Disturbance
Status
Ongoing
Start Date
February, 2023
Major disturbance agents and stressors such as insects, diseases, invasive plant species, air pollution, and fire are among the most powerful influences on the structure, species composition, and ecological function of forests.
Project Description
- Fire
- Researchers are working on improving predictions of wildfire severity from stand structure and composition and fire weather conditions.
Management to reduce fire hazards and potential availability of biomass for wood products and energy production given management objectives and constraints.
- Researchers are working on improving predictions of wildfire severity from stand structure and composition and fire weather conditions.
- Insects and disease
- Effects of insect outbreaks and diseases on forest characteristics and species health.
Tree damages.
- Effects of insect outbreaks and diseases on forest characteristics and species health.
- Invasive species
- Invasive plant distribution and abundance and associations with forest conditions and history.
- Air pollution
- Predicting impacts from nitrogen pollution on forests through lichen monitoring.
Purpose and Scope
Disturbance can have both detrimental and beneficial effects on forest ecosystems. The frequency and severity of damage by biotic agents, such as insects or diseases, or abiotic agents, such as fire or weather, are influenced by a number of factors, ranging from the existing composition and structure of the forest to management policies and activities.
Key Personnel
Project Contact
-
Person
Andrew Gray, PhD
Research Ecologist, Team Leaderhttps://research.fs.usda.gov/about/people/andrew.gray
Investigators
-
Person
Jeremy S. Fried, PhD
Research Foresterhttps://research.fs.usda.gov/about/people/jeremy.s.fried -
Person
Vicente Monleon
Mathematical Statisticianhttps://research.fs.usda.gov/about/people/vicente.monleon -
Person
Sean MP. Cahoon, PhD
Research Ecologisthttps://research.fs.usda.gov/about/people/sean.cahoon -
Person
Sarah Jovan, PhD
Research Ecologisthttps://research.fs.usda.gov/about/people/sarah.jovan -
Person
Sharon Stanton, PhD
PNW Research Station FIA Program Managerhttps://research.fs.usda.gov/about/people/sharon.stanton -
Person
Demetrios Gatziolis
Research Foresterhttps://research.fs.usda.gov/about/people/demetrios.gatziolis -
Person
David M. Bell, PhD
Research Foresterhttps://research.fs.usda.gov/about/people/david.bell
Collaborators
PSW Riverside Ecosystem Function and Health Program (Mark Fenn, Andrzej Bytnerowicz, Pamela Padgett, Christopher Ross)
Tongass National Forest (Karen Dillman)
Oregon State University Botany and Plant Pathology Department(Bruce McCune)
Alaska Natural Heritage Program
Chugach National Forest (Forest Plan Revision Assessments)
Projects
-
Project
https://research.fs.usda.gov/pnw/projects/vegetation -
Project
https://research.fs.usda.gov/pnw/projects/ecosystemindicators -
Project
https://research.fs.usda.gov/pnw/projects/landusechange
Publications
- Francisco Mauro, Vicente Monleon, Andrew Gray, Olaf Kuegler, Hailemariam Temesgen, Andrew T. Hudak, Patrick A. Fekety, Zhiqiang Yang. 2022. Comparison of model-assisted endogenous poststratification methods for estimation of above-ground biomass change in Oregon, USA
- Harold Zald, Chance C. Callahan, Matthew D. Hurteau, Marissa J. Goodwin, Malcolm P. North. 2022. Tree growth responses to extreme drought after mechanical thinning and prescribed fire in a Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forest, USA
- Sean MP. Cahoon, Patrick F. Sullivan, Andrew Gray. 2022. Interactions among wildfire, forest type and landscape position are key determinants of boreal forest carbon stocks
- Bodie Cabiyo, Jeremy S. Fried, Brandon M. Collins, William Stewart, Jun Wong, Daniel L. Sanchez. 2021. Innovative wood use can enable carbon-beneficial forest management in California
- Andrew Gray, Warren B. Cohen, Zhiqiang Yang, Eric Pfaff. 2019. Integrating TimeSync disturbance detection and repeat forest inventory to predict carbon flux
- Bianca N. I. Eskelson, Vicente Monleon. 2018. Post-fire surface fuel dynamics in California forests across three burn severity classes
- Andrew Gray, Frank K. Lake, Jonathan W. Long. 2018. Recent trends in large hardwoods in the Pacific Northwest, USA
- Jens Stevens, Hugh D. Safford, Malcolm P. North, Jeremy S. Fried, Andrew Gray, Peter M. Brown, Christopher R. Dolanc, Solomon Z. Dobrowski, Donald A. Falk, Calvin A. Farris, Jerry F. Franklin, Peter Z. Fulé, R. Keala Hagmann, Eric E. Knapp, Jay D. Miller, Douglas F. Smith, Thomas W. Swetnam, Alan H. Taylor, Julia A. Jones. 2016. Average stand age from forest inventory plots does not describe historical fire regimes in ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forests of western North America
- Thomas R. Whittier, Andrew Gray. 2016. Tree mortality based fire severity classification for forest inventories: A Pacific Northwest national forests example
- David Turner, William D. Ritts, Robert E. Kennedy, Andrew Gray, Zhiqiang Yang. 2016. Regional carbon cycle responses to 25 years of variation in climate and disturbance in the US Pacific Northwest
- Bianca N.I. Eskelson, Vicente Monleon, Jeremy S. Fried. 2016. A 6 year longitudinal study of post-fire woody carbon dynamics in California's forests
- Heather E Lintz, Andrew Gray, Andrew Yost, Richard Sniezko, Chris Woodall, Matt Reilly, Karen Hutten, Mark Elliott. 2016. Quantifying density-independent mortality of temperate tree species
- Jeremy S. Fried, Theresa B. Jain, Jonathan Sandquist. 2013. Modeled forest inventory data suggest climate benefits from fuels management
- Jeffrey G. Masek, Samuel N. Goward, Robert Kennedy, Warren B. Cohen, Gretchen Moisen, Karen Schleweiss, Chengquan Huang. 2013. United States forest disturbance trends observed with landsat time series
- Yohan Lee, Jeremy S. Fried, Heidi J. Albers, Robert G. Haight. 2013. Deploying initial attack resources for wildfire suppression: spatial coordination, budget constraints, and capacity constraints
- Bethany K. Schulz, W. Keith Moser, Cassandra Olson, Katherine Johnson. 2013. Regional distribution of introduced plant species in the forests of the Northeastern United States
- Scott Powell, Warren B. Cohen, Robert Kennedy, Sean P. Healey, Chengquan Huang. 2013. Observation of trends in biomass loss as a result of disturbance in the conterminous U.S.: 1986-2004
- Sarah Jovan. 2012. Epiphytic Macrolichen Community Composition Database—epiphytic lichen synusiae in forested areas of the US
- Sarah Jovan, Jennifer Riddell, Pamela E. Padgett, Thomas Nash. 2012. Eutrophic lichens respond to multiple forms of N: implications for critical levels and critical loads research
- Andrew Gray, Thomas Spies, Robert J. Pabst. 2012. Canopy gaps affect long-term patterns of tree growth and mortality in mature and old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest
- Marcus V.N. d'Oliveira, Steve Reutebuch, Robert McGaughey, Hans Andersen. 2012. Estimating forest biomass and identifying low-intensity logging areas using airborne scanning lidar in Antimary State Forest, Acre State, Western Brazilian Amazon
- Tara M. Barrett, Greg Latta, Paul Hennon, Bianca N.I. Eskelson, Hailemariam Temesgen. 2012. Host-parasite distributions under changing climate: Tsuga heterophylla and Arceuthobium tsugense in Alaska
- Terrie B. Jain, Michael A. Battaglia, Han-Sup Han, Russell T. Graham, Christopher R. Keyes, Jeremy S. Fried, Jonathan Sandquist. 2012. A comprehensive guide to fuel management practices for dry mixed conifer forests in the northwestern United States
- Tara M. Barrett, Andrew Gray. 2011. Potential of a national monitoring program for forests to assess change in high-latitude ecosystems
- Andrew Gray, Katie Barndt, Sarah H. Reichard. 2011. Nonnative invasive plants of Pacific coast forests: a field guide for identification
- Linda Geiser, Sarah Jovan, Marie Oliver. 2011. Canaries in a coal mine: using lichens to measure nitrogen pollution
- Robert Pattison, C.M. D'Antonio, T.L. Dudley. 2011. Biological control reduces growth, and alters water relations of the saltcedar tree (Tamarix spp.) in western Nevada, USA
- Jennifer Riddell, S. Jovan, Pamela E. Padgett, K. Sweat. 2011. Tracking lichen community composition changes due to declining air quality over the last century: the Nash legacy in southern California
- Christopher W. W. Woodall, Michael C. Amacher, William Bechtold, John W. Coulston, Sarah Jovan, Charles H. (Hobie) Perry, KaDonna Randolph, Bethany K. Schulz, Gretchen C. Smith, Susan Will-Wolf. 2011. Status and future of the forest health indicators program of the USA
External Publications
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Goodwin, Marissa J.; Zald, Harold S. J.; North, Malcolm P.; Hurteau, Matthew D. 2021. Climate driven tree mortality and fuel aridity increase wildfire's potential heat flux. Geophysical Research Letters. 48(24): 177-183. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094954
Last updated January 18, 2024