Using a decision support system to estimate departures of present forest landscape patterns from historical reference condition—an example from the inland Northwest region of the United States.

Abstract

Human settlement and management activities have altered the patterns and processes of forest landscapes across the inland northwest region of the United States (Hessburg et al. 2000C; Hessburg and Agee in press). As a consequence, many attributes of current disturbance regimes (e.g., the frequency, duration, severity, and extent of fires) differ markedly from those of historical regimes, and current wildlife species and habitat distributions are inconsistent with their historical distributions. Just as human-caused changes in ecological processes have led to alterations in landscape patterns, changes in patterns have produced alterations in ecosystem processes, and particularly in forest disturbance (Kimmins, chapter 2, this volume).

Citation

Hessburg, P.F.; Reynolds, K.M.; Salter, R.B.; Richmond, M.B. 2004. Using a decision support system to estimate departures of present forest landscape patterns from historical reference condition—an example from the inland Northwest region of the United States. In: Perera, A.H.; Buse, L.J.; Weber, M.G., eds. Emulating natural forest landscape disturbances: concepts and applications. New York: Columbia University Press: 158-175. Chapter 13