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Pedoecological Modeling to Guide Forest Restoration using Ecological Site Descriptions
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the u.s. department of agriculture (usda)-natural resources conservation service (nrcs) uses an ecological site description (esd) framework to help incorporate interactions between local soil, climate, flora, fauna, and humans into schema for land management decision-making. we demonstrate esd and digital soil mapping tools to (i) estimate potential o horizon carbon (c) stock accumulation from restoring alternative ecological states in high-elevation forests of the central appalachian Mountains in west Virginia (wV), usa, and (ii) map areas in alternative ecological states that can be targeted for restoration. this region was extensively disturbed by clear-cut harvests and related fires during the 1880s through 1930s. we combined spodic soil property maps, recently linked to historic red spruce–eastern hemlock (Picea rubens–Tsuga canadensis) forest communities, with current forest inventories to provide guidance for restoration to a historic reference state. this allowed mapping of alternative hardwood states within areas of the spodic shale uplands conifer forest (scF) ecological site, which is mapped along the regional conifer-hardwood transition of the central appalachian Mountains. Plots examined in these areas suggest that many of the spruce-hemlock dominated stands in wV converted to a hardwood state by historic disturbance have lost at least 10 cm of o horizon thickness, and possibly much more. Based on this 10 cm estimate, we calculate that at least 3.74 to 6.62 tg of c were lost from areas above 880 m elevation in wV due to historic disturbance of o horizons, and that much of these stocks and related ecosystem functions could potentially be restored within 100 yr under focused management, but more practical scenarios would likely require closer to 200 yr.
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Climate Science Documents
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Appalachian Fire Conference 2013
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This conference is designed for anyone with an interest in wildland fire in the Appalachian Region. It promises to be unique in its approach to sharing information. First, it is a conference about wildland fire in the Appalachians that is held in the Appalachians. Second, and equally unique, is that the conference is not a research symposium and it is not a managers meeting; it is both. The objective of the Consortium of Appalachian Fire Managers and Scientists and the Association for Fire Ecology is for fire managers and researchers to learn from each other so they can better understand problems specific to the highly diverse Appalachian Mountains and to work together to solve those problems.
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Events
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USFS Landscape Science Webinar
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Predicting long-term wildlife effects across complex landscapes.
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Events
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Oak Woodlands & Forests Fire Consortium Webinar
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Reconstructing pre-European fire regimes, forests and wildlife habitats in the eastern United States: Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
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Events
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The Planning for Growth and Open Space Conservation Webinar Series
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What planners need to know about planning for wildfire protection
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Events
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Oak, Fire and Mesophication: Past, current and future trends of oak in the eastern United States
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Fire has been a preeminent force over much of the eastern United States for multi-millennia. As such, pyrogenic vegetation types dominated this region in pre-European times, including oak, oak-pine, and pine savannas/woodlands/forests and tallgrass prairies.
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Events
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Central Appalachians Fire Learning Network Annual Meeting
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Tackling the Burning Questions: the future of fire and forests in the changing complex social and ecological setting of the Central Appalachians
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Events
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Oak Woodlands & Forests Fire Consortium Webinar
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Using prescribed fire to manage wildlife habitat in the Mid-South.
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Events
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Landfire Webinar Series
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Assessing Needs - Understanding the recent and potential future threats to ecosystems is vital for prioritizing management activities in the Southeast.
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Events
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Prescribed Fire and Bats Webinar
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With bat populations declining due to white-nose syndrome and other factors, it is critical to strike a balance between the use of prescribed fire for managing natural areas and the need to protect bats and their critical habitats.
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