Using GIS to integrate FIA and remotely sensed data to estimate the invasibility of major forest types by non-native invasive plants in the Upper Midwest, USA
| Authors: | Zhaofei Fan, W. Keith Moser, Michael K. Crosby, Weiming Yu |
| Year: | 2012 |
| Type: | Paper |
| Station: | Rocky Mountain Research Station |
| Source: | In: Merry, K.; Bettinger, P.; Lowe, T.; Nibbelink, N.; Siry, J., eds. Proceedings of the 8th Southern Forestry and Natural Resources GIS Conference. Athens, GA: University of Georgia, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. 8 p. |
Abstract
Non-native invasive plants (NNIP) are rapidly spreading into natural ecosystems such as forests in the Upper Midwest. Using the strategic inventory data from the 2005-2006 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program and forest land cover data, we estimated the regional-invasibility patterns of NNIPs for major forest types by using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and geostatistical tools. We define the regional invasibility of a forest ecosystem as its susceptibility to the colonization and establishment of NNIPs, measured by a function of NNIP presence and cover percent. The invasibilityof four major forest types to multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora Thunb.) and garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata (M. Bieb.) Cavara & Grande) have been estimated and mapped and potential management applications discussed.