An evaluation of resource inventory and monitoring program used in national forest planning |
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Authors: | Michael L Morrison Bruce G Marcot |
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Institution: | (1) Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, 94720 Berkeley, California, USA;(2) USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, P.O. Box 3890, 97208 Portland, Oregon, USA;(3) Present address: School of Renewable Natural Resources, 214 Biological Sciences East, University of Arizona, 85721 Tucson, Arizona, USA |
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Abstract: | The National Forest Management Act (1976) specifies that multiresource inventories be conducted to provide baseline data for
development and, later, monitoring of national forest management plans. This mandate entails the most ambitious and complex
resource planning effort ever attempted. In this paper we evaluate the structure and use of current inventory-monitoring programs
and recommend a framework for gathering data to improve national forest planning. Current national guidelines are general
and provide only basic directions to forest-level planners. Forest inventories have traditionally concentrated on timber.
Although these inventories are often well designed, the questions we are now asking about forest resources have outgrown these
methods. Forest management is impeded by general confusion over definitions of resources and the interactions among them.
We outline a simple classification scheme that centers on identification of basic ecosystem elements that can be readily measured.
Furthermore, spatial and temporal scales must be considered in the design of inventory-monitoring programs. The concept of
ecological indicators is reviewed, and caution is advised in their use. Inventory-monitoring programs should be goal-directed
and based on as rigorous a statistical design as possible. We also review fundamental issues of variable selection, validation,
and sampling bias. We conclude by developing a flexible inventory-monitoring program that is designed to provide information
on individual characteristics of the environment, rather than being based on fixed definitions of resources. |
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Keywords: | Ecological indicators Inventory and monitoring National forest planning Resource management Study design |
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