MITIGATING FOREST HEALTH IMAPCTS THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS

CHANGING ROLES

OUTLINE

• Forest Health Definition

• Common Forest Health Threats

• Kentucky Forest Health

• Partnerships

DEFINITION

• Forest health definition is variable

• Depends upon management objectives

– Biodiversity, production, specific wildlife species

• Several common factors regardless

DEFINITION

• Example definitions:

– An ecosystem in balance

– The ability of a forest to recover from natural and human stressors

– A condition where biotic and abiotic influences on forests do not threaten management now and in the future

DEFINITION

• Most definitions fail to describe the variation in importance of definition components

• Alternative definition:– The degree to which biotic and abiotic influences

affect forest management

• Make more specific according to how a forest is managed

FH CHARACTERISTICS

• Biodiversity

• Sustainability

• Ability to recover from stressors

• Complexity

DEFINITION

• Understanding forest health is understanding ecology

• Understanding what is in a forest

• What forest components need to do well

• The threats to forest components

HEALTHY FOREST BENEFITS

• Water quality

• Reduced impact from wildfire

• Recreation, Income

• Everyone wants the benefits of trees

These are all forest health issues

COMMON FOREST HEALTH THREATS

HABITAT LOSS

• Conversion of forest to another use

• Wide ranging effects: - forest health

- water quality

- wildlife

HABITAT LOSS

• Can lead to fragmentation:

• Breaking of habitat into smaller pieces- create a loss of connectivity- reduce effective range of species- increase area of interface for invasives

FRAGMENTATION

Increases where and how stress affects the forest

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PESTS

• Acute - impact very quickly

• Very dynamic

• Lack of resources & hard to keep up with

• New pests lack good information

emerald ash borer

southern pine beetle

DISEASE

• Complex biology

• Difficult to diagnose

• Lack of good information

• Fewer trained as forest pathologist compared to entomologist, botanist, etc.

sudden oak death

INVASIVE PLANTS• Chronic

- Don’t appear as dynamic as insect

• Get used to them, sometimes ignored

• Seem overwhelming

• Invasive plants currently in use

tree of heaven

kudzu

TREND FOR BIOTICS MNGMNT

• Most attention paid to insects

• Little attention in planning for chronic vs acute effects

• Perception of problem varies

POLLUTION

• Effects often chronic

• Solutions require much collaboration and accomplished over extended periods of time

• Air & water – exchanging effect

• Direct impacts on multiple groups of organisms

MANAGEMENT DECISIONS

• Lack of knowledge– Understanding – planting one species in forest or

urban areas– Available information

• Lack of resources– Have to pick between needed actions

KENTUCKY FOREST HEALTH

• Asian borer that only uses ash trees

• Urban and forest pest

• Multiple groups working together to understand this insect

EMERALD ASH BORER

• Slow decline of hemlocks

• Urban and forest pest

• Significant ecosystem threat

HEMLOCK WOOLLY ADLEGID

Invasive plant data comes from too few sources

Good information but sometimes only source

Small change in field procedure may create additional data source

CHALLENGES FOR MANAGEMENT

• Not enough resources in forest situation

• Lack of available information

• Lack of education– Everyone can’t be an expert on everything

• Impacts on nearby landowners– Risks can prevent management actions

PARTNERSHIPS

PARTNERSHIPS

• FH should be a concern for any manager

• Many of the same factors affect every forest

• FH impacts are broad reaching – Good practices can be positive influences– One agency’s pest can spread to other agencies– A situation can lead to public support or wrath

PARTNERSHIPS

• Save Kentucky’s Hemlocks– Hemlock groups in other states

• Multi-agency restoration projects

• Collaborative land purchases

PARTNERSHIPS

• Kentucky Forest Health Task Force (FHTF)

• Southern Group of State Foresters FHTF

• Local collaboration

TAKE HOME MESSAGE

• Forest Health is everyone’s problem

• Problem for forested and urban areas

• Current and future impacts require collaboration to proceed successfully

REFERENCES• Slide 4 - Edmonds, R.L., J.K. Agee and R.I. Gara. 2005. Forest Health and

Protection. Waveland Press Inc.

• Slides 14 & 21 - Fengyou Jia, DCNR PA, Bugwood.org

• Slide 14 - Ronald F. Billings, TX Forest Service, Bugwood.org

• Slide 15 - Joseph O'Brien, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org

• Slide 16 - Catherine Herms, OSU, Bugwood.org

• Slide 16 - Kerry Britton, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org