Forest health monitoring: national status, trends, and analysis 2013

Abstract

The annual national report of the Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Program of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, presents forest health status and trends from a national or multi-State regional perspective using a variety of sources, introduces new techniques for analyzing forest health data, and summarizes results of recently completed Evaluation Monitoring projects funded through the FHM national program. In this 13^th edition in a series of annual reports, survey data are used to identify geographic patterns of insect and disease activity. Satellite data are employed to detect geographic patterns of forest fire occurrence. Recent drought conditions are compared across the conterminous United States. Data collected by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program are employed to detect regional differences in tree mortality. A satellite-derived change detection system operating across the conterminous United States is described. A conceptual organization of existing and future technologies to support and improve forest health monitoring is presented. FIA data are used to produce a national map of invasive plant species infestation and to evaluate changes in crown conditions during the last decade. Five recently completed Evaluation Monitoring projects are summarized, addressing forest health concerns at smaller scales.

Titles contained within Forest health monitoring: national status, trends, and analysis 2013

• Chapter 1: Introduction: National Status,Trends,and Analysis 2013
• Chapter 2: Large-Scale Patterns of Insect and Disease Activity in the Conterminous United States and Alaska from the National Insect and Disease Survey, 2012
• Chapter 3: Large-Scale Patterns of Forest Fire Occurrence in the Conterminous United States and Alaska,2012
• Chapter 4: Drought Patterns in the Conterminous United States, 2012
• Chapter 5: Tree Mortality
• Chapter 6: Monitoring Forest Disturbances across Seasons Using the ForWarn Recognition and Tracking System
• Chapter 7: Working towards an Integrated Approach for Monitoring Forest Disturbance at Multiple Scales and Frequency
• Chapter 8: Invasive Plants on Forest Land in the United States
• Chapter 9: Crown Condition
• Chapter 10: Multi-State Beech Bark Disease Survey and Beech Scale Resistance (Project NE-EM-B-11-01)
• Chapter 11: Assessing Wildlife Habitat from a Large-Scale Forest Inventory
• Chapter 12: Monitoring the Health of Pinus strobiformis:Early Impacts of White Pine Blister Rust Invasion (Project INT-EM-B-10-03)
• Forest attributes and fuel loads of riparian vs. upland stands in mountain pine beetle infested watersheds, southern Rocky Mountains [Chapter 13]
• Chapter 13: Forest Attributes and Fuel Loads of Riparian vs. Upland Stands in Mountain Pine Beetle-Infested Watersheds, Southern Rocky Mountains  (Project INT-EM-F-11-01)
• Chapter 14: Alder (Alnus incana tenuifolia) Mortality Agent Complex Effects on Riparian ZoneHabitat (Project WC-EM-B-10-01)

Keywords

Change detection, crown conditions, disturbance, drought, fire, forest health, forest insects and disease, invasive plants, tree mortality.

Citation

Potter, Kevin M.; Conkling, Barbara L., eds. 2015. Forest health monitoring: national status, trends, and analysis 2013. General Technical Report SRS-207. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 199 p.