Predictive mapping for tree sizes and densities in southeast Alaska.

Abstract

The Forest Service has relied on a single forest measure, timber volume, to meet many management and planning information needs in southeast Alaska. This economic-based categorization of forest types tends to mask critical information relevant to other contemporary forest-management issues, such as modeling forest structure, ecosystem diversity, or wildlife habitat. We propose the joint distribution of tree density and mean tree diameter as a more comprehensive set of forest measures. Focusing on those measures, we build a predictive-mapping model by using existing geographic information system data resources and existing ground-sampled inventory data. The utility of our predictive-mapping model will need to be tested with additional intensive ground-sampled data and in applications that involve forest managers, planners, and biologists. Such tests will reveal the model's utility in addressing contemporary forest management problems and information needs.

Citation

Caouette, John P.; DeGayner, Eugene J. 2005. Predictive mapping for tree sizes and densities in southeast Alaska. Landscape and Urban Planning. 72: 49-63