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Abstract
The term "forest health" means many things to many people and we do not know how to measure it. Baseline standards for conducting a physical examination of a stand of trees do not exist. One factor that can be considered when making judgments about the health of a particular forest tree species is change in the relative stocking of that species, that is the extent to which the species is gaining or losing ground in its ecosystem. The forest survey unit at the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station is using remeasured forest inventory plot data to estimate current average annual change in the relative stocking of common forest tree species in the Northeast. Spatial shifts in the relative stocking of individual species are being mapped. The procedure can be readily extended to other species in other regions. Information on shifts in relative stocking can provide a symptomatic guide to recognizing problems of forest health, and it gives us a better understanding of the complex workings of a dynamic ecosystem.
Parent Publication
Citation
Gansner, David A.; King, Susan L.; Arner, Stanford L.; Widmann, Richard H.; Drake, David A. 1995. Spatial trends in relative stocking point to potential problems in forest health. In: Gottschalk, Kurt W.; Fosbroke, Sandra L. C., ed. Proceedings, 10th Central Hardwood Forest Conference; 1995 March 5-8; Morgantown, WV.: Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-197. Radnor, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 401-420
