Mapping forest conditions: past, present, and future

Abstract

Mapping and mapped data have always been critical to public land managers and researchers for identifying and characterizing wildlife habitat across scales, monitoring species and habitat change, and predicting and planning future scenarios. Maps and mapping protocols are often incorporated into wildlife and habitat management plans, as is the case with the California spotted owl (Strix occidentalis occidentalis), a subspecies of management concern. Current spotted owl managers on all Sierra Nevada national forests use canopy cover and tree size guidelines designed to provide habitat for sensitive species (Chopping et al. 2012, Moghaddas et al. 2010) and to estimate accurately these important habitat metrics across scales from nest trees and the area surrounding them to broader scale characterization of core foraging and home ranges. These mapping tasks can be challenging in California forests, particularly in the Sierra Nevada because they exhibit great variability in composition, cover, and topography, and complex legacies of fire and logging (Hyde et al. 2005).

Parent Publication

• The California spotted owl: current state of knowledge

Citation

Kelly, Maggi. 2017. Mapping forest conditions: past, present, and future. In: Gutiérrez, R.J.; Manley, Patricia N.; Stine, Peter A., tech. eds. The California spotted owl: current state of knowledge. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-254. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station: 159-183. Chapter 6.