The Photoload Sampling Technique

The Photoload Sampling Technique
Author: Robert E. Keane
Publisher:
Total Pages: 50
Release: 2007
Genre: Coarse woody debris
ISBN:

Fire managers need better estimates of fuel loading so they can more accurately predict the potential fire behavior and effects of alternative fuel and ecosystem restoration treatments. This report presents a new fuel sampling method, called the photoload sampling technique, to quickly and accurately estimate loadings for six common surface fuel components (1 hr, 10 hr, 100 hr, and 1000 hr downed dead woody, shrub, and herbaceous fuels). This technique involves visually comparing fuel conditions in the field with photoload sequences to estimate fuel loadings. Photoload sequences are a series of downward-looking and close-up oblique photographs depicting a sequence of graduated fuel loadings of synthetic fuelbeds for each of the six fuel components. This report contains a set of photoload sequences that describe the range of fuel component loadings for common forest conditions in the northern Rocky Mountains of Montana, USA to estimate fuel loading in the field. A companion publication (RMRS-RP-61CD) details the methods used to create the photoload sequences and presents a comprehensive evaluation of the technique.

Diversity, Ecology, and Conservation of Truffle Fungi in Forests of the Pacific Northwest

Diversity, Ecology, and Conservation of Truffle Fungi in Forests of the Pacific Northwest
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2009
Genre: Mycorrhizas
ISBN:

Forests of the Pacific Northwest have been an epicenter for the evolution of truffle fungi with over 350 truffle species and 55 genera currently identified. Truffle fungi develop their reproductive fruit-bodies typically belowground, so they are harder to find and study than mushrooms that fruit aboveground. Nevertheless, over the last five decades, the Corvallis Forest Mycology program of the Pacific Northwest Research Station has amassed unprecedented knowledge on the diversity and ecology of truffles in the region. Truffle fungi form mycorrhizal symbioses that benefit the growth and survival of many tree and understory plants. Truffle fruit-bodies serve as a major food souce for many forest-dwelling mammals. A few truffle species are commercially harvested for gourmet consumption in regional restaurants. This publication explores the biology and ecology of truffle fungi in the Pacific Northwest, their importance in forest ecosystems, and effects of various silvicultural practices on sustaining truffle populations. General management principles and considerations to sustain this valuable fungal resource are provided.

The Enhanced Forest Inventory and Analysis Program--national Sampling Design and Estimation Procedures

The Enhanced Forest Inventory and Analysis Program--national Sampling Design and Estimation Procedures
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 96
Release: 2005
Genre: Forest health
ISBN:

The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service is in the process of moving from a system of quasi-independent, regional, periodic inventories to an enhanced program featuring greater national consistency, a complete and annual sample of each State, new reporting requirements, and integration with the ground sampling component of the Forest Health Monitoring Program. This documentation presents an overview of the conceptual design, describes the sampling frame and plot configuration, presents the estimators that form the basis of FIA's National Information Management System (NIMS), and shows how annual data are combined for analysis. It also references a number of Web-based supplementary documents that provide greater detail about some of the more obscure aspects of the sampling and estimation system, as well as examples of calculations for most of the common estimators produced by FIA.