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Forest health monitoring: national status, trends, and analysis 2016

Informally Refereed
Authors: Kevin M. Potter, Barbara L. Conkling
Year: 2017
Type: General Technical Report
Station: Southern Research Station
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2737/SRS-GTR-222
Source: Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-222. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station.

Abstract

The annual national report of the Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) 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 Monitoring projects funded through the FHM national program. In this 16th edition in a series of annual reports, survey data are used to identify geographic patterns of insect and disease activity. Satellite data are employed to detect geographic patterns of forest fire occurrence. Recent drought and moisture surplus conditions are compared across the conterminous United States. Data collected by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program are employed to detect regional differences in tree mortality. Change over time in the understory Vegetation Diversity and Structure Indicator is assessed on more than 500 FIA plots in the North Central and Northeastern States, where remeasured vegetation data are used to assess change over time in plant species diversity, occupancy and constancy. A new Regeneration Indicator, which includes a suite of tree-seedling and browse impact measurements, is described. The general magnitude of tree mortality predicted by the National Insect and Disease Risk Map is compared to FIA estimates of mortality. Six recently completed Evaluation Monitoring projects are summarized, addressing
forest health concerns at smaller scales.

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Titles contained within Forest health monitoring: national status, trends, and analysis 2016

Keywords

Change detection, drought, fire, forest health, forest insects and disease, regeneration, tree mortality.

Citation

Potter, Kevin M.; Conkling, Barbara L., eds. 2017. Forest health monitoring: national status, trends, and analysis 2016. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-222. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 195 p.
Citations
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/54586