PA C I F I C
N O R T H W E S T
Quarterly
Forest Inventory
& Analysis
Issue 4 / Summer 2005
Inside:
A Message From
the Program Manager............... 1
FIA in the Pacific Islands .......... 1
Publication Summaries .............3
Employee Profiles ......................3
Recent PNW-FIA
Publications.................................4
A Message From the Program Manager
Things are starting to heat up here in the Pacific Forest Inventory and
Analysis (FIA) states (California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and the Pacific
Islands). The rains have stopped, the sun has arrived, and the plots are rolling
in. We just completed processing and quality assurance (QA) of the 2004 data
within our target 6-month timeframe, beginning when the last 2004 plot was
completed in December and ending when we sent data to the national database.
The 2004 data for California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska are now available on the national Web site http://www.fia.fs.fed.us/tools-data/data/.
Projects for this season include having data loaded into the database and
edited while we are still in the field; continuing to improve our historical databases, documentation, and error reporting; continuing our focus on QA/QC
(quality control); and putting additional emphasis on employee safety. We have
also started to conduct focus sessions with specific clients such as the Alaska
Region of the National Forest System, and work with Oregon partners and
California partners on developing the first 5-year state reports for those states.
Planning is underway for next winter’s work in the Federated States of
Micronesia and the following year’s work in the Marshall Islands. This newsletter highlights our inventory efforts in the Pacific Islands.
Nationally, we are in the final review for the new FIA strategic plan. We are
continuing to develop national tools to provide better access and utilities to our
customers, and we are continuing to review and refine our system to ensure
increased consistency across the Nation.
—Sue Willits, PNW-FIA Program Manager
Forest Inventory and Analysis
Pacific Northwest Research Station
P.O. Box 3890
Portland, OR 97208-3890
http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/fia/
FIA in the Pacific Islands
Seven tropical island groups scattered widely across the western Pacific are
part of Pacific FIA Program. These remote islands encompass 4.8 million acres
of land in American Samoa, Guam, the Republic of Palau, the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Hawaii. Under the leadership of the Pacific FIA
Program, comprehensive inventory and monitoring work is being done in these
islands to evaluate the status and temporal trends of indicators of forest condition and ecosystem health of each island group.
(continued on page 2)
P A C I F I C
N O R T H W E S T
Forest Inventory & Analysis Quarterly
Issue 4 / Summer 2005
FIA in the Pacific Islands
•
The isolation of the Pacific Islands
has promoted the evolution of
unique and endemic species on almost every island group.
•
Because of their small area and remoteness, the biodiversity of these
islands is highly vulnerable to disturbances such as tropical storms,
invasive species, timber harvest,
and diseases.
•
Over the past 20 years, the tourism industry has rapidly grown
and become a foundation of some
island economies. This has had an
impact on development and urbanization in certain areas.
•
Inventory and monitoring efforts
in the Pacific Islands require considerable botanical identification
skills. Local forestry staff has proven invaluable for species identification.
•
The FIA inventory can help identify
the impact of urbanization, timber
harvest, and natural disturbance
on these unique and valuable forest ecosystems.
Rock bridge on Palau.
(from page 1)
Data are gathered so that estimates can be made of forest type area, volume and
biomass, tree density, species composition, native and exotic plant species, overstory development stage, regeneration, vegetative cover, carbon storage, and land
use impacts—with measurement methods designed specifically for tropical forests.
Environmental conditions plus logistical complications make it impractical to follow the
mainland FIA protocol of conducting inventory on a 1/10th sample of all plots annually.
Instead, each island group is inventoried once
every 10 years. Recent inventories have been
completed on American Samoa (2001), Guam
(2002), the Republic of Palau (2003), and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas
Islands (2004). Also, inventory efforts are underway in the Federated States of Micronesia.
One of the goals of the Pacific Islands effort
is to share measurement and analysis techniques with local natural resource groups,
and to promote successful management of
island ecosystems. Education and access to
data can help local land managers assess the
effects of current and past management practices on the land, and to make decisions that
promote sustainable uses of natural resources.
FIA crew during training on Guam.
2
P A C I F I C
N O R T H W E S T
Forest Inventory & Analysis Quarterly
Issue 4 / Summer 2005
Publication Summaries
Donnegan, J.A.; Mann, S.S.; Butler, S.L.;
Hiserote, B. 2004. American Samoa’s forest
resources, 2001. Resour. Bull. PNW-RB-244. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest
Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 32 p.
The Pacific FIA Program conducted a pilot inventory on the islands of American Samoa to test
data collection methods in the Pacific Islands.
Twenty-one field plots were sampled by FIA and
American Samoa foresters to estimate forest area; volume, biomass, and
carbon storage for tree species; tree damages; and associated understory
vegetation. About 90 percent of the land area on these islands was estimated to be forested, with 7 percent of the land classified as urban. Because
these islands were inventoried in the late 1980s, differences over time could
be compared. Over a 15-year period, forest land declined an estimated 3
percent, urban area expanded 2 percent, and mangrove forests declined
sharply by 18 percent. Forest stands tend to be dominated by moderatesized trees (5 to 11 inches), with gross stem volume estimated to be about
72 million cubic feet. About 17 percent of trees sampled showed damage,
most commonly from weather or insects. The result of this pilot test was
a standardized inventory system for the Pacific Islands. It included field
training for local foresters, who can use the information to make informed
forest management decisions.
Donnegan, J.A.; Butler, S.L.; Grabowiecki, W.;
Hiserote, B.; Limtiaco, D. 2004. Guam’s forest
resources, 2002. Resour. Bull. PNW-RB-243. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest
Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 32 p.
The Pacific FIA Program established 46 permanent forest field plots on Guam to estimate forest
area; volume, biomass, and carbon storage for tree
species; tree damages; and associated understory
vegetation. This systematic inventory is the first of its kind on Guam and
was designed specifically for conditions and vegetation on Guam, with the
information needs of local resource managers in mind. Using high-resolution satellite data, researchers estimated that Guam is 48 percent forested,
with about 18 percent classified as urban. Overall, the trees on Guam tend
to be somewhat small in diameter, with the majority of trees in forested
area in the 5- to 10.9-inch category, owing to land use practices and frequent
disturbances such as typhoons. Gross tree stem volume was estimated to be
about 91 million cubic feet. Forty-eight tree species and about 140 understory species were measured, and about 21 percent of trees sampled showed
some form of damage (including diseases, insects, decay, and damage
caused by people, storms, or other plant species). Empirical information
such as this can help local managers plan sustainable supplies of wood, control invasive species, control erosion, and manage certain disturbances.
Employee Profiles
In each issue of our newsletter we profile some of
our employees and their roles and responsibilities
in the PNW-FIA program.
Meet Joseph Donnegan
Joe Donnegan is an ecologist
and analyst on the Pacific-FIA
Inventory Reporting team. His
duty station is the Portland
Forestry Sciences Laboratory.
His work focuses on designing inventories, analyzing forest resource patterns across
the Pacific Northwest and the Pacific Islands, and
examining relationships among ecosystems at the
landscape scale. Joe received his M.S. in natural resources from the University of Missouri, and his
Ph.D. in geography (studying forest ecology in subalpine and tropical environments) from the University of Colorado. He has been with the PNW
Research Station for 6 years. When the FIA inventory system was overhauled in 2000, Joe was
approached to oversee the analysis of the Pacific
Islands inventories. For outstanding achievement in
designing, planning, and implementing three Pacific
Island inventories between 2000 and 2003 (American Samoa, Guam, and Palau), Joe and five other
PNW staff received the national FIA Director’s
Award for Excellence. In his free time, Joe rides his
bike and tends his small vineyard garden.
Meet Sarah Butler
Sarah Butler is an ecologist and
Pacific Islands field coordinator
on the Pacific-FIA Data Collection team, stationed at the Portland Forestry Sciences Laboratory.After receiving a bachelor’s
degree in forestry at Stephen F.
Austin State University, Sarah
began working at the Portland Lab in 1990 doing inventory. She then joined the Forest Service’s
Student Career Experience Program (SCEP) and
earned an M.S. in ecosystem management and
restoration at Oregon Health Science University’s
Oregon Graduate Institute. Currently, her work
involves coordinating the field work in the Pacific
Islands during fall and winter, and spending summers coordinating phase 3 vegetation and ozone
data collection efforts. Despite all the traveling,
she admits she has yet to decipher the mysteries of FedTraveler. For outstanding achievement in
designing, planning, and implementing three Pacific
Island inventories between 2000 and 2003 (American Samoa, Guam, and Palau), Sarah and five other
PNW staff received the national FIA Director’s
Award for Excellence. When she’s not working,
Sarah enjoys surfing and fly fishing.
3
Gray, A.N.; Zald, H.S.J.; Kern, R.A.;
North, M. 2005. Stand conditions associated with tree regeneration in Sierran
mixed-conifer forests. Forest Science
51(3): 198–210.
North, M.; Oakley, B.; Fiegener, R.; Gray,
A.; Barbour, M. 2005. Influence of light and
soil moisture on Sierran mixed-conifer
understory communities. Plant Ecology.
177: 13–24.
van Hees, W.W.S. 2005. Timber resource
statistics of south-central Alaska, 2003.
Resour. Bull. PNW-RB-248. Portland, OR:
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest
Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 24 p.
van Hees, W.W.S.; Mead, B.R. 2005. Extensive, strategic assessment of southeast Alaska’s vegetative resources. Landscape and Urban Planning. 72: 25–48.
Please visit our Web page at:
http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/fia/
Published by the
Pacific Northwest Research Station
P.O. Box 3890
Portland, OR 97208-3890
Sally Campbell, Managing Editor
scampbell01@fs.fed.us
(503) 808-2034
Keith Routman, Layout
kroutman@fs.fed.us
(503) 808-2129
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits
discrimination in all its programs and activities on the
basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age,
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or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to
all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require
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contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600
(voice and TDD).
To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA,
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Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington,
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USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
PACIFIC NORTHWEST
Gray, A.N.; Veneklase, C.F.; Rhoads, R.D.
2005. Timber resource statistics for nonnational forest land in western Washington, 2001. Resour. Bull. PNW-RB-246.
Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest
Research Station. 117 p.
Liang, J.; Buongiorno, J.; Monserud, R.A.
2004. CalPro: a spreadsheet program of
the management of California mixed-conifer stands. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR619. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 32 p.
News for Pacific Northwest Research Station,
Forest Inventory and Analysis Clients, Employees,
and Retirees
Quarterly
Gray, A.N. 2005. Nonnative plants in the
inventory of western Oregon forests.
In: McRoberts, R.E.; Reams, G.A.;
Van Deusen, P.C.; McWilliams, W.H.;
Cieszewski, C.J. Proceedings of the fourth
annual forest inventory and analysis symposium. Gen. Tech. Rep. NC-230. St.
Paul, MN: U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Forest Service, North Central Research
Station: 11–16.
Jovan, S. 2003. Distribution and habitat
models of epiphytic Physconia in northcentral California. Bulletin of the California
Lichen Society. 10(2): 29–35.
Forest
Service
Forest Inventory
& Analysis
Azuma, D.L.; Birch, K.R.; Herstrom, A.A.;
Lettman, G.J. 2004. Land use change
on non-federal land in eastern Oregon,
1975–2001. Salem, OR: Oregon Department of Forestry Report. 42 p.
United States
Department
of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Pacific Northwest Research Station
Portland Forestry Sciences Laboratory
620 SW Main, Suite 400
P.O. Box 3890
Portland, OR 97208-3890
Recent PNW-FIA Publications