in the U.S.A.: a forests on the edge study

Science.gov (United States)

Mark H. Hatfield; Ronald E. McRoberts; Dacia M. Meneguzzo; Sara. Comas

2010-01-01

The Forests on the Edge project, sponsored by the USDA Forest Service, uses geographic information systems to construct and analyze maps depicting threats to the contributions of America’s private forest lands. For this study, watersheds across the conterminous United States are evaluated with respect to the amount of their private forest land. Watersheds with at least...

Missouri's forest 1999-2003, part B

Science.gov (United States)

Andrew D. Hill; Mark H. Hansen; W. Keith Moser; Gary Brand; Ronald E. McRoberts

2011-01-01

This report presents the methods used in the 1999-2003 inventory of the forest resources of Missouri along with tables of important forest attribute estimates and discussion of quality of these estimates. This inventory is part of the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program conducted by U.S. Forest Service, a national program to continuously inventory and report on...

"Everybody Identifies with Smokey the Bear": Employee Responses to Newsletter Identification Inducements at the U.S. Forest Service.

Science.gov (United States)

DiSanza, James R.; Bullis, Connie

1999-01-01

Contributes to scholarship on organizational identification (linked to decision making) by examining the identification rhetoric of an in-house newsletter at the U. S. Forest Service and by examining employee responses to newsletter content. Discusses the four responses to the newsletter that were identified: non identification, textual…

Estimating evapotranspiration change due to forest treatment and fire at the basin scale in the Sierra Nevada, California

Science.gov (United States)

Roche, J. W.; Goulden, M.; Bales, R. C.

2017-12-01

Increased forest evapotranspiration (ET) coupled with snowpack decreases in a warming climate is likely to decrease runoff and increase forest drought stress. Field experiments and modeling suggest that forest thinning can reduce ET and thus increase potential runoff relative to untreated areas. We investigated the potential magnitude and duration of ET decreases resulting from forest-thinning treatments and fire using a robust empirical relation between Landsat-derived mean-annual normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and annual ET measured at flux towers. Among forest treatments, the minimum observed NDVI change required to produce a significant departure from control plots with NDVI of about 0.70 was -0.07 units, corresponding to a basal-area reduction of 3.1 m2 ha-1, and equivalent to an estimated ET reduction of -102 mm yr-1. Intensive thinning in highly productive forests that approached pre-fire-exclusion densities reduced basal area by 40-50%, generating estimated ET reductions of 152-216 mm yr-1 over five years following treatment. Between 1990 and 2008, fires in the American River basin generated more than twice the ET reduction per unit area than those in the Kings River basin, corresponding to greater water and energy limitations in the latter and greater fire severity in the former. A rough extrapolation of these results to the entire American River watershed, much of which would have burned naturally during this 19-year period, could result in ET reductions that approach 10% of full natural flows for drought years and 5% averaged over all years. This work demonstrates the potential utility to estimate forest ET change at the patch scale, which in turn may allow managers to estimate thinning benefits in areas lacking detailed hydrologic measurements.

Forests of South Dakota, 2015

Science.gov (United States)

Brian F. Walters

2016-01-01

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in South Dakota based on an inventory conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station (NRS) in cooperation with the South Dakota Department of Agriculture, Resource Conservation and Forestry Division. Estimates are based on field data...

Forests of South Dakota, 2014

Science.gov (United States)

Brian F. Walters

2015-01-01

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in South Dakota based on an inventory conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station (NRS) in cooperation with the South Dakota Department of Agriculture, Resource Conservation and Forestry Division. Estimates are based on field data...

South Dakota's forest resources, 2011

Science.gov (United States)

Brian F. Walters

2012-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for South Dakota based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis program of the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station. These estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information regarding past inventory reports for South...

South Dakota's forest resources, 2009

Science.gov (United States)

Ronald J. Piva

2010-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for South Dakota based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis program of the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station. These estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information regarding past inventory reports for South...

Forests of South Dakota, 2013

Science.gov (United States)

Brian F. Walters

2014-01-01

This resource update provides an overview of forest resources in South Dakota based on an inventory conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station in cooperation with the South Dakota Department of Agriculture, Resource Conservation and Forestry Division. Estimates are based on field data collected...

South Dakota's forest resources, 2010

Science.gov (United States)

Brian F. Walters; Ronald J. Piva

2011-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for South Dakota based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis program of the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station. These estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information regarding past inventory reports for South...

South Dakota's Forest Resources, 2007

Science.gov (United States)

Ronald J. Piva; Andrew J. Lister; Douglas Haugan

2009-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for South Dakota based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis program of the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station. These estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information regarding past inventory reports for South...

South Dakota's forest resources, 2008

Science.gov (United States)

Ronald J. Piva

2010-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for South Dakota based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis program of the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station. These estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information regarding past inventory reports for South...

The valuation of forest carbon services by Mexican citizens: the case of Guadalajara city and La Primavera biosphere reserve

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Balderas Torres, Arturo; MacMillan, D.C.; Skutsch, Margaret; Lovett, Jonathan Cranidge

2013-01-01

Adequate demand for, and recognition of, forest carbon services is critical to success of market mechanisms for forestry-based conservation and climate change mitigation. National and voluntary carbon-offsetting schemes are emerging as alternatives to international compliance markets. We developed a

Cross-Sectoral Resource Management: How Forest Management Alternatives Affect the Provision of Biomass and Other Ecosystem Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susanne Frank

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Integrated forest management is faced with the challenge that the contribution of forests to economic and ecological planning targets must be assessed in a socio-ecological system context. This paper introduces a way to model spatio-temporal dynamics of biomass production at a regional scale in order to derive land use strategies that enhance biomass provision and avoid trade-offs for other ecosystem services. The software platform GISCAME was employed to bridge the gap between local land management decisions and regional planning by linking growth and yield models with an integrative mesoscale modeling and assessment approach. The model region is located in Saxony, Germany. Five scenarios were simulated, which aimed at testing different alternatives for adapted land use in the context of climate change and increasing biomass demand. The results showed, for example, that forest conversion towards climate-change-adapted forest types had positive effects on ecological integrity and landscape aesthetics. In contrast, negative impacts on landscape aesthetics must be expected if agricultural sites were converted into short rotation coppices. Uncertainties with stem from assumptions regarding growth and yield models were discussed. Future developmental steps which consider, for example, accessibility of the resources were identified.

When you cannot see the forest for the trees: Effect of forest monocultures on biodiversity conservation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cordero Rivera, Adolfo

2011-01-01

Human population is growing at rates that were unimaginable only a century ago, creating such pressure on resources, which will only decrease when the decline in birth rate stabilizes population. Among these resources, wood is one of the most demanded. Global consumption of wood is currently more than 3500 million m 3, a rate multiplied by six since 1950. To meet this demand, we manage millions of hectares of forests and forest plantations, part of which are cut down each year. This logging determines drastic effects on forests, affecting the biodiversity associated and the ecosystems services provided to society. This work is a review of the structural and functional characteristics that differentiate forests and forest plantations, in spite of the confusion between both ecosystems by FAO and the forest sector companies, which have coined the oxymoron planted forests. Forest plantations are more productive than forests from the point of view of the volume of wood that can be obtained from them, and if well managed, could minimize the pressure on forests. However, they do not provide many services that forests do provide, especially in the case of monospecific plantations consisting of even aged individuals of exotic species that are managed intensively. Some of the many techniques that combine the production of wood with the conservation of biodiversity are reviewed.

The Forest Fire Problem of Degrading Tain II Forest Reserve in Ghana

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Agribotix GCS 068

2010-01-11

Jan 11, 2010 ... informal practice was done before the 1982/83 dry season when the country ..... Tain II Forest Reserve forms part of the Dry Semi-Deciduous Fire ...... 2003/08; Forest Resources Development Service Working Paper FFM/2. .... Environment, Resources and Development Thailand. web.idrc.ca/uploads/user-.

Jointly optimizing selection of fuel treatments and siting of forest biomass-based energy production facilities for landscape-scale fire hazard reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Peter J. Daugherty; Jeremy S. Fried

2007-01-01

Landscape-scale fuel treatments for forest fire hazard reduction potentially produce large quantities of material suitable for biomass energy production. The analytic framework FIA BioSum addresses this situation by developing detailed data on forest conditions and production under alternative fuel treatment prescriptions, and computes haul costs to alternative sites...

Survey results of the American public's values, objectives, beliefs, and attitudes regarding forests and grasslands: A technical document supporting the 2000 USDA Forest Service RPA Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Deborah J. Shields; Ingrid M. Martin; Wade E. Martin; Michelle A. Haefele

2002-01-01

The USDA Forest Service completed its Strategic Plan (2000 Revision) in October 2000. The goals and objectives included in the Plan were developed with input from the public, some of which was obtained through a telephone survey. We report results of the survey. Members of the American public were asked about their values with respect to public lands, objectives for...

South Dakota's forest resources, 2012

Science.gov (United States)

Brian F. Walters

2013-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for South Dakota based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station. These estimates, along with Web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information regarding past inventory reports for South...

North Dakota's forest resources, 2010

Science.gov (United States)

D.E. Haugen; R.A. Harsel

2011-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for North Dakota based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information, please refer to page 4 of this...

North Dakota's forest resources, 2011

Science.gov (United States)

D.E. Haugen; R.A. Harsel

2012-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for North Dakota based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information, please refer to page 4 of this...

North Dakota's forest resources, 2012

Science.gov (United States)

D.E. Haugen

2013-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for North Dakota based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These estimates, along with Web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information, please refer to page 4 of this...

North Dakota's forest resources, 2008

Science.gov (United States)

D.E. Haugen; A.J. Lister

2010-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for North Dakota based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information, please refer to page 4 of this...

North Dakota's forest resources, 2009

Science.gov (United States)

D.E. Haugen

2010-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for North Dakota based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information, please refer to page 4 of this...

New Hampshire's Forest Resources, 2006

Science.gov (United States)

R.S. Morin; M. Tansey

2008-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for New Hampshire based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These annual estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information regarding past inventory...

West Virginia's forest resources, 2009

Science.gov (United States)

R.H. Widmann; G.W. Cook

2011-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for West Virginia based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information, please refer to page 4 of this...

West Virginia's forest resources, 2010

Science.gov (United States)

R.H. Widmann; G.W. Cook

2011-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for West Virginia based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information please refer to page 4 of this...

West Virginia's Forest Resources, 2006

Science.gov (United States)

Richard H. Widmann; Gregory W. Cook

2008-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for this state based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These annual estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information regarding past inventory...

West Virginia's forest resources, 2008

Science.gov (United States)

R.H. Widmann; B.J. Butler; G.W. Cook

2010-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for West Virginia based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information please refer to page 4 of this...

77 FR 12792 - Notice of Forest Service Land Management Plans To Be Amended To Incorporate Greater Sage-Grouse...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-02

... Forest Service Land Management Plans To Be Amended To Incorporate Greater Sage-Grouse Conservation... sage-grouse conservation measures into land use plans and land management plans. The BLM is the lead... submitted in writing until March 23, 2012. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the greater sage...

Yield Responses of Black Spruce to Forest Vegetation Management Treatments: Initial Responses and Rotational Projections

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter F. Newton

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The objectives of this study were to (1 quantitatively summarize the early yield responses of black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill. B.S.P. to forest vegetation management (FVM treatments through a meta-analytical review of the scientific literature, and (2 given (1, estimate the rotational consequences of these responses through model simulation. Based on a fixed-effects meta-analytic approach using 44 treated-control yield pairs derived from 12 experiments situated throughout the Great Lakes—St. Lawrence and Canadian Boreal Forest Regions, the resultant mean effect size (response ratio and associated 95% confidence interval for basal diameter, total height, stem volume, and survival responses, were respectively: 54.7% (95% confidence limits (lower/upper: 34.8/77.6, 27.3% (15.7/40.0, 198.7% (70.3/423.5, and 2.9% (−5.5/11.8. The results also indicated that early and repeated treatments will yield the largest gains in terms of mean tree size and survival. Rotational simulations indicated that FVM treatments resulted in gains in stand-level operability (e.g., reductions of 9 and 5 yr for plantations established on poor-medium and good-excellent site qualities, resp.. The challenge of maintaining coniferous forest cover on recently disturbed sites, attaining statutory-defined free-to-grow status, and ensuring long-term productivity, suggest that FVM will continue to be an essential silvicultural treatment option when managing black spruce plantations.

Viewing Forests Through a Historical Lens

Science.gov (United States)

Noreen Parks; Eric [< em> featured scientist< /em> ]. Knapp

2009-01-01

Past records on fire-resilient, biodiverse stands could offer models for the future.  This year marks the centennial of the Forest Service’s nationwide network of 80 experimental forests and ranges, which serve as field laboratories for long-term studies on the science and management of national forests. At the Stanislaus-Tuolumne Experimental Forest in the central...

Interactions between payments for hydrologic services, landowner decisions, and ecohydrological consequences: synergies and disconnection in the cloud forest zone of central Veracruz, Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heidi Asbjornsen

2017-06-01

hydrologic services and people's decisions, behavior, and knowledge regarding forest conservation and water. Using central Veracruz as our case study, we identify areas of both synchrony and disconnection between PHS goals and outcomes. Mature and regenerating cloud forests (targeted by PHS were found to produce enhanced hydrologic services relative to areas converted to pasture, including reduced peak flows during large rain events and maintenance of dry-season base flows. However, unexpectedly, these hydrologic benefits from cloud forests were not necessarily greater than those from other vegetation types. Consequently, the location of forests in strategic watershed positions (e.g., where deforestation risk or hydrologic recharge are high may be more critical than forest type in promoting hydrologic functions within watersheds and should be considered when targeting PHS payments. While our results suggest that participation in PHS improved the level of knowledge among watershed inhabitants about forest-water relationships, a mismatch existed between payment amounts and landowner opportunity costs, which may contribute to the modest success in targeting priority areas within watersheds. Combined, these findings underscore the complexity of factors that influence motivations for PHS participation and land use decisions and behavior, and the importance of integrating understanding of both ecohydrological and socioeconomic dynamics into PHS design and implementation. We conclude by identifying opportunities for improving the design of PHS programs and recommending priority areas for future research and monitoring, both in Mexico and globally.

Management of tropical forests for products and energy

Science.gov (United States)

John I. Zerbe

1992-01-01

Tropical forests have always been sources for prized timbers, rubber, tannin, and other forest products for use worldwide. However, with the recent concern regarding global change, the importance of effective forest products management and utilization has increased significantly. The USDA Forest Service's Forest Products Laboratory at Madison, Wisconsin, has...

The Westgate Service and Related Referral, Assessment, and Treatment Processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Bennett, Alice L

2015-12-01

The formerly named "Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder" (DSPD) units are no longer standalone services within the criminal justice system in England and Wales. These sites now provide personality disorder treatment services in the high-security prison estate as part of the new national Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Pathway Strategy. The OPD Pathway intends to take responsibility for the assessment, treatment, and management of offenders who are likely to have a personality disorder and who present a high risk of re-offending (men and women) and serious harm to others (men). Further PD treatment and progression services are being commissioned in lower security prisons and in the community as part of the new PD Strategy. While the suitability criteria for the two male high-security PD treatment sites are the same, the individual units have their own assessment and treatment methods. This article aims to communicate the referral, assessment, and treatment methods employed within the prison-based Westgate Personality Disorder Treatment Service, HMP Frankland. © The Author(s) 2014.

Values, beliefs, and attitudes technical guide for Forest Service land and resource management, planning, and decision-making

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart D. Allen; Denise A. Wickwar; Fred P. Clark; Robert R. Dow; Robert Potts; Stephanie A. Snyder

2009-01-01

In recent years, the Forest Service and the public have placed increasing priority on making sure that management of public lands takes into account the needs of nearby communities, regional residents, national residents, and even members of the public who may not currently visit public lands. As awareness and commitment to this wide range of stakeholders grows, so...

Projecting climate change in the United States: A technical document supporting the Forest Service RPA 2010 Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Linda A. Joyce; David T. Price; David P. Coulson; Daniel W. McKenney; R. Martin Siltanen; Pia Papadopol; Kevin. Lawrence

2014-01-01

A set of climate change projections for the United States was developed for use in the 2010 USDA Forest Service RPA Assessment. These climate projections, along with projections for population dynamics, economic growth, and land use change in the United States, comprise the RPA scenarios and are used in the RPA Assessment to project future renewable resource conditions...

Spatial Analysis of Conservation Priorities Based on Ecosystem Services in the Atlantic Forest Region of Misiones, Argentina

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew L. Clark

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Understanding the spatial pattern of ecosystem services is important for effective environmental policy and decision-making. In this study, we use a geospatial decision-support tool (Marxan to identify conservation priorities for habitat and a suite of ecosystem services (storage carbon, soil retention and water yield in the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest from Misiones, Argentina—an area of global conservation priority. Using these results, we then evaluate the efficiency of existing protected areas in conserving both habitat and ecosystem services. Selected areas for conserving habitat had an overlap of carbon and soil ecosystem services. Yet, selected areas for water yield did not have this overlap. Furthermore, selected areas with relatively high overlap of ecosystem services tended to be inside protected areas; however, other important areas for ecosystem services (i.e., central highlands do not have legal protection, revealing the importance of enforcing existing environmental regulations in these areas.

An Operational Framework for Defining and Monitoring Forest Degradation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ian D. Thompson

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Forest degradation is broadly defined as a reduction in the capacity of a forest to produce ecosystem services such as carbon storage and wood products as a result of anthropogenic and environmental changes. The main causes of degradation include unsustainable logging, agriculture, invasive species, fire, fuelwood gathering, and livestock grazing. Forest degradation is widespread and has become an important consideration in global policy processes that deal with biodiversity, climate change, and forest management. There is, however, no generally recognized way to identify a degraded forest because perceptions of forest degradation vary depending on the cause, the particular goods or services of interest, and the temporal and spatial scales considered. Here, we suggest that there are types of forest degradation that produce a continuum of decline in provision of ecosystem services, from those in primary forests through various forms of managed forests to deforestation. Forest degradation must be measured against a desired baseline condition, and the types of degradation can be represented using five criteria that relate to the drivers of degradation, loss of ecosystem services and sustainable management, including: productivity, biodiversity, unusual disturbances, protective functions, and carbon storage. These criteria are not meant to be equivalent and some might be considered more important than others, depending on the local forest management objectives. We propose a minimum subset of seven indicators for the five criteria that should be assessed to determine forest degradation under a sustainable ecosystem management regime. The indicators can be remotely sensed (although improving calibration requires ground work and aggregated from stand to management unit or landscape levels and ultimately to sub-national and national scales.

77 FR 8801 - Request for Applications: The Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-15

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Request for Applications: The Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Request for applications. SUMMARY: The..., requests applications for the Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program (Community Forest...

Airtankers and wildfire management in the US Forest Service: examining data availability and exploring usage and cost trends

Science.gov (United States)

Matthew P. Thompson; David E. Calkin; Jason Herynk; Charles W. McHugh; Karen C. Short

2012-01-01

Evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft is a crucial component of strategic wildfire management and planning. In this manuscript, we focus on the economics of fire and aviation management within the US Forest Service. Substantial uncertainties challenge comprehensive analysis of airtanker use, prompting calls from federal...

The U.S. Forest Service and its responsibilities under the national environmental policy act: a work design problem

Science.gov (United States)

Matthew Auer; Kenneth Richards; David N. Seesholtz; Burnell Fischer; Christian Freitag; Joshua. Grice

2011-01-01

The U.S. Forest Service’s responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act entail a wide range of activities including scoping, scientific analysis, social and economic analysis, managing public input and involvement, media relations, regulatory analysis, and litigation. These myriad duties raise several important organizational and management questions....

Variation in tree mortality and regeneration affect forest carbon recovery following fuel treatments and wildfire in the Lake Tahoe Basin, California, USA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlson Chris H

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Forest fuel treatments have been proposed as tools to stabilize carbon stocks in fire-prone forests in the Western U.S.A. Although fuel treatments such as thinning and burning are known to immediately reduce forest carbon stocks, there are suggestions that these losses may be paid back over the long-term if treatments sufficiently reduce future wildfire severity, or prevent deforestation. Although fire severity and post-fire tree regeneration have been indicated as important influences on long-term carbon dynamics, it remains unclear how natural variability in these processes might affect the ability of fuel treatments to protect forest carbon resources. We surveyed a wildfire where fuel treatments were put in place before fire and estimated the short-term impact of treatment and wildfire on aboveground carbon stocks at our study site. We then used a common vegetation growth simulator in conjunction with sensitivity analysis techniques to assess how predicted timescales of carbon recovery after fire are sensitive to variation in rates of fire-related tree mortality, and post-fire tree regeneration. Results We found that fuel reduction treatments were successful at ameliorating fire severity at our study site by removing an estimated 36% of aboveground biomass. Treated and untreated stands stored similar amounts of carbon three years after wildfire, but differences in fire severity were such that untreated stands maintained only 7% of aboveground carbon as live trees, versus 51% in treated stands. Over the long-term, our simulations suggest that treated stands in our study area will recover baseline carbon storage 10–35 years more quickly than untreated stands. Our sensitivity analysis found that rates of fire-related tree mortality strongly influence estimates of post-fire carbon recovery. Rates of regeneration were less influential on recovery timing, except when fire severity was high. Conclusions Our ability to predict

Variation in tree mortality and regeneration affect forest carbon recovery following fuel treatments and wildfire in the Lake Tahoe Basin, California, USA.

Science.gov (United States)

Carlson, Chris H; Dobrowski, Solomon Z; Safford, Hugh D

2012-06-28

Forest fuel treatments have been proposed as tools to stabilize carbon stocks in fire-prone forests in the Western U.S.A. Although fuel treatments such as thinning and burning are known to immediately reduce forest carbon stocks, there are suggestions that these losses may be paid back over the long-term if treatments sufficiently reduce future wildfire severity, or prevent deforestation. Although fire severity and post-fire tree regeneration have been indicated as important influences on long-term carbon dynamics, it remains unclear how natural variability in these processes might affect the ability of fuel treatments to protect forest carbon resources. We surveyed a wildfire where fuel treatments were put in place before fire and estimated the short-term impact of treatment and wildfire on aboveground carbon stocks at our study site. We then used a common vegetation growth simulator in conjunction with sensitivity analysis techniques to assess how predicted timescales of carbon recovery after fire are sensitive to variation in rates of fire-related tree mortality, and post-fire tree regeneration. We found that fuel reduction treatments were successful at ameliorating fire severity at our study site by removing an estimated 36% of aboveground biomass. Treated and untreated stands stored similar amounts of carbon three years after wildfire, but differences in fire severity were such that untreated stands maintained only 7% of aboveground carbon as live trees, versus 51% in treated stands. Over the long-term, our simulations suggest that treated stands in our study area will recover baseline carbon storage 10-35 years more quickly than untreated stands. Our sensitivity analysis found that rates of fire-related tree mortality strongly influence estimates of post-fire carbon recovery. Rates of regeneration were less influential on recovery timing, except when fire severity was high. Our ability to predict the response of forest carbon resources to anthropogenic and

Special Forest Products on the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests: a research-based approach to management

Science.gov (United States)

Marla R. Emery; Clare. Ginger

2014-01-01

Special forest products (SFPs) are gathered from more than 200 vascular and fungal species on the Green Mountain National Forest (GMNF) and Finger Lakes National Forest (FLNF). This report documents those SFPs and proposes an approach to managing them in the context of legislation directing the U.S. Forest Service to institute a program of active SFP management. Based...

75 FR 23666 - Huron-Manistee National Forests, White Pines Wind Farm Project, Mason County, MI

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-04

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Huron-Manistee National Forests, White Pines Wind Farm Project, Mason County, MI AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Cancellation Notice of notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement. SUMMARY: The Forest Service proposed to prepare an...

West Virginia's forest resources, 2007

Science.gov (United States)

R.H. Widmann; G.M. McCaskill; W. McWilliams; G.W. Cook

2010-01-01

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for this state based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information please refer to page 5 of this report...

Forest resource economics and policy research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ellefson, P.V.

1989-01-01

This book contains chapters relating to forest economics. Included are the following chapters: Forecasting demand and supply of forest resources, products, and services; Wood fiber production; Forestry sector environmental effects

Interpreting Sustainability for Urban Forests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camilo Ordóñez

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Incisive interpretations of urban-forest sustainability are important in furthering our understanding of how to sustain the myriad values associated with urban forests. Our analysis of earlier interpretations reveals conceptual gaps. These interpretations are attached to restrictive definitions of a sustainable urban forest and limited to a rather mechanical view of maintaining the biophysical structure of trees. The probing of three conceptual domains (urban forest concepts, sustainable development, and sustainable forest management leads to a broader interpretation of urban-forest sustainability as the process of sustaining urban forest values through time and across space. We propose that values—and not services, benefits, functions or goods—is a superior concept to refer to what is to be sustained in and by an urban forest.

Sustainable Forest Management and Social-Ecological Systems: An Institutional Analysis of Caatinga, Brazil

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mattei Faggin, Joana; Behagel, J.H.; Arts, B.J.M.

2017-01-01

Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) has globally gained support as a strategy to use and manage forest resources while maintaining forest ecosystem services. However, type, relevance, and utilisation of forest ecosystem services vary across eco-regions, countries, and policy implementation pathways.

Outlook to 2060 for world forests and forest industries: a technical document supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Joseph Buongiorno; Shushuai Zhu; Ronald Raunikar; Jeffrey P. Prestemon

2012-01-01

Four RPA scenarios corresponding with scenarios from the Third and Fourth Assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were simulated with the Global Forest Products Model to project forest area, volume, products demand and supply, international trade, prices, and value added up to 2060 for Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America,...

VT Green Mountain National Forest - Roads

Data.gov (United States)

Vermont Center for Geographic Information — (Link to Metadata) GMNFTRAILS contains minor Forest Service roads and all trails within the proclamation boundary of the Green Mountain National Forest and many of...

VT Green Mountain National Forest - Trails

Data.gov (United States)

Vermont Center for Geographic Information — (Link to Metadata) GMNFTRAILS contains minor Forest Service roads and all trails within the proclamation boundary of the Green Mountain National Forest and many of...

Forest health monitoring: 2009 national technical report

Science.gov (United States)

Kevin M. Potter; Barbara L. Conkling

2012-01-01

The annual national technical report of the Forest Health Monitoring Program of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, presents forest health status and trends from a national or multi-State regional perspective using a variety of sources, introduces new techniques for analyzing forest health data, and summarizes results of recently completed Evaluation...

Treatment of biofuel ashes for forest recycling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bjurstroem, H.; Sjoeblom, R.

1997-03-01

Logging residues are the easiest available fuel for an increased production of energy in Sweden from renewable sources. A consequence of their removal from the forest is that the cycle of mineral nutrients is broken. The purpose of recycling the ash after this fuel to forest land is to compensate for the removal and close again the nutrient cycle. Recycling nutrients and returning the inorganic components of the biomass removed from the forest should be performed in accordance with general principles of environmental protection, health considerations and the good house-keeping of natural resources. The activities should also be carried out in accordance with the needs of the forest and energy plant owners regarding good technology and economy. This implies that functional requirements originating from these principles and needs should be clearly structured and formulated and that such requirements should provide a basis for the continued development work as well as for the implementation of suitable, economical and efficient systems. Returning inorganic constituents implies that the principle of recirculation is followed as well as that nutrients are brought back which improves accretion in the forest. At the same time, the risk of damage to the forest can be assessed as insignificant. Furthermore the risks to human health are also assessed to be insignificant provided that pertinent precautions are taken to avoid dusting. In the present report, technical and economical aspects of importance for the selection of method as well as for the establishment of a system are described and discussed. The need for further development work is identified in the following areas: functional requirements - operational requirements, sampling, testing and quality assurance, granulation, curing processes and drying/sintering. 102 refs, 1 fig, 2 tabs

Global power production scenarios to 2100 and the dual role of forests: accelerated climate damage or regulating and provisioning ecosystem services?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Callesen, Ingeborg

The worlds' electrical power production is depending on the current energy infrastructure, and future investments in new power supply facilities using renewable and non-renewable energy sources. Continued growth in power production in the 21st century will cause global environmental change (GEC......). GEC with climate change as an important driver will affect the environment and the economy in multiple ways that can be summarized as losses of biodiversity and changing ecosystem services (ES), but with very diverse temporal and spatial impacts. In a simple global growth model for power production......, including non-renewable and renewable energy sources, the potential role of forest biomass is investigated. The demands for forest ecosystem services imposed by the global power production are assessed in the present study. Three global power supply scenarios to 2050 with different emphasis...

A synoptic review of U.S. rangelands: a technical document supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Matthew Clark Reeves; John E. Mitchell

2012-01-01

The Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 requires the USDA Forest Service to conduct assessments of resource conditions. This report fulfills that need and focuses on quantifying extent, productivity, and health of U.S. rangelands. Since 1982, the area of U.S. rangelands has decreased at an average rate of 350,000 acres per year owed mostly to conversion to...

Forest ecosystem services: Cultural values

Science.gov (United States)

Melissa M. Kreye; Damian C. Adams; Ramesh Ghimire; Wayde Morse; Taylor Stein; J. M. Bowker

2017-01-01

How we define “culture” and societal well-being related to culture depends heavily on who is looking at it, but culture can be generally described as “the customs and beliefs of a particular group of people that are used to express their collectively held values” (Soulbury Commission 2012). In the context of forests, culturally derived norms, beliefs, and values help...

[Ecological regulation services of Hainan Island ecosystem and their valuation].

Science.gov (United States)

Ouyang, Zhiyun; Zhao, Tongqian; Zhao, Jingzhu; Xiao, Han; Wang, Xiaoke

2004-08-01

Ecosystem services imply the natural environmental conditions on which human life relies for existence, and their effectiveness formed and sustained by ecosystem and its ecological processes. In newly research reports, they were divided into four groups, i. e., provisioning services, regulation services, cultural services, and supporting services. To assess and valuate ecosystem services is the foundation of regional environmental reserve and development. Taking Hainan Island as an example and based on the structure and processes of natural ecosystem, this paper discussed the proper methods for regulation services assessment. The ecosystems were classified into 13 types including valley rain forest, mountainous rain forest, tropical monsoon forest, mountainous coppice forest, mountainous evergreen forest, tropical coniferous forest, shrubs, plantation, timber forest, windbreak forest, mangrove, savanna, and cropland, and then, the regulation services and their economic values of Hainan Island ecosystem were assessed and evaluated by terms of water-holding, soil conservancy, nutrient cycle, C fixation, and windbreak function. The economic value of the regulation services of Hainan Island ecosystem was estimated as 2035.88 x 10(8)-2153.39 x 10(8) RMB yuan, 8 times higher to its provisioning services (wood and agricultural products) which were estimated as only 254.06 x 10(8) RMB yuan. The result implied that ecosystem regulation services played an even more important role in the sustainable development of society and economy in Hainan Island.

Financial Mechanisms to Improve the Supply of Ecosystem Services from Privately-Owned Australian Native Forests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ian Ferguson

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Much of Australia’s native forest is privately-owned and is needing investment to maintain and improve the supply of a wide range of ecosystem services. This paper reviews mechanisms presently used in Australia to improve the supply of ecosystem services, with particular emphasis on financial mechanisms. Auction, green bond and biobanking schemes are widely and, so far, successfully used in a number of States, especially in projects where the actions required and ecosystem services can be readily measured. Measurement of biodiversity and biodiversity-based services remains problematic, despite some fairly widespread application of different measurement systems. Inadequate or variable measurement systems could engender a loss of investor interest if equivalence or gains cannot be appropriately verified. A new Biodiversity Investment Scheme is proposed, based on the structure used commercially in Managed Investment Schemes. The choice of mechanism, however, will be mainly determined by landowner attitudes to assignment of property rights, and by scale, the extent of public versus private consumption goods, and the transaction costs and risks.

Introduction to: The Forest Health monitoring program

Science.gov (United States)

Barbara L. Conkling

2011-01-01

The National Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Program of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, produces an annual technical report on forest health as one of its products. The report is organized using the Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests (Montréal Process Working Group 2007) as a...

Utilizing Forest Inventory and Analysis Data, Remote Sensing, and Ecosystem Models for National Forest System Carbon Assessments

Science.gov (United States)

Alexa J. Dugan; Richard A. Birdsey; Sean P. Healey; Christopher Woodall; Fangmin Zhang; Jing M. Chen; Alexander Hernandez; James B. McCarter

2015-01-01

Forested lands, representing the largest terrestrial carbon sink in the United States, offset 16% of total U.S. carbon dioxide emissions through carbon sequestration. Meanwhile, this carbon sink is threatened by deforestation, climate change and natural disturbances. As a result, U.S. Forest Service policies require that National Forests assess baseline carbon stocks...

Rangeland resource trends in the United States: A technical document supporting the 2000 USDA Forest Service RPA Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

John E. Mitchell

2000-01-01

This report documents trends in America's rangelands as required by the Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974. The Forest Service has conducted assessments of the rangeland situation for 30 years. Over this period, rangeland values and uses have gradually shifted from concentrating upon forage production and meeting increasing demand for red meat to a more...

Comparison of emerging contaminants in receiving waters downstream of a conventional wastewater treatment plant and a forest-water reuse system