Treesearch

Thousands of published equations purport to estimate biomass of individual trees. These equations are often based on very small samples, however, and can provide widely different estimates for trees of the same species. We addressed this issue in a previous study by devising 10 new equations that estimated total aboveground biomass for all species in North America (Jenkins et al. 2003). We selected 318 total biomass equations (out of 2,626 identified in the literature), based on applicability for estimating biomass from only diameter measurements, and used a modified meta-analysis to...

Engelmann spruce forests are structurally and compositionally diverse, occur across a wide range of physiographic conditions, and are the result of varying disturbance histories such as fire, wind and spruce beetle. The spruce beetle is a natural disturbance agent of spruce forests and has population levels that fluctuate from endemic to epidemic. Conceptually, structural and compositional diversity of Engelmann spruce forests are thought to provide resistance to spruce beetle activity, and have traditionally been used to assess stand risk to the beetle. We used FIA data from nine states...

The use of cypress (Taxodium species) for mulch boomed during the 1990s, and its growth in popularity created concerns about the sustainability of cypress forests in the Southern United States. A combination of factors, including Hurricane Katrina, cypress harvesting practices, and the unique requirements for successful regeneration of cypress drew media attention and fueled debates over sustainability of cypress forests. The wood industry, Federal, State, and local governments, academia, environmental and conservation organizations, and retailers all became entangled in the issue. This...

Oak species (Quercus spp.) and sugar maple (Acer saccharum) are substantial components of the forest ecosystems in the 24-state region spanning the northern U.S. During recent decades, both damage surveys and forest inventories have documented declines of sugar maple and oak health. In order to more fully assess the status of oak and sugar maple health, we examined correlations between damage detected by aerial survey data, a soil dryness index, and field-based forest conditions. Study results indicated that aerial damage surveys were correlated with an overstory attribute: percent...

Optimal locations for biomass facilities that use mill residues are identified for 13 southern U.S. states. The Biomass Site Assessment Tool (BioSAT) model is used to identify the top 20 locations for 13 southern U.S. states. The trucking cost model of BioSAT is used with Timber Mart South 2009 price data to estimate the total cost, average cost, and marginal costs for biomass facilities that use mill residues for up to 1.5 million dry tons of annual consumption. Demand locations are based on the U.S. Census Bureau zip code tabulation areas (ZCTA). There are 9,353 zip code tabulation areas...

Interest in wood-based bio-energy production systems is increasing. Multiscalar, mixed-method approaches focusing on both biophysical and social aspects of procurable feedstock are needed. Family forests will likely play an important role in supplying forest-based biomass. However, access depends in large part on the management trends among family forest owners. This paper outlines proposed research to estimate feedstock availability in Virginia's Southside using United States Forest Service Forest Inventory Analysis data, cluster modeling, silviculture guidelines, property-level samples,...

Does air pollution risk represented by a lichen bioindicator of air pollution, an ozone bioindicator, or a combination of both, correlate with forest health as reflected by condition of tree crowns and other variables? We conducted pilot analyses to answer this question using Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data from the Sierra Nevada region of California and the New England region; they have very different environments. We started by addressing procedural and statistical issues. Several steps were required to assemble data sets for addressing this question. Currently, incomplete data...

The goal of Phase 3 Detection Monitoring as implemented by the Forest Inventory and Analysis Program is to identify forest ecosystems where conditions might be deteriorating in subtle ways over large areas. At the relatively sparse sampling intensity of the Phase 3 plot network, a rough measure of success for the forest health indicators developed for this purpose is the ability to detect meaningful change when indicator data are pooled across two or three States. The statistical power of a test is the probability of detecting a difference of a certain magnitude when it indeed exists, and...

The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Phase 3 plot network is a crucial part of the U.S. Forest Health Monitoring program's detection monitoring system, where select indicators are monitored for signals that may indicate deteriorating forest health. When a negative signal is identified, evaluation monitoring provides a mechanism whereby a potential problem can be further investigated. Elevated crown dieback was observed among northern white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis L.) trees in Maine and Michigan on FIA Phase 3 plots measured between 2000 and 2004. We present results of this potential...

Live tree size-density relationships in forests have long provided a framework for understanding stand dynamics. There has been little examination of the relationship between the size-density attributes of live and standing/down dead trees (e.g., number and mean tree size per unit area, such information could help in large-scale efforts to estimate dead wood resources. The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between standing live, standing dead, and downed dead trees in the context of size-density attributes using a national inventory of forests. Our results indicated that...