Overview of the Forest Inventory and Analysis program and applications in ecological research

Background/Question/Methods

The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program of the USDA Forest Service is responsible for the Nation’s continuous forest census. The first forest inventories began shortly after the passage of the McSweeney – McNary Forest Research Act of 1928 and focused on timber species in states dominated by forest land. The FIA Program has since expanded into a comprehensive nationwide census of forest ecosystems where data is collected annually on live and dead tree attributes, soils, understory vegetation, as well as site-level natural and anthropogenic disturbances on permanent sample plots. The data is compiled in a publicly available database and is supported by a number of user-friendly analysis tools.

Results/Conclusions

This poster will provide an overview of the FIA program including details on the three-phase sampling frame, plot design, and forest attributes measured across the U.S. It will also highlight several of the tools supporting the publicly available data and provide examples of cooperative efforts with state and federal agencies managing forest lands in the U.S.