Forest Health: Definitions, Concepts and Perceptions

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Forest HealthDefinitions, Concepts and
Perceptions

• Dr. Richard W. Hofstetter
• School of Forestry, room 208

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What is Forest Health?

• Varying perspectives
• Biologically definable?
• Resources, management?

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Healthy Forest Ecosystems?
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Healthy Forest Ecosystems?
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What is Forest Health?

• Varying perspectives
• Utilitarian, human resource
• Ecological, biodiversity
• Historical, pre-settlement
• Definitions

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Utilitarian, human resource perspective
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Ecological, biodiversity perspective
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Historical, pre-settlement perspective
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What is Forest Health?

• Concept of forest health is subjective but also
  adaptive.
• Unlikely that all classifications co-exist under
  one management scheme.
• Is the concept of forest health useful and
  practical for all forest types and countries?

What is your perspective (definition) of Forest
Health?
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• Forest Health the relative condition of a
  forest based on ecological indicators and
  collective value judgments of stakeholders.
• Forest ecosystem health the capacity to supply
  and allocate water, nutrients and energy in ways
  that increase or maintain productivity while
  maintaining resistance to biotic and abiotic
  stresses (McLaughlin Percy 1999)

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• Why is there so much agreement (or
  disagreement) on forest health?
• Consequence of divergent definitions
• lack of agreement on future desired condition
• lack of agreement on appropriate management
• Produce different research concepts and
  monitoring systems

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What are characteristics of a healthy forest?

• Vegetation appears vigorous and healthy
• Forest is capable of tolerating and recovering
  from known disturbances
• Minimal evidence of erosion (as evident by stream
  water quality)
• Plant, terrestrial wildlife and aquatic diversity
  at appropriate levels
• Insect, disease and fire frequencies (disturbance
  agents) are within normal ranges for site
• Forest products are sustainable and plentiful

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What are symptoms of forest health problems?

• High mortality rates with low regeneration
• Vegetation appears stressed or sick
• Occurrence/dominance of exotic species
• Low abundances of plant and animal species (for
  that site)
• Dominance of one or more species
• Excessive erosion/high turbidity of streams
  /unstable stream banks
• Poor riparian vegetation

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Examples of Forest Health Issues in the United
States

• Fire Hazard
• Estimated 18 million ha of western forests have
  extreme fire risk.
• Air pollution
• Ozone and other pollutants affect forests near
  large metropolitan area, such as Los Angeles.

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Examples of Forest Health Issues in the United
States

• Insects outbreaks and disease incidence are
  increasing.
• Mountain pine beetle
• outbreak ----------------------
• Invasion of exotic plants, insects, and diseases
  is a critical issue.
• Example Asian long-horned beetle

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Group question

• What are the important forest health issues in
  your region?

• In the United States
• Exotic species (many)
• Fragmentation of forests
• Disturbance regimes (lack of fires)
• Overuse, physical damage
• Outbreaks of native species

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Global Issues in Forest Health

• Deforestation Carbon cycling
• Desertification Air pollution
• Clean water Soil erosion and acidity
• Biological diversity Insects and diseases
• Fire hazard Storm and fire damage
• Forest fragmentation
• Conservation vs. preservation vs. usage
• Economic and social benefits of forests
• Introduction of exotic organisms
• Protection of forests (enforcement of
  regulations)

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What are the likely challenges to promote forest
health in your region?
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Challenges to assessing and promoting Forest
Health

• Diversity of forest ownership
• Enforcement, protection of lands
• Integrated and interdependent concept
• Environmental, economic and social all affect
  each other
• Incomplete data from monitoring
• Difficult to interpret data
• Lack of sub-national (regional) data

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Forest Health future needs and issues

• Incorporation of local beliefs and uses
• Develop/improve indicators, sampling design, data
  quality and processing
• Strategies to control and manage pests
• Guidelines for harvesting forest products
• Limit trade and movement of exotics
• Understanding of structure and function of
  forests and resistance to disturbances
• Understanding of microfauna and nutrient cycling
• Use of preserves within forests

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What is essential for a forest health program

• Need to clearly express the objectives for the
  forest
• Understand the nature of the forest and the
  current and future issues
• Need to clearly define criteria and make sure the
  data are of high quality
• Tailor monitoring efforts to address the
  objectives
• Need support from local, regional and state levels

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• For more information of Forest Health and Forest
  Health Issues
• www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/
• fhm.fs.fed.us/, http//fhm.fs.fed.us/fhh/fhmusamap
  .shtm
• www.srd.gov.ab.ca/
• www.mpci.org/home_e.html
• www.cofi.org/whatwedo/marketsandtrade.htm
• www.fs.fed.us/global/topic/welcome.htm