Transcript Restoration for the Future:Targets and Endpoints

Restoration for the Future:
Targets and Endpoints
Dan Dey
George Catlin 1832
Restore Bottomland Forests
Bodmer 1843
Catlin 1832
1894
Fractured Systems
Lower Missouri River 2001
White oak forest
Grazing history
Black & Scarlet oak
Pine woodland
Oak savanna
Oak woodland
Desired percentage of National Forest System lands to restore
to natural communities on Management Prescription Area 1.1
Subsection
Natural Community Types
Savanna
Open
woodland
Closed
woodland
Upland
forest
Current River Hills
0 to 1
6 to 7
9 to 10
0 to 4
Meramec River Hills
0 to 1
3 to 4
5 to 6
0 to 2
Black River Ozark Border
1 to 18
13 to 26
10 to 20
0 to 3
Central Plateau
1 to 8
3 to 4
14 to 19
0 to 6
White River Hills
4
15 to 17
11 to 12
0 to 6
St. Francis Knobs & Basins
0 to 2
13 to 17
15 to 20
0 to 16
Gasconade River Hills
3 to 5
9 to 17
4 to 8
0 to 1
Claypan Till Plains
0 to 1
0 to 1
7 to 25
0 to 30
Setting Landscape-scale Targets
• Composition
• Percent forest, grassland, etc
• Fragmentation
• Aggregation index
• Edge density
• Structure
• Age, size
• Spatial arrangement
• Connectivity of habitat
• Juxtaposition of habitats
• Patch size distribution
• Canopy gap to watershed
• Disturbance regime
• Severity, freq, season, extent
• Range of variability
Range of Ecological Parameters for Natural Communities MTNF
Natural
community
types
Canopy
(%)
Basal
area
(ft2/ac)
Canopy gap
size
(acs)
Savanna
10 – 30
<30
5-20
2 per 100 acs
Open
woodland
30 - 50
Closed
woodland
50 – 80
Structural age/ growth stages
per decade
Ground organic layer
ground cover
(%)
Patch Size
(acs)
Dense
Scattered
mostly scattered oaks
oaks & shrubs
& shrubs
Shrub oak/pine cover
10-25% of area
Grassland, sedge & forb
cover
90 to 100
grasses
dominant
50 to > 1000
30 - 50
Dense
10
Mixed shrubs
mostly scattered oaks
1-3 per 100 acs early-mid seral
& shrubs
Shrub oak/pine cover
10-25% of area
even-aged stands
Grass, sedge & forb cover
little accumulated leaf litter
60 to 80
grasses
dominant
10 to 100
50 - 90
3
Early-mid seral
1-5 per 100 acs
trees
Sparse
mostly scattered
oak & shrubs
Shrub oak/pine cover
5-10% of area
even-aged stands
Shallow leaf litter
mixed grasses, sedges &
herbs
80 to 100
100 to >1000
Sparse
scattered shrubs
vines present
Oak/mixed species
variable aged
small isolated gaps
1-5 acres
Moderately deep leaf litter
50 to 70
10 to 100
Sparse
vines present
Multi-layered
uneven-aged
few gaps
Deep leaf litter
ephemeral herbs
50 to 70
10 to 500
Understory
Upland
forest
80 – 100
80 -100
1% per year
Shade tolerant
shrubs & small
trees
Bottomland
forest
80 - 100
90 -100
1% per year
Shade tolerant
shrubs & small
trees
Shrub layer
Setting Stand-scale Targets
• Stand Composition
• Species
• Stand type
• Old growth
• Early seral
• Forest, woodland, savanna, prairie
• Stand Stocking
• Stand Density
• Trees per acre
• Basal area
• Canopy closure
• Stand Structure
• Vertical – height, canopy layers
• Age – even, uneven, irregular
• Stand productivity
• Soil quality
• Site index
• Volume production class
Setting Stand-scale Targets
• Ground cover
• Litter, rock, vegetation
• Ground flora
• Floristic Quality Index
• Specie richness
• Percent cover
• Coefficient of conservatism
• Native index
• Grass, forb, shrub, legume, invasive species
• Fuel conditions
• Loading by size class
• Structure, arrangement
• Fuel model class
• FRCC class
• Coarse woody debris
• Snags
• Down wood
• Disturbance regime
• Intensity, severity, season, extent, freq
• Range of variability
Setting targets for
Bottomland forests
Northern J. Appl. For.
Setting Population Targets
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Occurrence
Density
Breeding success
Survival
Sex ratio
Age structure
Genetic diversity
T&E species
Soil Resource
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pH
Bulk density
Organic matter
Stone content
CEC
Base Saturation
Soil microbial activity
Soil nutrients & carbon
Soil quality
• Soil enzyme activity
• Soil degradation & loss
• Erosion, deposition, compaction
• Soil hydrology
• Available water content
• Infiltration, percolation
Lower Gasconade or Eminence
Water Resource
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pH
Turbidity
Organic matter
Instream large wood debris
Dissolved oxygen content
Temperature
Structure
• Riffles
• Pools
Flow, yield, velocity
Bed type
Rock structure
Seasonal hydrology
Economic and Social
• Sustained
• Yield
• Quality
• Value
• Contribution to the economy
• Job growth
• Primary and secondary mfg
• New markets & products
• Recreation
• Day use
• Hunting, fishing, hiking, camping
• Quality of experience
• Environmental quality
• Water, air
• Contribution to energy production
Dealing with the Unknown
What it was, What it is, What it will be?
Monitoring to support adaptive management
Monitoring & Research on Reference Sites
Systems modeling and forecasting
Habitat Joint Ventures
US Forest Service
Experimental Forests
Landscape Conservation
Cooperatives
Collaborative Forest Landscape
Restoration Programs
Planning for Future Uncertainty
• Invasive Species
• What next?
• Climate Change
• What if?
• Who wins and who losses?
• Energy Issues
• Biomass/biofuels production
• Natural gas development
• Wind energy
• Catastrophic outbreaks of native pests
• Oak decline
• Western bark beetles
It takes a hierarchy of integrated plans
to define the desired future condition, target, endpoints
Targets & endpoints are as quantitative
as can be and defined for key stages in
ecosystem processes or resulting states