GEORGIA—Who’s looking out for ghost forests? The USDA Forest Service’s Southern Region Forest Health Monitoring Program is.

“A ghost forest is an area of standing dead trees where live trees are mostly absent,” said Chris Asaro, Forest Health Monitoring program manager. “A variety of environmental disturbances lead to the development of a ghost forest. Along coastlines, they can be tied to climate change and sea level rise and represent areas that can never be reforested.”

Measuring and mapping ghost forests is an important first step in the development of forest adaptation strategies, Asaro added.

In consultation with members of academia, the Forest Service and six state forestry agency partners initiated an effort in 2021 to aerially survey and map the extent of coastal ghost forests along the Atlantic Coast. When completed, the baseline data, along with repeated surveys, can be used to track changes to ghost forests over time.

The Southern Region’s Forest Health Monitoring Program works closely with state forestry agency partners to survey and monitor forest insect, disease, and weather-related disturbances to include hurricanes. The program is a part of Forest Health Protection, State and Private Forestry.

In the Southern Region, about 87% of forestland is state and private land, so state partnerships are essential to obtain aerial survey coverage to monitor for disturbance agents, Asaro said. The results from current and future surveys will be collected and shared via a public database for collaborative analysis.

The participating states are Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.

“North Carolinians are very concerned about the effect of rising sea levels on coastal forests. Our state has a strong economy in which forestry, agriculture, fisheries, recreation, tourism and other activities are closely tied to coastal forests and wetlands and the areas adjacent to them,” said Jim Slye, North Carolina Forest Service Forest Health program manager. “Our agency is cooperating with other organizations in our state and beyond to monitor these changes and provide useful information to those affected.“

In addition to the southern states that are participating, it is anticipated more northern states may join in this effort in the coming year, said Asaro.