1 / 41

Adapting the US Forest Inventory and Analysis program to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands

Adapting the US Forest Inventory and Analysis program to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Challenges and Lessons Learned. Thomas J. Brandeis USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station. FIA, Challenges and Lessons Learned. What is FIA? History Challenges and Lessons

elvis
Download Presentation

Adapting the US Forest Inventory and Analysis program to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Adapting the US Forest Inventory and Analysis program to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands Challenges and Lessons Learned Thomas J. Brandeis USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station

  2. FIA, Challenges and Lessons Learned • What is FIA? • History • Challenges and Lessons • Sampling design • Data collection • Coordination and Logistics • Data processing • Big picture Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  3. National FIA Mission Statement “To improve the understanding and management of our Nation’s forests by maintaining a comprehensive inventory of the status and trends of the country’s diverse forest ecosystems, their use, and their health.” Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  4. What does FIA do? Answer these questions - • How much forest exists and where is it? • What type of forest is it and what does it hold? • How is the forest’s health? • Who owns it? • How is it changing? Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  5. What doesn’t FIA do? • Not used as a basis for taxation records • Plot locations are not shared with any other government agency Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  6. Who wants the FIA survey information? • Land use planners • Urban planners • Decision makers from local and provincial governments • Forest resource managers • Environmental action groups • Businesses that use resources from the forest • General public Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  7. How does FIA provide these answers? • Forest inventories • resource bulletins • public data access • Timber product output studies • TPO publications • Forest health monitoring • resource bulletins • special publications Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  8. FIA’s goals in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands • Implement forest surveys tailored to the island’s unique tropical forests • Establish a forest health monitoring network • Sponsor R&D into improving island forest inventory and monitoring • Get information about the islands’ forests to the public Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  9. History of Caribbean FIA work • Puerto Rico surveyed 1980 and 1990 by FIA with IITF assistance • Well planned and executed, but limited scope • Resource bulletins and publications • Intensifications in Toro Negro, Las Marias watershed • Planned on 1990 USVI, but never implemented • Forest inventory of St. Vincent Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  10. Previous Caribbean FIA Objectives and Strategies • “Assess the timber-production potential of the island’s forest resources” • Limited to potentially “productive” forest land • “Traditional” forest inventory data collected • Analysis focused on: • Island-wide forest area trends • Forest composition and BA distribution • Timber volume Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  11. Setting in 2000 • New national system • 5 year cycle • Include forest health • All forests • PR and the USVIs • FIA (Knoxville) and IITF (San Juan) • PRCF partner Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  12. Challenges – Sampling Design Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  13. Challenge - Sampling Design • Systematic sampling • Adapting old grid to new grid • Loss of old plots unavoidable • Larger, more diverse sample area • Needed flexibility to expand, intensify • Statistically solid and unbiased • Panels, how much each year? Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  14. FIA in the Caribbean Puerto Rico St. Thomas Isla Mona Culebra St. John Vieques St. Croix Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  15. 1980-1990 Forest Inventory Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  16. Hexagonal Sampling Grid, 1-X Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  17. Hexagon Centers, 1-X Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  18. Singling Hexagons Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  19. Puerto Rico FIA plots Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  20. Supplemental inventories • San Juan Bay Estuary Watershed Urban Forest Inventory • 109 points • Northern Karst Belt • 94 points • 44 forested • 26 non-forested • Non-access, 10 hazard, 13 camping, 1 denied • Under-represented forest types • Dry, mature • Serpentine • Montane Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  21. PR Supplemental Inventory plots Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  22. USVI and outlying PR island plots Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  23. Caribbean FIA Timeline • Mainland Puerto Rico (2001-2003) • All forest health monitoring plots done in 2001 • Even-numbered forest inventory plots in 2002 • Odd-numbered P2 plots in 2003 • US Virgin Islands and outlying Puerto Rican islands (2004) • All plots on St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John • All plots on Vieques and Culebra Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  24. Lessons Learned: Design • Systematic grid has worked well • Loss of old plots painful, but unavoidable • Intensification seems to be working for our needs Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  25. Challenges – Implementation Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  26. Challenge: Data Collection • Will the FIA national plot design work in the tropics? • What to monitor in forest health? • All new species and forest type codes • All in metric Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  27. FIA Plot Layout 7.3 m (24.0 ft) radius Subplot 2.1 m (6.8 ft) radius Microplot 2 # 17.9 m (58.9 ft) radius Annular plot 1.0 m area Vegetation plot 2 Soil sampling area 27.4 m (90 ft) from subplot #1 DWD transects at 18.3 m (60.0 ft) transects DWD transect 30 ° , 150 ° and 270 ° azimuths #1 36.5 m (120 ft) between subplot centers Azimuth #1 - #2: 360 ° 3 #4 # Azimuth #1 - #3: 120 ° Azimuth #1 - #4: 240 ° Microplots 3.6 m (12 ft) from subplot centers at 90° azimuth Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  28. Challenge - Data Collection • Plot data • location mapped • physiography, condition classes • Subplot data • Trees with DBH > 12.5 cm • locations mapped • DBH, height and damage • crown class and ratio • Microplot data • Saplings DBH < 2.5 cm • Seedlings with height > 30 cm identified and counted Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  29. Challenge - Data Collection Forest Health • Down woody debris and fuels • Soil measurements and sampling • Crown condition classification • Vegetation structure and diversity pilot Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  30. Lesson Learned - Data Collection • Plot design has worked well • Difficult in very steep terrain • Forest health monitoring appears successful • New coding has been difficult to organize • Species list and synonyms • Physiographic codes not performing well • Forest types still obsolete Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  31. Lesson Learned - Data Collection • Where and When • Work in mountains or karst first during dry season • Work in dry south coast during rainier season • Get your GPS straight from the start Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  32. Challenge - Coordination and Logistics • Hire 2-5 field technicians on 6-month contracts and one data entry technician • Work with 2-3 SRS timber cruisers part of each year • Work on intensification plots the rest of year • SRS training and supervision • SRS data compilation, analysis and reporting Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  33. Challenge - Coordination and Logistics • Vehicles • Accommodations and budget • Communications (cell phones) • Responding to problems • Getting data and samples back to office • Pay and travel coordination • Public relations Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  34. Lessons Learned - Coordination and Logistics • Mixed crews only a short-term fix • Field crew from one location best • Supervision from Knoxville okay so far, • Office people must understand field working conditions Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  35. Lessons Learned: Coordination and Logistics • Dedicated vehicles with maintenance plan • Very clear work and travel rules • Cell phones for everyone • Public relations efforts paid off Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  36. Challenges – Data Processing Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  37. Challenges - Data Processing • Normally done differently by FIA • Data handling and entry (paper or electrons?) • Editing (logic and error checks) • Compilation • Final products, questions, answers • All must be thought out beforehand Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  38. Lessons Learned - Data Processing • Don’t underestimate this part! • Key to future sustainability • Consider PDR, but not necessary • Skilled personnel in office • Early decisions have large impact later on • Have it all sorted out before measuring a single tree Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  39. Big picture • Long term commitments • Institutional memory • Regional cooperation and international compatibility • Complement other efforts • gain detail otherwise lacking • gain scaling up to landscape level • Collaborations Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  40. Thank you – Muchas Gracias Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

  41. Contact information Thomas J. Brandeis Research Forester Southern Research Station, USDA Forest Service 4700 Old Kingston Pike Knoxville, TN 37919 (865) 862-2030, (865) 862-0262 fax tjbrandeis@fs.fed.us Regional FRA Meeting 1/28/05

More Related