Ecosystem management, forest health, and silviculture

Abstract

Forest health issues include the effects of fire suppression and grazing on forest stands, reduction in amount of old-growth forests, stand structural changes associated with even-aged management, .changes in structure of the landscape mosaic, loss of habitat for threatened species, and the introduction of exotic species. The consequences of these impacts can be evaluated using an ecological approach based on conservation biology and several subdivisions of ecology. These disciplines provide a basis for assessing how the forested landscape has been altered from, earlier conditions and for determining the potential consequences of these changes on forest health. Forest health issues are multiscaled, and landscape approaches may be especially helpful in identifying silviculture needs and approaches for improving the forest condition. The study of reference conditions and conducting a coarse-filter analysis are especially useful for identifying how existing conditions succeed or fail to maintain a healthy-forest landscape.

Parent Publication

• Forest health through silviculture: Proceedings of the 1995 National Silviculture Workshop

Citation

Kaufmann, Merrill R.; Regan, Claudia M. 1995. Ecosystem management, forest health, and silviculture. In: L. G. Eskew, comp. Forest health through silviculture: proceedings of the 1995 National Silviculture Workshop, Mescalero, New Mexico, May 8-11, 1995. Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-GTR-267. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station: 46-52