Comprehensive Regional Resource Assessments and Multipurpose Uses of Forest Inventory and Analysis Data, 1976 to 2001: A Review

Abstract

Reported is a compilation of over 1,400 literature citations and a review of selected subjects that constitute an integrated knowledge base for comprehensive forest resource assessments with regional, field samplebased forest inventory data. The focus of the report is on nontraditional and novel technical uses tied to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) field surveys published or in press between 1976 and July 2001. Briefly noted are pioneering studies that link FIA data with air pollution, biomass, dead wood, esthetics, geographic context (geographic information systems and satellite remote sensing), nearby nonforest influences (operability, roads), owner attitudes, range (agroforestry and livestock use), recreation, tropical inventories, water quality (soils and hydrology), vegetative habitat typing, and wildlife. All known M.S. theses and Ph.D. dissertations associated with FIA data since 1976 are included, regardless of subject matter. Also incorporated are citations of collected works concerning integrated assessments and multidisciplinary surveys and representative citations associated with economics, global climate change, remote sensing, sampling designs, tropical forest resources, and traditional timber resource assessments. The literature review suggests assessments are “comprehensive” for issues in selected regions and chosen resources. Multidiscipline involvement, multipurpose uses of nontraditional data, and analysis of resources other than timber are variable. Nontraditional measurements and models, with some exceptions, have been provincially, rather than nationally, applicable and not well coordinated among regions. Recommended are ways to accelerate progress toward comprehensive assessments and cost-effective multipurpose uses.