98th ESA Annual Meeting (August 4 -- 9, 2013)

August 03 - 09, 2013

OPS 4

Forest Inventory and Analysis Data In Ecological Research: Using Permanent Plots To Assess The Past, Examine The Present, and Project The Future Of Forest Ecosystems In The United States

The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program of the U.S. 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. The organized poster session will highlight the use of FIA data in ecological research. In keeping with the theme of the ESA meeting, posters will be organized beginning with research addressing forest ecosystem change documented using multiple inventory periods, will highlight creative research using current inventory data, and will conclude with studies using FIA data to project future forest conditions.