PNW-FIA Pacific Islands Inventory

Project Description

What Pacific Islands are monitored using the FIA protocol?

The Pacific Northwest Forest Inventory and Analysis (PNW-FIA) program, part of the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, conducts inventories on six island groups in the Pacific region: American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Republic of Palau. Cross boundary partnerships between island entities, federal agencies, and the PNW-FIA program are instrumental to safely and effectively measuring plots in these unique areas.

Explore the PNW-FIA Western Pacific Islands inventory program in an interactive story map.

What is FIA?

Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) is a national program through the United States Forest Service that works to monitor the nation’s forests by installing grid based permanent forest inventory plots in forested areas of a region. In the Pacific Islands, field data are collected from these plots on a 10-year periodic cycle and re-measurement of an original plot is done at the exact same location at every inventory cycle. This allows for a comprehensive dataset that can help answer local and national questions about the status and trends of forests over time. FIA has been continuously monitoring the forests in the United States since the 1930’s and since the 1990’s has expanded to include U.S. affiliated islands in the Pacific.

What data are collected? 

The FIA protocol provides a standardized reliable and repeatable method for collecting forest inventory data. Some of the measurements collected for each forest inventory plot include quantity, species, height, and diameter of all trees located within the boundary of the plot, presence and quantity of invasive species, topography of the area, forest biomass and carbon storage, and presence of any tree damages or land disturbances.

Data from Pacific Islands inventories can be downloaded from the PNW-FIA Pacific Islands Inventory Database page.

After the FIA protocol was established, in some cases and with support from partners, the base inventory measurements were expanded to help meet additional regional priorities. For example, food security was identified as a priority issue in RMI, and the FIA protocol was expanded during the 2018 inventory to include a pilot study of the coconut and pandanus resources. A partnership with the Micronesia Conservation Trust provided funding to intensify the FIA plot grid beginning in 2013, adding additional field plots within protected areas of the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. An objective of this partnership is to provide data which inform monitoring goals of the Micronesia Challenge project.

 

 

 

How often are FIA data collected?

Data are collected approximately every 10 years on a periodic inventory cycle. Field work is primarily conducted by foresters from the Pacific Islands with training and program management assistance from USDA Forest Service PNW-FIA foresters.

Why is the FIA dataset important?

Long term monitoring of the status and trends of forest resources is utilized by local planners, resource managers, and policymakers to inform land management decisions. Many people in the Pacific Islands rely on the forests for crops, construction materials, local crafts, income from exports, and protection from wind and surf erosion. The evolutionary isolation of these islands make them particularly vulnerable to disturbances such as weather events or invasive species, where the extent of the damage can be monitored through the FIA inventory over time. Forest inventory information can be used to make plans for planting, increase forest cover to support fresh water resources, promote desirable species, and increase food resources.

American Samoa 2012 Data Summary

• Forest area: 39,156 acres
• Unreserved forest land: 32,393 acres; protected forest land 6,237 acres; mangrove forests 526 acres
• Number of live trees: 28,898,336
• 60 tree species recorded
• Net live tree volume: 62,500,614 cubic feet
• Live tree aboveground biomass: 2,207,042 dry tons
• Live tree aboveground carbon: 1,103,521 tons

Field work was conducted primarily by foresters from American Samoa with assistance from FIA foresters from Hawaii and Alaska. This collaboration promoted the exchange of knowledge and skills, building forest inventory capacity within the region. The first inventory cycle took place in 2001, and 23 FIA field plots were ground visited in 2012 during the second inventory.

Guam 2013 Data Summary

• Forest area: 69,851 acres
• Unreserved forest land: 49,190 acres; reserved forest land 20,661 acres
  Number of live trees: 72,994,430
• 49 tree species recorded
• Net live tree volume: 50,981,018 cubic feet
• Live tree aboveground biomass: 2,268,046 tons
• Live tree aboveground carbon: 1,134,023 tons

The Government of Guam’s Division of Forestry was a key partner for inventories conducted in 2002 and 2013. Additional collaborations with the University of Guam, USDA Forest Service Region 5 State and Private Forestry, and the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station allowed PNW-FIA to establish intensified plots during the 2013 inventory in protected areas on Guam to meet the terrestrial and marine resource monitoring goals outlined by the Micronesia Challenge program. An additional outcome of the Micronesia Challenge partnership was training a team of local foresters who provided assistance to additional Micronesia Challenge terrestrial monitoring programs. During the 2013 Guam inventory 133 FIA plots were ground visited, 67 of which were Micronesia Challenge intensified plots.

Republic of Palau 2014 Data Summary

• Forest area: 102,129 acres
• Unreserved forest land: 75,691 acres; protected forest land 14,458 acres; mangrove forests 11,980 acres
• Number of live trees: 95,721,068
• 126 tree species recorded
• Net live tree volume: 261,859,274 cubic feet
• Live tree aboveground biomass: 8,636,959 tons
• Live tree aboveground carbon: 4,318,479 tons

FIA conducted forest inventories in Palau in 2003 and 2014, encompassing the volcanic forests in Babeldoab and the limestone forests in the Rock Islands. Fieldwork for this project is conducted by foresters from Palau’s Division of Forestry with training and program management assistance from the PNW-FIA and the University of Guam. 56 FIA plots were ground visited in 2014.

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 2015 Data Summary

• Forest area: 60,206 acres
• Unreserved forest land: 45,371 acres; protected forest land 13,217 acres; mangrove forests 1,617 acres
• Number of live trees: 83,813,945
• 46 tree species recorded
• Net live tree volume: 32,616,103 cubic feet
• Live tree aboveground biomass: 1,645,957 tons
• Live tree aboveground carbon: 822,978 tons

FIA inventories of the forests of Rota, Tinian, and Saipan in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) occurred in 2004 and 2015 in partnership with the CNMI Forestry program. Training and program management assistance was provided by PNW-FIA, the University of Guam, and the University of Hawaii. In 2015, trainings were conducted in Saipan and Rota and 37 FIA field plots were ground visited in a variety of forest types. In addition to ground-based data collection, high-resolution satellite imagery was used to map land cover into five broad classes: forest, non-forest vegetation, urban, barren, and inland water.

The Federated States of Micronesia 2016 Data Summary

• Forest area: 146,914 acres
• Unreserved forest land: 106,984 acres; protected forest land 14,824 acres; mangrove forests 25,105 acres
• Number of live trees: 89,762,771
• 134 tree species recorded
• Net live tree volume: 478,846,189 cubic feet
• Live tree aboveground biomass: 14,270,186 tons
• Live tree aboveground carbon: 7,135,093 tons

FIA inventoried Kosrae, Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in 2005-2006 and 2016 in partnership with the University of Guam. In 2016, 151 FIA plots were ground visited, 71 of which were Micronesia Challenge intensified plots funded through a USDA Forest Service Landscape Restoration Grant.

The Republic of the Marshall Islands 2008 Data Summary

• Forest area: 23,252 acres
• Number of live trees: 12,429,963
• 17 tree species recorded
• Net live tree volume: 53,927,117 cubic feet
• Live tree aboveground biomass: 854,027 tons
• Live tree aboveground carbon: 427,014 tons

Forest resource inventories of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) were conducted in 2008 and 2018. The forest inventory plots are laid out in a grid pattern and fell on the following 10 atolls in 2008: Jaluit, Majuro, Kwajalein, Maloelap, Mili, Ailinglaplap, Arno, Likiep, Rongelap, and Wotje. In 2018, the Micronesia Challenge Project partnership allowed expansion of the inventory to include Mejit, Ailuk and Aur, funded through a USDA Forest Service Landscape Restoration Grant.