New York Forest Stats 2008 - 2012

[Peter Smallidge]

I did a quick notice, but wanted to give a more thorough description.  This new publication has some useful information. The state forestry stats arrive every several years, and always have solid and useful information.  This time, the analysis seems considerably richer and dissects some of the underlying patterns of forest ecology and human behavior.  This is lengthy, over 100 pages, but contains details that will drive decisions about NY forestry for years to come.

http://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/pubs/rb/rb_nrs98.pdf

 

This document provides a summary of the FIA (forest inventory and analysis) data between 2008 and 2012 for NY.   This includes all the forest statistics you should share with friends and family over the upcoming holiday season.  In particular there is good discussion about the following topics (I’ll let you read the details)

• Potential impact of deer on forest regeneration
• Timber growth versus timber harvest
• Changes in the abundance of sawtimber
• Average age of the forest and the percentage of forest mature and in potential transition (nature and human based)
• Owner behaviors
• The new dominant overstory species in NY
• The species with the greatest increase in the sapling layer
• The species with the greatest increase in the seedling layer (not what you likely think)
• Changes in the size classes…where is volume accumulating
• County statistics for timber growth and removals
• The regions with more or less growth:removal
• What is happening with sugar maple
• How harvesting is “allocating the cut” among species and tree grade
• The most common invasive shrubs, and where they are located
• The maximum number of invasive plants on one plot

 

For those who seek details (as you read some table captions), most will know “dbh”, but you’ll also see “drc.”   I had to ask what this meant.  It is a default label, with dbh, that is included in some tables that use national formatting.  It seems in some western states woody plants have a shrub form, and diameter is measured at the root collar (drc)...now you know the rest of the story.

[Dean Faklis]

Required reading.  The document is loaded with important information, which is presented in a clear and relatively concise manner.