Transcript Critical Loads (CL) - U.S. Forest Service

Critical Loads (CL) and the USFS’s
Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) and Forest
Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Programs
Kenneth W. Stolte, Research Ecologist, SRS Station
Paul Dunn, Assistant Director, PNW Station
Borys Tkacz, National Manager FHM Program, WO
Phase 2 and Phase 3 Plot Design
Tree Data
•Species & Abundance
•Growth, Mortality
Soil Sampling
•C, N, cations, pH
•Physical structure
•Compaction
•Erosion
•Crowns: structure, foliage
•Damage: location, type, severity
Seedlings and Saplings
Lichen Samples
•Species
•Abundance
•Species & Abundance
•Vigor
Down Woody Debris
Vegetation plot
•Shrubs, herbs, vines, ferns, grasses, etc.
•Vertical structure of vegetation
•Species type and abundance
Subplot
24.0 ft (7.32 m) radius
Microplot
6.8 ft (2.07 m) radius
Annular plot
58.9 ft (17.95 m) radius
Lichens plot
120.0 ft (36.60 m) radius
Vegetation plot
1.0 m
Soil Sampling
(point sample)
Down Woody Debris
2
area
24 ft (7.32 m) transects
Monitoring of Forest Ecosystem Processes and Components, e.g., FS Experimental
Forests, LTERs, LTSP, etc.—aka, Research Sites
Intensive
Site
Monitoring
Annual, Nationally-Standardize, Unbiased
Estimates of Forest Condition and Change in all
Forest Ecosystems irrespective of Ownership.
FIA=Fixed Area Ground Plots (P2 and P3)
FHM=Aerial and Ground Surveys; Urban;
Unique Studies (e.g., Appalachian Trail)
Detection
Monitoring
Evaluation
Monitoring
Research on
Monitoring
Monitoring
Techniques
Techniques
Intensified and/or New Methods to Interpret
Methods, Instruments, etc. to Improve
Cause of Negative Forest Conditions
Data Collection or Analyses
Figure 20. Percent of basal area (BA) on each plot associated with trees having unhealthy crowns. A
crown was considered to be unhealthy if its adjusted ZB-index was 0.25 or greater or if the tree was a
softwood and it had dieback of 10 percent or greater.
Critical Loads
FHM and FIA
• Critical Loads programs can provide FHM
and FIA with Analytical Thresholds “wall to
wall”
– Now based on a few papers
– Based on a few gradient studies
– Based on expert judgment
Critical Loads
FHM and FIA
• Critical Loads programs could produce
new or better indicators based on nature
and magnitude of ecosystem responses to
pollutant loading
Critical Loads
FHM and FIA
• FHM and FIA can provide Critical Load
programs with forest ecosystem response
to pollutant loading at regional spatial
scales –ground truth
• Can help fill in the data gaps as seen on
the “wall to wall” Critical Loads maps of
eastern Canada
FHM & CL
--Linking CL Thresholds with FHM/FIA Indicators across multiple Spatial-Scales ---Validating CL results across multiple Spatial-Scales--
Programs
•Satellite Pixils
(Wall-to-Wall)
X
Difficult
Jump
LINK
VALIDATE
•Critical Load Sites
•Thresholds for Effects
•P4 and P5 Plots
X
•P2/P3 Plots
•Aerial Surveys
•Satellite Pixils
VALIDATE
LINK
LINK
VALIDATE
•FIA P2 Plots
•FHM Aerial Surveys
Forest Harvest Study Area and CEMRI
Research Plots
Plot Locations are “Fuzzed”
-----Not Exact Locations-----
Phase 4 Plots
Phase 5 Plots
within Harvest
Study area.
Plot Locations are “Fuzzed” ----Not Exact Locations-----
USGS Stream Survey Results
N release typically happens with C/N ratio falls
below 25– all of Neversink streamwater has
low C/N ratios.
Headwaters are very low in Ca. Analyses in progress to
compare FHM Phase 4 and 5 data to streamwater data. For
example, tree crown condition, tree damages, soil chemistry,
lichen species, understory vegetation species, etc.