| definition |
- The USDA Forest Service Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) is a national program
designed to determine the status, changes, and trends in indicators of forest
condition on an annual basis. The FHM program uses data from ground plots and
surveys, aerial surveys, and other biotic and abiotic data sources and develops
analytical approaches to address forest health issues that affect the
sustainability of forest ecosystems. FHM covers all forested lands through a
partnership involving USDA Forest Service, State Foresters, and other state and
federal agencies and academic groups.
Major Activities:
-Detection Monitoring ? nationally standardized aerial and ground surveys to
evaluate status and change in condition of forest ecosystems;
-Evaluation Monitoring - projects to determine extent, severity, and causes of
undesirable changes in forest health identified through Detection Monitoring;
-Intensive Site Monitoring ? to enhance understanding of cause-effect
relationships by linking Detection Monitoring to ecosystem process studies and
assess specific issues, such as calcium depletion and carbon sequestration, at
multiple spatial scales;
-Research on Monitoring Techniques ? to develop or improve indicators,
monitoring systems, and analytical techniques, such as, urban and riparian
forest health monitoring, early detection of invasive species, multivariate
analyses of forest health indicators, and spatial scan statistics.
-Analysis and Reporting - synthesis of information from various data sources
within and external to the Forest Service to produce issue-driven reports on
status and change in forest health at National, Regional, and State levels.
Website: "http://fhm.fs.fed.us/"
[Summary provided by the USDA.]
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