Forest Inventory and Analysis and the North American Carbon Program: A Model for Collaboration
Gretchen
Moisen, USDA Forest Service, FIA, gmoisen@fs.fed.us
(Presenting)
Sean
Healey, USDA Forest Service, FIA, sean.healey@oregonstate.edu
Warren
Cohen, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, warren.cohen@oregonstate.edu
Sam
Goward, University of Maryland, Department of Geography, sgoward@umd.edu
Jeff
Masek, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Biospheric Sciences Branch, Jeffrey.G.Masek@nasa.gov
Scott
Powell, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Scott.Powell@oregonstate.edu
Robert
Kennedy, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, robert.kennedy@oregonstate.edu
Chengquang
Huang, University of Maryland, Department of Geography, cqhuang@geog.umd.edu
The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the USDA Forest Service collects data annually on the status and trends in forested ecosystems nationwide. These inventory data have traditionally been used to support estimates of forest population totals over large geographic areas, and recent emphasis has been placed on producing broad-scale maps of numerous forest characteristics to make these extensive forest resource data more accessible and useful to a larger and more diverse audience. While spatial depictions of current forest attributes is a great improvement in reporting on the status of the nation’s forests, an important component of monitoring is gaining a clear understanding of what has happened in the past. Unfortunately, little work is being done by FIA in this arena. Reconstructing historical trends in forest disturbance is hampered by inconsistent sampling schemes and plot designs, varying definitions, gaps in plot distributions, irregular and sometimes non-existent temporal sampling, and the list continues. FIA data alone cannot adequately tell the forest disturbance and recovery history. The Landsat-based change project characterizing historic forest disturbance and recovery is a successful joint venture between the North American Carbon Program and FIA. Work is well underway to involve the larger FIA community and develop standard tools for analyzing both historical and future trend that will have national application. Here, we describe the successful engagement of FIA scientists, analysts, managers, and clients by investigators in this project. We outline the local analyses currently being conducted in diverse ecosystems across the country, and identify the necessary ingredients for successful collaborations between NASA-funded scientists and FIA in the future.