Russell T. Graham

Integrated scientific assessment for ecosystem management in the interior Columbia Basin and portions of the Klamath and Great Basins.

The Integrated Scientific Assessment for Ecosystem Management for the Interior Columbia Basin links landscape, aquatic, terrestrial, social, and economic characterizations to describe biophysical and social systems. Integration was achieved through a framework built around six goals for ecosystem management and three different views of the future. These goals are: maintain evolutionary and ecological processes; manage for multiple ecological domains and evolutionary timeframes; maintain viable populations of native and desired non-native species; encourage social and economic resiliency; manage for places with definable values; and, manage to maintain a variety of ecosystem goods, services, and conditions that society wants. Ratings of relative ecological integrity and socioeconomic resiliency were used to make broad statements about ecosystem conditions in the Basin. Currently in the Basin high integrity and resiliency are found on 16 and 20 percent of the area, respectively. Low integrity and resiliency are found on 60 and 68 percent of the area. Different approaches to management can alter the risks to the assets of people living in the basin and to the ecosystem itself. Continuation of current management leads to increasing risks while management approaches focusing on reserves or restoration result in trends that mostly stabilize or reduce risks. Even where ecological integrity is projected to improve with the application of active management, population increases and the pressures of expanding demands on resources may cause increasing trends in risk.

Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project

The economic and cultural development of the United States is closely associated with the use and consumption of natural resources. Water, wood, and forage were the primary resources facilitating the western expansion of the United States (Malone et al, 1991; Schwantes, 1991; Robbins and Wolf, 1994). Wood was used in large quantities for shipbuilding early in the 19th century and later used to fuel and build railroads (Hutchison and Winters, 1942; Schwantes, 1991). As the West developed, shrub and grasslands supported domestic livestock grazing. Also, some lands were recognized for their crop potential and irrigation dams were constructed early in the 20th century (Wilkinson, 1992; Dietrich, 1995). In all cases, resource use required inventories, descriptions, or some other assessment that described the amount, location, or value of the resource and often how it could be utilized (Leiberg, 1897). Assessments in one form or another have always been part of natural resource use.

A Soil Burn Severity Index for Understanding Soil-fire Relations in Tropical Forests

Abstract Methods for evaluating the impact of fires within tropical forests are needed as fires become more frequent and human populations and demands on forests increase. Short- and long-term fire effects on soils are determined by the prefire, fire, and postfire environments. We placed these components within a fire-disturbance continuum to guide our literature synthesis and develop an integrated soil burn severity index. The soil burn severity index provides a set of indicators that reflect the range of conditions present after a fire. The index consists of seven levels, an unburned level and six other levels that describe a range of postfire soil conditions. We view this index as a tool for understanding the effects of fires on the forest floor, with the realization that as new information is gained, the index may be modified as warranted.

Silviculture's Role in Managing Boreal Forests

Boreal forests, which are often undeveloped, are a major source of raw materials for many countries. They are circumpolar in extent and occupy a belt to a width of 1000 km in certain regions. Various conifer and hardwood species ranging from true firs to poplars grow in boreal forests. These species exhibit a wide range of shade tolerance and growth characteristics, and occupy different successional positions. The climate is subarctic, with short growing seasons, and the soils are shallow. Both wildfires and timber harvesting play an important role in shaping the structure and composition of boreal forests. Both uneven-aged and even-aged silvicultural systems can be used to produce commercial harvests, but systems can also be designed to meet a variety of other forest management objectives. Wildlife habitat maintenance, water production or conservation, and fire hazard reduction are only some of the objectives for which silvicultural systems can be designed. Coarse wood debris, snags, shrubs, canopy layers, and species composition are examples of forest attributes that can be managed using silvicultural systems. Systems can be designed to sustain predator habitat, yet provide a continual production of http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol2/iss2/art8/ (1 of 9) [10/20/2008 2:53:47 PM] Conservation Ecology: Silvicultures role in managing boreal forests wood products. Uneven-aged systems tend to favor the regeneration and development of shade-tolerant species, whereas even-aged systems tend to favor shade-intolerant species. These systems and all of their permutations can create and maintain a suite of different stand compositions and structures that can be used to meet a wide variety of management objectives.