FORESTS PROVIDE MANY VITAL ECOSYSTEM SERVICES, SUCH AS WOOD PRODUCTS, EROSION CONTROL, WILDLIFE HABITAT, WATERSHED SERVICES, RECREATION, AND CARBON STORAGE. INTENSIFIED DISTURBANCE REGIMES, SPECIFICALLY WILDFIRE REGIMES, MAY DECREASE THE RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY OF THESE FOREST ECOSYSTEM SERVICES. IN THE WESTERN US, FOREST RESILIENCE (I.E. ABILITY OF FORESTS TO RECOVER POST-DISTURBANCE TO ORIGINAL FOREST TYPE) DEPENDS ON FAVORABLE POST-FIRE CONDITIONS. PRESCRIBED FIRE, THINNING, AND LOGGING ARE THE MAIN MANAGEMENT TOOLS PROMOTED TO INCREASE FOREST RESILIENCE TO INCREASINGLY SEVERE FIRES AND SUSTAIN ECOSYSTEM SERVICES. HOWEVER, THE IMPACT AND SUCCESS OF FOREST TREATMENTS ON ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IS NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD. UNCERTAINTY SURROUNDING POST-FIRE FOREST RECOVERY MAKES RECOVERY DIFFICULT TO PREDICT, COMPOUNDING THE DIFFICULTY OF USING MANAGEMENT TOOLS EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY. THIS PROJECT WILL ADDRESS THE UNCERTAINTY ASSOCIATED WITH FOREST RECOVERY FOLLOWING WILDFIRES AND FOREST MANAGEMENT USING A BIG DATA SYNTHESIS AND ECOSYSTEM MODELS. I WILL MAKE USE OF PUBLICLY AVAILABLE DATASETS TO EVALUATE HOW PAST WILDFIRES AND MANAGEMENT HAVE SHAPED FORESTS AND USE ECOSYSTEM MODELS TO PREDICT HOW FUTURE FIRES AND MANAGEMENT WILL IMPACT FUTURE FORESTS. IN ADDITION, THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE A USER-FRIENDLY WEB-BASED APPLICATION FOR MANAGERS TO UTILIZE PROJECT RESULTS IN PLANNING FOREST MANAGEMENT ACTIONS.
$105,890FY2021National Institute of Food and AgricultureUSDA
Regents Of The University Of Idaho, Moscow ID