Currently, over 1,100 species of animals and plants are federally
listed as threatened or endangered. Approximately 360 of these species
are associated with National Forests and Grasslands. Many others
are considered 'sensitive' that is, species for which continued
population viability is of concern. Managers of National Forests
are seriously challenged to maintain diverse and viable populations
of plants and animals and to comply with provisions of the National
Forest Management Act and the Endangered Species Act. FS R&D
provides land managers with technical information needed to select
appropriate sensitive and keystone species for focus, and to sustain
plant and animal populations by protecting, managing, and restoring
high quality habitat. Particular emphasis is placed on threatened
and endangered species and on declining or vulnerable species and
communities such as Neotropical migratory birds, old-growth forests,
and riparian communities. Information generated by FS R&D is
used by managers to develop recovery plans for endangered species
and conservation plans for sensitive species so that listing will
not be required. Research is conducted to identify and solve wildlife
habitat problems and thereby facilitate informed forest and range
management.
There is high cost associated with management of TES species. Most
current land management appeals and litigation result from managers
not having adequate information to develop conservation plans for
TES species. Time-consuming appeals and litigation not only increase
the cost of land management, but also limit opportunities for effectively
and efficiently managing forest resources and uses. Long-term research
goals are to develop the scientific knowledge base for effective
management of wildlife habitats, for maintaining diverse and viable
populations of animal and plant species, for reducing the need for
species listings, for reducing the numbers and complexity of appeals
and litigation, and for preserving greater latitude and reduced
costs of land management. Research will continue to focus on providing
enhanced knowledge of the habitat and ecosystem requirements of
wildlife species, with special emphasis on TES species, on developing
and providing technical support for monitoring and assessing status
of wildlife population, on projecting effects of management on wildlife,
and on developing recovery plans for endangered species and conservation
plans for sensitive species.
Aquatic Habitat Research. FS R&D plays a key role in sustaining
our Nation's fisheries. For some native fishes, this is the only
research program in the country with a primary focus on protecting,
managing and restoring their habitat. Research program objectives
include: (1) defining habitat and ecosystem requirements; (2) identifying
factors limiting populations; (3) developing methods to protect,
improve and restore habitats; and (4) developing cost-effective
methods to monitor and evaluate habitats and populations. FS R&D
scientists have provided the technical foundation for developing
management strategies with comprehensive habitat conservation assessments
and are instrumental in developing strategies for restoring habitat
for anadromous fishes in Pacific, Northeast and Southeast coastal
watersheds.
Forest Service research will continue to focus on providing new
information on watershed and habitat requirements of aquatic species
and ecosystems. Specific FS R&D efforts are presently focused
on warm and cold water fishes and aquatic invertebrates (e.g., mollusks,
crayfish) in all forested regions of the US. A large number and
variety of these species are presently identified as species of
special concern.
Watershed Research. Forest management practices and other
human activities directly affect the quality and quantity of water
that enters streams, rivers, lakes and groundwater. People value
and depend upon reliable sources of clean water. They depend on
safe sources of drinking water to protect public health. They enjoy
recreation that occurs on or near healthy and attractive water bodies.
They value fish and wildlife that depend on high quality habitats
in streams, rivers or lakes. In response to these public benefits,
FS R&D has sustained a long-standing research program focused
on understanding effects of forest and rangeland management and
related human and natural disturbances on the quality of water and
watersheds.
Research on watershed processes is needed to assure the public that
providing benefits of clean and reliable sources of water is an
integral part of managing forests and grasslands. Protection of
water quality requires sustaining properly functioning and resilient
watershed ecosystems.
Scientific understanding is needed to distinguish healthy from degraded
watersheds and to provide the technical basis for restoring these
watersheds to functioning, healthy and sustainable condition. Long-term
experimental watershed studies conducted by FS R&D have been
key to understanding how healthy watersheds function. Knowing how
watersheds function provides the technical basis for understanding
what processes enhance or impair the quantity and quality of water
that comes from forests. Research results are essential to sustaining
clean drinking water for human consumption, high quality waters
for recreation, and critical habitat for fish and aquatic and riparian
wildlife. The Watershed Research program also collaborates with
the National Science Foundation and numerous university partners
in the nationwide Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network.
Six participating Forest Service experimental watersheds are the
focus of integrated watershed and ecosystem studies that make major
contributions to the basic understanding of how land use and the
health of forests and rangelands contribute to the condition of
aquatic systems. No other federal agency maintains as many intensive
LTER research sites as does FS R&D.
Landscape Management Research. The terms "watershed"
and "landscape" are often used interchangeably. The boundaries
of a landscape, however, may not correspond to the boundaries of
a watershed. A watershed is drained by a river or stream and its
boundaries are defined by divides. A landscape consists of interacting
ecosystems and its boundaries are most often defined by land cover.
A landscape can contain multiple watersheds or a landscape can be
part of a large watershed. Both concepts, however, are useful for
studying large scale processes and interactions such as the relation
between land use and water quality. For example, land uses in the
Mississippi River Basin are creating major stresses on coastal and
riverine ecosystems. FS R&D is a member of Green Lands, Blue
Waters, a consortium of universities, state and federal agencies,
and NGOs organized to improve our understanding of the ecological
services provided by perennial vegetation embedded in agricultural
landscapes. White Water to Blue Water (ww2bw), a U.S. initiative
introduced at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002,
is focused on the wider Caribbean region. Because land use and water
quality are inextricably linked, ww2bw is based on the premise that
sustainable development requires linking the management of upland
watersheds with the management of marine systems.
Atmospheric Sciences Research. Forests are strongly dependent
on the quality of air and on variability in weather and climate.
Ozone and other atmospheric contaminants can impair the growth of
trees and forests. Air pollution and rainwater contamination can
also change the biological structure of forests and rangelands.
Solar radiation, modified as it passes through the atmosphere, can
cause either benefit or potential harm (e.g., increases in ultraviolet
radiation). Forest Service atmospheric sciences research strives
to understand effects of air pollution, weather and climate on ecosystem
function and productivity on public lands. FS R&D has enhanced
understanding of effects of weather on forest fires and smoke, protecting
forest resources and the public. It has increased understanding
of impacts of air pollution and acidic deposition on forested watersheds
and aquatic ecosystems. It has also provided new information on
restoring and maintaining forest and rangeland productivity during
periods of short-term climate variability and episodes of extreme
weather (e.g., forest blow-down, drought).
FS R&D is developing procedures and models for situating weather
stations to diagnose threatening fire or weather conditions. These
same predictive tools are used to aid in determining fire weather
for understanding fire behavior and fire risks. In the area of smoke
management, research is developing systems to predict the atmospheric
capacity to disperse forest fire smoke and to select the best times
for using prescribed fires - i.e., times when smoke will rapidly
disperse and will not exceed air quality standards. In relation
to air quality measurements, FS R&D is developing standards
for characterizing and measuring effects of pollutants such as ozone,
nitrogen, sulfur and photochemicals deposited from the atmosphere
on wild and planted forest lands, and for monitoring how ecosystems
may be affected by changes in concentrations of pollutants over
time.
Soil Science Research Program. The Forest Service Research
(FSR) soils program covers subjects related to nutrient cycling,
plant nutrition, soil moisture, plant growth relationships, soil
microbial functions and soil quality concepts. This includes a national
scale research program known as Long-Term Soil Productivity (LTSP).
The LTSP program is a national network of consistently designed
large scale experiments intended to evaluate effects of soil porosity
and organic matter on plant production and identify useful measures
or surrogates for monitoring soil productivity and the status of
soil quality.
The soils program also includes work on chemical cycles, pools
and movement in soils and ground water. Some of this work is
included in the watershed research program. The function of water
in moving soil constituents over or through the earths mantle to
ground water and surface waters is important in understanding the
deep movement of chemicals and delivery of nutrients and eroded
sediment to surface water systems.
Other topics include soil quality and relationships to plant
growth and the rooting environment. Any resource or program
area that depends on plant production also depends on soil quality
because of the dependence of plants on the soil resource. The soils
research program provides information that can serve as a foundation
for making management interpretations based on soil properties in
combination with other landscape characteristics defined in soil
inventories or site evaluations. These properties can include, but
are not limited to those identified as sustainability criteria.
Primary cooperators in the current soils research program are from
universities, forest industry, and the National Forest System (NFS).
This has been the case historically. Universities provide critical
skills, and industry and NFS are both primary customers for research
conclusions and the resulting interpretations, and a source for
defining research needs. Monitoring needs defined by NFS were a
primary driver and source of funds in implementing the LTSP program.
Wilderness Research
FS R&D studies in wilderness areas (see United States federal
Wilderness Act of 1964) are conducted either to find solutions for
wilderness management issues or to use the pristine character of
wilderness to address ecological and resource-related questions.
Most wilderness issue studies are by or in association with the
Aldo Leopold
Wilderness Research Institute, while studies using wilderness
as a baseline are dispersed throughout the research program. FS
R&D participates as a member of the Wilderness Policy Council
and staff level Interagency Wilderness Steering Committee.
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