Michael C. Amacher

Status and future of the forest health indicators program of the USA

For two decades, the US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, has been charged with implementing a nationwide field-based forest health monitoring effort. Given its extensive nature, the monitoring program has been gradually implemented across forest health indicators and inventoried states. Currently, the Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis program has initiated forest health inventories in all states, and most forest health indicators are being documented in terms of sampling protocols, data management structures, and estimation procedures. Field data from most sample years and indicators are available on-line with numerous analytical examples published both internally and externally. This investment in national forest health monitoring has begun to yield dividends by allowing evaluation of state/regional forest health issues (e.g., pollution and invasive pests) and contributing substantially to national/international reporting efforts (e.g., National Report on Sustainability and US EPA Annual Greenhouse Gas Estimates). With the emerging threat of climate change, full national implementation and remeasurement of a forest health inventory should allow for more robust assessment of forest communities that are undergoing unprecedented changes, aiding future land management and policy decisions.

Soil vital signs: A new Soil Quality Index (SQI) for assessing forest soil health

_________________________________________ The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program measures a number of chemical and physical properties of soils to address specific questions about forest soil quality or health. We developed a new index of forest soil health, the soil quality index (SQI), that integrates 19 measured physical and chemical properties of forest soils into a single number that serves as the soil’s “vital sign” of overall soil quality. Regional and soil depth differences in SQI values due to differences in soil properties were observed. The SQI is a new tool for establishing baselines and detecting forest health trends.

The Forest Inventory and Analysis Database Version 4.0: Database Description and Users Manual for Phase 3

Describes the structure of the Forest Inventory and Analysis Database (FIADB) 4.0 for phase 3 indicators. The FIADB structure provides a consistent framework for storing forest health monitoring data across all ownerships for the entire United States. These data are available to the public.

Using an epiphytic moss to identify previously unknown sources of atmospheric cadmium pollution.

Urban networks of air-quality monitors are often too widely spaced to identify sources of air pollutants, especially if they do not disperse far from emission sources. The objectives of this study were to test the use of moss bio-indicators to develop a fine-scale map of atmospherically-derived cadmium and to identify the sources of cadmium in a complex urban setting. We collected 346 samples of the moss Orthotrichum lyellii from deciduous trees in December, 2013 using a modified randomized grid-based sampling strategy across Portland, Oregon. We estimated a spatial linear model of moss cadmium levels and predicted cadmium on a 50m grid across the city. Cadmium levels in moss were positively correlated with proximity to two stained-glass manufacturers, proximity to the Oregon-Washington border, and percent industrial land in a 500m buffer, and negatively correlated with percent residential land in a 500m buffer. The maps showed very high concentrations of cadmium around the two stained-glass manufacturers, neither of which were known to environmental regulators as cadmium emitters. In addition, in response to our findings, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality placed an instrumental monitor 120m from the larger stained-glass manufacturer in October, 2015. The monthly average atmospheric cadmium concentration was 29.4ng/m(3), which is 49 times higher than Oregons benchmark of 0.6ng/m(3), and high enough to pose a health risk from even short-term exposure. Both stained-glass manufacturers voluntarily stopped using cadmium after the monitoring results were made public, and the monthly average cadmium levels precipitously dropped to 1.1ng/m(3) for stained-glass manufacturer #1 and 0.67ng/m(3) for stained-glass manufacturer #2.

A rapid method for landscape assessment of carbon storage and ecosystem function in moss and lichen ground layers

Abstract Mat-forming “ground layers” of mosses and lichens often have functional impacts disproportionate to their biomass, and are responsible for sequestering one-third of the worlds terrestrial carbon as they regulate water tables, cool soils and inhibit microbial decomposition. Without reliable assessment tools, the potential effects of climate and land use changes on these functions remain unclear; therefore, we implemented a novel “Ground Layer Indicator” method as part of the U.S.D.A. Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program. Non-destructive depth and cover measurements were used to estimate biomass, carbon and nitrogen content for nine moss and lichen functional groups among eight contrasted habitat types in Pacific Northwest and subarctic U.S.A. (N  =  81 sites). Ground layer cover, volume, standing biomass, carbon content and functional group richness were greater in boreal forest and tundra habitats of Alaska compared to Oregon forest and steppe. Biomass of up to 22769 ± 2707 kg ha−1 (mean ± SE) in upland Picea mariana forests was nearly double other reports, likely because our method included viable, non-photosynthetic tissues. Functional group richness, which did not directly correspond with biomass, was greatest in lowland Picea mariana forests (7.1 ± 0.4 functional groups per site). Bootstrap resampling revealed that thirty-two microplots per site were adequate for meeting data quality objectives. Here we present a non-destructive, repeatable and efficient method (sampling time: ca. 60 min per site) for gauging ground layer functions and evaluating responses to ecosystem changes. High biomass and functional distinctiveness in Alaskan ground layers highlight the need for increased attention to currently under-sampled boreal and arctic regions, which are projected to be among the most active responders to climate change.

Development and application of a soil organic matter-based soil quality index in mineralized terrane of the Western US

Soil quality indices provide a means of distilling large amounts of data into a single metric that evaluates the soil’s ability to carry out key ecosystem functions. Primarily developed in agroecosytems, then forested ecosystems, an index using the relation between soil organic matter and other key soil properties in more semi-arid systems of the Western US impacted by different geologic mineralization was developed. Three different sites in two different mineralization types, acid sulfate and Cu/Mo porphyry in California and Nevada, were studied. Soil samples were collected from undisturbed soils in both mineralized and nearby unmineralized terrane as well as waste rock and tailings. Eight different microbial parameters (carbon substrate utilization, microbial biomass-C, mineralized-C, mineralized-N and enzyme activities of acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, arylsulfatase, and fluorescein diacetate) along with a number of physicochemical parameters were measured. Multiple linear regression models between these parameters and both total organic carbon and total nitrogen were developed, using the ratio of predicted to measured values as the soil quality index. In most instances, pooling unmineralized and mineralized soil data within a given study site resulted in lower model correlations. Enzyme activity was a consistent explanatory variable in the models across the study sites. Though similar indicators were significant in models across different mineralization types, pooling data across sites inhibited model differentiation of undisturbed and disturbed sites. This procedure could be used to monitor recovery of disturbed systems in mineralized terrane and help link scientific and management disciplines.

EFFECT OF ACID MINE DRAINAGE ON A RIPARIAN AREA: ELEMENT CONCENTRATIONS IN SOILS AND PLANTS

The Stillwater River headwaters, located above Cooke City, Montana, have received acid mine drainage (AMD) from the McLaren gold mine since about 1935. To determine the cumulative effects of AMD on the · riparian zone, we collected plant leaf material and soil from the upper 15 cm of the rooting zone of Carex paysonis plants along a gradient of decreasing river water pH. Sampling locations were above the source of AMD into the river, at the source of AMD, and below tha source of AMD. Soil metal concentrations (Al, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn) were generally related to pH or percentage OM. Plant metal concentrations were poorly correlated with soil metal cojcentrations. Plant available metals may have been lower in highly organic soils near the AMD source due to the formation of stable complexes, or high concentrations of some metals may have resulted in toxicity and reduced plant uptake. Concentrations of Cu in plant leaves were higher than suggested maximums for plants and livestock forages at and below the source ofAMD. Additional