The strategy and design of the effectiveness monitoring program for the Northwest Forest Plan.

Mulder, Barry S.; Noon, Barry R.; Spies, Thomas A.; Raphael, Martin G.; Palmer, Craig; Olsen, A.R.; Reeves, Gordon H.; Welsh, Hartwell H.

doi:10.2737/pnw-gtr-437

Cited by 56 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Given the accuracy criteria adopted for this study, augmentation to the standard FIA plot design in coastal forests would improve the ability to detect and monitor the structure and composition of mature and old-growth Douglas-®r forests, and meet regional managers' stand-level information needs (Mulder et al, 1999;Hemstrom et al, 1998). Anecdotal support for the need for larger plots in the region comes from the systematic placement of a standard FIA plot in a grove of old-growth redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), where no redwoods were sampled by the four 7.32 m radius subplots (Richard Busing, personal communication).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similar attention has been focused on achievement of ecological objectives concerning wildlife habitat, native and exotic species, and disturbance effects at the regional level (Hemstrom et al, 1998;Mulder et al, 1999). National and regional inventory programs are being asked to provide this information (Blue Ribbon Panel on Forest Inventory and Analysis, Forest Ecology and Management 175 (2003) 1±16 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Monitoring stand structure in mature coastal Douglas-fir forests: effect of plot size

Gray

2003

Forest Ecology and Management

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National and regional interest in the distribution and trends of forest habitat structure and diversity have placed demands on forest inventories for accurate stand-level data. A primary need in the coastal Paci®c Northwest of the United States is information on the extent and rate of development of mature forest structure. The objective of this study was to evaluate alternative sampling schemes within a standard national cluster plot design able to ef®ciently determine density of large live trees and snags, tree mortality, and tree species richness. A simulation approach used stem maps from 19 permanent forest plots dominated by mature Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas-®r) of at least 1 ha in size that had been sampled for up to 23 years. Clustered subplots sampling between 0.5 and 81% of the stand area were randomly located in stands to select mapped trees. Estimation error analysis compared the percent difference between sample data and full-stand values by subplot size for 30 iterations per subplot size per stand. Comparison with analyses of regional inventory plots allowed greater inference concerning results.Samples of at least 40% of a stand (four 18 m radius subplots) were required to reduce errors for estimated density of large trees (!122 cm DBH) below 25% of true density at least 66% of the time. For mortality, subplots sampling at least 50% of a stand were needed to reach errors below 50% of true mortality at least 66% of the time. However, for trees <75 cm DBH, the standard inventory sample of 0.07 ha with four 7.3 m radius subplots did meet these accuracy levels for density and mortality. Relatively large plots were required to estimate species richness within one species of true richness, particularly for the relatively diverse smaller tree size classes. Ef®cient sampling of species richness could use species lists, instead of measuring many small trees on large plots. Reducing sample errors to acceptable levels will increase the utility of inventory plot data to evaluate stand structure, successional development, carbon sequestration, species diversity, and ground-truth for remote sensing. #

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring stand structure in mature coastal Douglas-fir forests: effect of plot size

Gray

2003

Forest Ecology and Management

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“…The elements have since been measured in many studies of wildlife habitat, and form the basis for most biodiversity monitoring in the Pacific Northwest (e.g., Mulder et al 1999). This standard set of habitat elements includes large live trees, snags, downed wood or coarse woody debris (CWD), canopy cover, shrub cover, and ground cover layers.…”

Section: Rationalementioning

confidence: 99%

Indicators to assess biological diversity: Weyerhaeuser's coastal British Columbia forest project

Kremsater¹,

Bunnell²,

Huggard³

et al. 2003

The Forestry Chronicle

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Adaptive management is a key component of a forest project being implemented across all of Weyerhaeuser's coastal forest tenures. This project uses two main tools to accomplish the British Columbia (BC) Coastal Group's ecological and socio-economic goals: variable retention (VR) harvesting and broad zoning of the land base. The adaptive management program was designed to examine the effectiveness of retention systems and zoning in maintaining those forest attributes necessary to sustain biological richness and essential ecosystem functions, such as nutrient transfer, energy flow, decomposition, and dispersal of seeds, spores, and animals. The program is grounded on three biological indicators evaluated in both operational and experimental contexts: 1) representation of habitat types in a relatively unmanaged state to ensure that little-known species are retained; 2) structure of stands and landscapes to ensure that key elements are present through time; and 3) indicator organisms to track whether retaining structures and patterns, while addressing representation, will maintain species and populations whose life needs are well understood. Representation of ecosystems in unmanaged conditions has been examined. Habitat structure is being assessed in VR blocks and in unmanaged blocks. Studies on several organisms (breeding birds, owls, gastropods, amphibians, bryophytes, lichen, squirrels, mycorrhizae, and carabid beetles) have been underway for various lengths of time. These studies collected baseline information to begin comparisons of the effectiveness of the various types of VR for maintaining biological richness. The current focus in the adaptive management program is refining the lists of specific elements to monitor and beginning to create tools to help extrapolate relationships and findings over large areas and long time frames, with the expectation of operational implementation in 2003. The first two years of pilot work are also being used to examine how the results will link to management practices to strengthen areas that most need improvement. This paper describes three indicators used in Weyerhaeuser's adaptive management program.Key words: adaptive management, variable retention harvesting, indicators for monitoring forests La gestion adaptée est un volet essentiel du projet forestier mis en oeuvre sur tout le territoire forestier aménagé par la Weyerhaeuser dans la région côtière de la Colombie-Britannique. Ce projet comprend deux principaux outils pour atteindre les objectifs écologiques et socio-économiques du B.C. Coastal Group : le régime de coupes à rétention variable et le zonage du territoire. Le programme de gestion adaptée a été conçu pour examiner l'efficacité des méthodes de récolte avec réserve (rétention) et du zonage pour la préservation des caractéristiques de la forêt essentielles au maintien de la richesse biologique et des fonctions essentielles de l'écosys-tème, comme le transfert des éléments nutritifs et de l'énergie, la décomposition et la dispersion des graines, des spores et de...

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“…Sustainable forest management requires, as one of its components, an assessment of the impact of management on biodiversity; impact is frequently assessed using individual species as indicators (McLaren et al 1998, Mulder et al 1999. The predicted viability of these indicator populations measures one aspect of the integrity of the system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Future forests and indicator-species population models

Venier¹,

Pearce²,

Wintle³

et al. 2007

The Forestry Chronicle

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In this paper, we provide an overview of a project that we initiated to explore the utility of spatially-explicit metapopulation models linked to dynamic landscape models as a way of incorporating biological indicators into sustainable forest management. We developed models for three indicator species as case studies; brown creeper (Certhis americana), redbacked vole (Clethrionomys gapperi) and red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) in a northern Ontario landscape. Results from the project to date suggest that there are significant advantages to models that are spatially-explicit and dynamic in their treatment of both populations and landscapes. Dynamic landscape metapopulation (DLMP) models allow a manager to track population change through time in response to a changing landscape and a fluctuating environment. These DLMP models may be used to predict the impact of current and alternative forest management strategies on population sizes of a suite of species chosen to indicate the health of forest ecosystems.Key words: biological indicators, population viability analysis, population modeling, dynamic landscape modeling, sustainable forest management, brown creeper, red-backed salamander, red-backed vole RÉSUMÉ Nous procédons dans cet article à un survol d'un projet que nous avons élaboré dans le but d'explorer l'utilité des modèles de métapopulations ayant une signification spatiale certaine rattachés aux modèles dynamiques d'un écosystème en tant que moyen d'incorporer les indicateurs biologiques au sein de l'aménagement forestier durable. Nous avons élaboré des modèles pour trois espèces indicatrices de ces études de cas : le grimpereau brun (Certhis americana), le campagnol à dos roux (Clethrionomys gapperi) et la salamandre rayée (Plethodon cinereus) telles que retrouvées dans le nord de l'Ontario. Les résultats à ce jour de ce projet laissent entendre qu'il existe des avantages marqués pour les modèles ayant une signification spatiale certaine et qui sont dynamiques au niveau du traitement tant des populations que des écosystèmes. Les modèles dynamiques de métapopulations de l'écosystème (DLMP) permettent à un aménagiste de suivre les changements au sein d'une population au cours du temps suite à une modification de l'écosystème et aux fluctuations de l'environnement. Ces modèles DLMP peuvent être utilisés pour prédire l'impact des stratégies actuelles et alternatives d'aménagement forestier sur la taille des populations d'un ensemble d'espèces retenues pour être indicatrices de la santé des écosystèmes forestiers. For personal use only.

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The strategy and design of the effectiveness monitoring program for the Northwest Forest Plan.

Cited by 56 publications

References 19 publications

Monitoring stand structure in mature coastal Douglas-fir forests: effect of plot size

Monitoring stand structure in mature coastal Douglas-fir forests: effect of plot size

Indicators to assess biological diversity: Weyerhaeuser's coastal British Columbia forest project

Future forests and indicator-species population models

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