Forests and Ranges - Forest Service

USDA FOREST SERVICE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT San Dimas Experimental Forest, California

In This Issue Forest Service Experimental Forests and Ranges... A Service of 100 Years and Counting ................................... 1 Héen Latinee Experimental Forest, Tongass National Forest, Alaska .......................... 2 The Value of International Scientific Cooperation: Crossett Experimental Forest, Arkansas ..................... 3 Forest Service Manual 4062 Under Revision ........... 4 50 Years of Research at the Marcell EF ................................ 4 Information Management for EFRs .................................... 5 Did You Know? .......................... 5 National EFR Coordinator Appointed ................................ 6

Neotropical migratory bird monitoring on the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico

Forests and Ranges Volume 1, Issue 1

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Quarterly Newsletter of the EFR Network

Spring 2011

Forest Service Experimental Forests and Ranges… A Service of 100 Years and Counting

hen the first “Forest Experiment Station” was conceived more than 100 years ago, almost no one had the vision of what could be accomplished. Almost no one, that is, except Raphael Zon, the first head of the Forest Service Office of Silvics. Zon was among the earliest foresters to advocate for research within the Forest Service. His vision was well ahead of its time and came to initial fruition only after resistance from much of the agency’s early leadership. His efforts to create experiment stations were unpopular, but he stuck to his convictions. In “Raphael Zon: Forest Researcher,” an article in the Journal of Forest History, Norman Schmaltz cited a visionary quote from Zon: “The experiment stations of the west… are building the scientific foundation upon

which the future practice of American forestry is to rest.” Indeed, a century after Zon’s proposal, Forest Service Research and Development stands as the preeminent forest research organization in the world. A recent article titled “Warrior of Science” in Forest History Today (Spring/ Fall 2010), by Jeremy Cameron Young, provides a fascinating account of Zon’s life and his passion for research to help guide the way for forest management. Clearly, in its early years, Forest Service R&D had an uncertain future. With unwavering persistence, Zon insisted that scientific work was a fundamental need for such an organization as the Forest Service. Although this was not generally a popular idea, he was fortunate to have the (turn to page 6)

Raphael Zon

F E AT U R E D

E X P E R I M E N TA L

FOREST

Héen Latinee Experimental Forest, Tongass National Forest, Alaska

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éen Latinee Experimental Forest was established in 2009, under the direction of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station, for coastal temperate rain forest research. Héen Latinee is a Tlingit phrase meaning “river watcher.” The forest is 37 miles north of Juneau, Alaska, in the northern Tongass National Forest (Tongass), which lies within the largest temperate rain forest in the world. This newest experimental forest contains many of the common mainland landscape elements and ecosystem subtypes found in southeast Alaska. Héen Latinee Experimental Forest includes glaciers, perennial snowfields, alpine meadows, spruce-hemlock forest, and wetlands. The

A L A S K A ANCHORAGE

Héen Latinee JUNEAU

Spring 2011

Glacier to reef: Héen Latinee Experimental Forest

rivers, which flow from headwater glaciers through steep gorges and extensive floodplains to a tidal estuary, host four species of Pacific salmon. Brown and black bear coexist in the watersheds and mountain goats traverse the ridges. Research will combine fundamental measures of hydrology and climate with focused studies on emerging issues such as climate change. Basic hydrologic information such as canopy interception, soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and seasonal discharge is needed to calibrate biochemical models and predict changing vegetation patterns. Quarterly Newsletter of the EFR Network

Remote sensing and stand-alone sensors will characterize watersheds and vegetation while minimizing disturbances. Additional research will investigate how climate change affects a variety of forest-related resources, with studies on such topics as stand structure, carbon cycling, salmon habitat and production, and recreational opportunities. “With global warming threatening to bring big changes in hydrology and carbon and nutrient cycling to this dynamic coastal zone,” explains Dr. Rick Edwards, research aquatic ecologist at PNW and lead scientist for this new experimental forest, “Héen Latinee Experimental Forest offers a prime location to conduct integrated research moving from glacier-covered ridges down to the marine intertidal zone.” The PNW Research Station works with the Tongass in administering this site. Partnerships with the University of Alaska Southeast, University of Alaska Fairbanks, local schools, Native corporations and tribes, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other federal agencies, and the City and Borough of Juneau create key opportunities for research and learning. For more information, check out http:// www.fs.fed.us/pnw/exforests/heen-latinee/ index.shtml. 3 Page 2

PA R T N E R H I G H L I G H T S

The Value of International Scientific Cooperation: Crossett Experimental Forest, Arkansas

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r. Kalev Jögiste, professor and head of the forest biology department at the Estonian University of Life Sciences, recently was invited by Dr. Jim Guldin, project leader for ecology and management of southern pines at the Southern Research Station, to tour the Crossett Experimental Forest (EF) in southern Arkansas. Jögiste currently is located at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul, Minnesota, on a one-year Fulbright sabbatical. He and Guldin both are active in the IUFRO 1.05.00 Uneven-Aged Silviculture Working Group. Highlighting the tour at Crossett EF was a walk through the internationally known “Good Forty” and “Poor Forty” plots of loblolly and shortleaf pine, which are entering their 75th year of continuous uneven-aged management. Southern Research Staton scientist Don Bragg and Crossett forester Rick Stagg also participated in the tour, which included a look at the R.R. Reynolds Research Natural Area, a new planned study on managed old-growth restoration, and the effects of the most recent cycle of prescribed burning in southern pine stands at Crossett, which was completed only two days before the tour. During Jögiste’s visit, talks began about the feasibility of a new uneven-aged research and demonstration study in Scots pine stands at the Järvselja Experimental Forest in Estonia. 3

Scientists examine the “Good Forty” plot in 1962.

Spring 2011

The “Poor Forty” plot in 2006.

Participants in the tour at Crossett Experimental Forest, from left: Rick Stagg, Jim Guldin, Don Bragg, and Kalev Jögiste.


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Renee Denton

Nick Skowronski

Deacon Kyllander

NEWS

Spring at the San Joaquin Experimental Range, CA.

Forest Service Manual 4062 Under Revision

Pitcher plants in bloom in a peatland at the Marcell Experimental Forest, Minnesota.

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he Forest Service Directive System consists of the Forest Service Manual and Handbooks, which codify the agency's policy, practice, and procedure. The system serves as the primary basis for the internal management and control of all programs and the primary source of administrative direction to Forest Service employees. Section 4062 governs the operations and management of research facilities and areas, including all experimental forests, ranges, grasslands, and watersheds. The content of these directives has not been substantially updated in over 17 years. Much needed detail will be added through a revision that is currently being drafted for review by Forest Service leadership and the Office of General Counsel. Contact: Carol DeMuth. 3

Spring 2011

50 Years of Research at the Marcell EF

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Fire weather carbon flux tower on the Silas-Little Experimental Forest in New Jersey.


he Marcell Experimental Forest in Minnesota serves as a living laboratory and provides scientists with a fundamental understanding of peatland hydrology, acid rain impacts, nutrient and carbon cycling, trace gas emissions, and controls on mercury transport in boreal watersheds. Recently, Northern Research Station scientists hosted a symposium entitled “Peatland Biogeochemistry and Watershed Hydrology at the Marcell Experimental Forest,” which synthesized hundreds of research publications, dozens of graduate theses, and even some previously unpublished studies. These findings have recently been published by CRC Press in a book by the same title

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NEWS that covers the depth and breadth of longterm studies on hydrology, biogeochemistry, ecology, and forest management at the Marcell EF. To purchase this new book, visit the publisher’s Web site at http://www.crcpress.com/ product/isbn/97814398142460.

Information Management for EFRs

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s the EFR network develops, one goal is to foster an information management (IM) capability equal to that of the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) network. The “EFR Synthesis Group” (SG) was temporarily established to help develop the EFR network—it contains all seven LTER sites in the EFR community, thus holds much of our corporate knowledge about LTER IM.

R&D Leadership chartered an eResearch project to support IM efforts on experimental forests and ranges R&D leadership also chartered an eResearch project to support the IM goal. Project activities included: • Organizing an SG workshop (2008). ▪ Discussing what it means to be a “network.” ▪ Establishing a science track for developing cross-site synthesis research projects. Spring 2011

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Establishing an IM track for SG IM staff. This first-ever effort was well received by IM staff and scientists.

• Developing two intranet sites. • Developing a network-identified Web infrastructure, featuring: ▪ Common architecture. ▪ Database and application capabilities. • Surveying the status of information holdings (2010). The outcome was that data catalogs are needed! • EFR records management (national and local). • Conducting metadata training (starting in April 2011). • Developing data management planning aids (starting in May 2011). • Developing a SharePoint collaboration site for EFRs (starting in June 2011).

Did You Know?

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he network of experimental forest and ranges also includes grasslands and watersheds. In 2005, the Forest Service Manual (FSM 4062) was amended to replace the term “experimental forests and ranges” with “experimental forests, ranges, grasslands, and watersheds.” This subtle but important distinction broadens the scope and relevance of the whole network. Recognition of all these experimental locations is meaningful to the mission of the network. 3

One aspect of improving information management is providing access to both historical and current research data. The eResearch effort in this area is helped by close association with the new R&D research data archive. Contacts: Laurie Porth Dave Rugg EFR eResearch staff EFR eResearch project manager Associate R&D data archivist R&D data archivist [email protected] [email protected] 970-498-1206 651-649-5173


Caribou-Poker Creeks Research Watershed, Alaska.

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NEWS

National EFR Coordinator Appointed

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orest Service Research and Development has long valued the significant contributions made by research and monitoring work conducted on the Forest Service’s national network of 80 experimental forests and ranges. However, opportunities exist to make better use of the research findings, data, and resources provided to the Forest Service, collaborating research institutions, and land and resource managers throughout the United States by more than 100 years of work at these field facilities. To this end, R&D leadership has appointed Dr. Peter Stine to serve as the national coordinator of the Forest Service’s experimenPeter Stine tal forest and range network. This position is intended to provide national leadership to help enable EFRs to go beyond their traditional role as sites for studying local United States Department of Agriculture

Forest Service

Experimental Forests and Ranges, published quarterly by USDA Forest Service Research and Development Peter A. Stine, managing editor 530-752-9991, [email protected] Keith D. Routman, editing and design 503-808-2129, [email protected]

Spring 2011

forest management issues to also include the broader opportunities of a research and development network that addresses critical local, national, and global environmental issues. For the last 11 years, Dr. Stine has been a research program manager at the Pacific Southwest Research Station (PSW), directing the research efforts of PSW in the Sierra Nevada. During his tenure as a PSW program manager, he has had extensive experience in directing research at a number of experimental forests and ranges throughout California.

Our Vision for the Future of Experimental Forests and Ranges

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o realize this new vision for EFRs, FS R&D decided that an EFR coordinator was needed to (1) promote the use of EFRs to accelerate the advancement of sound science and management within a changing environmental and social context, (2) strengthen the EFR network by ensuring effective coordination and communication across FS R&D, and (3) increase administrative efficiencies associated with managing EFRs. We are confident that this investment and focus will result in significant advances in the utility and effectiveness of our EFR network while enhancing the scientific contributions that can profoundly influence the scientific credibility of land and resource management decisions. 3


(Raphael Zon, from page 1) support of Gifford Pinchot, and significant progress was made. Facilities dedicated to field research were considered by Zon to be an essential component of a research enterprise in forest management. As Young notes, “the concept of experiment stations was not only a research tool but a symbol of the importance of scientific inquiry in forest administration.” The first “experiment station” was established in Fort Valley, Arizona, strategically located near the Coconino National Forest supervisor’s office in Flagstaff. It was part of Zon’s vision that research be accessible to management, a concept that holds as true today as it did 100 years ago. For all of us who have followed behind these pioneering efforts, we owe a large debt of gratitude to Raphael Zon and the work he did to pave the way for the Experimental Forest and Range network that is now such a proud cornerstone of the Forest Service R&D program. 3 The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 202509410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

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