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Chapter 1 - Introduction

Informally Refereed

Abstract

Forests and woodlands cover an extremely large area of the United States, 333 million ha or approximately 36 percent of the Nation’s land area (Oswalt and others 2019). These forests possess the capacity to provide a broad range of goods and services for current and future generations, to safeguard biological diversity, and to contribute to the resilience of ecosystems, societies, and economies (USDA Forest Service 2011). Their ecological roles include supplying large and consistent quantities of clean water, preventing soil erosion, and providing habitat for a broad diversity of plant and animal species. Their socioeconomic benefits include wood products, nontimber goods, recreational opportunities, and pleasing natural beauty. Both the ecological integrity and the continued capacity of these forests to provide ecological and economic goods and services are of concern, however, in the face of a long list of threats, including insect and disease infestation, drought, fragmentation and forest conversion to other land uses, catastrophic fire, invasive species, and the effects of climate change.

Parent Publication

Citation

Potter, Kevin M. 2021. Chapter 1 - Introduction. In: Potter, K.M.; Conkling, B.L., eds. Forest health monitoring: national status, trends, and analysis 2020. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-261. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station: 7-24.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/62826