Forest In Maine Research Articles

Perceptions of Spruce Budworm Monitoring, Management, and Remote Sensing Technology in Maine's Forest Sector

Eastern spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana Clem; SBW) is a native forest pest that can severely damage spruce-fir forests in Maine. Monitoring SBW defoliation and populations is important to ensure forest managers make timely decisions regarding forest management. This research brief presents the results of a survey of Maine’s large forest owners and managers. Our findings indicate a need for clear policies and collaborations between forest organizations to prepare for a SBW outbreak. While many forest organizations use satellite imagery, personnel capacity and lack of knowledge are barriers to using remote sensing. We recommend strengthening forest health programs by hiring a remote sensing specialist and increasing knowledge and skills around remote sensing in Maine’s forest sector.

Climate and socioeconomic impacts on Maine's forests under alternative future pathways

This study investigates the combined effects of climate and socioeconomic change on fiber supply and forest carbon in Maine, USA, for broad alternative futures. We conduct an econometric analysis to project forest resource use over the next 80 years under a range of shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) and representative concentration pathways (RCPs). Results show that continued forest successional dynamics – without any harvesting – contribute the most to Maine's aboveground carbon (AGC) accumulation, with 2100 AGC potentially increasing by 140% compared to 2020. On this basis, climate change could result in 2.44–2.64 times greater AGC in 2100 compared to today. Harvest activities are major drivers of forest C dynamics, resulting in 2100 AGC being only 16% >2020. Socioeconomic factors (SSPs) had much larger effects on total harvest and carbon stocks than climate change (RCPs). Harvest volume were projected to increase by 9–29% between 2020 and 2100 for favorable socioeconomic development scenarios (SSP1/SSP2/SSP5) and decrease by 3–29% for unfavorable socioeconomic development scenarios (SSP3/SSP4). Overall, Maine's forest C pools were projected to increase by end-century for RCPs x SSP1/SSP2. This study offers valuable insight on possible methods for region-specific socioeconomic and climate change assessments, particularly in areas with extensive and diverse working forests with mixed ownership.

Climate and Socioeconomic Impacts on Maine's Forests Under Alternative Future Pathways

Climate and Socioeconomic Impacts on Maine's Forests Under Alternative Future Pathways

An Educational Needs Assessment of Workforce Supply and Readiness in Maine's Forest Products Industry

Abstract A combination of youth out-migration and lack of in-migration have led to an aging workforce and population decline in Maine, whereas simultaneous declines in pulp and paper demand and biomass utilization have had negative impacts on the perceived future of the once-dominant forest products industry. These changes may increase uncertainty among employers as to the availability and training of the next generation of forest industry workers. This study reports our findings from an analysis of workforce supply and readiness in Maine's forest products industry. To estimate possible gaps in skills and work culture, we administered a survey to current forestry students and employers in the forest products industry. Skills were assessed in three domains: soft skills, knowledge skills, and technical skills. Our gap analysis focused on the difference between the stated importance of skills to employers and the current level of skill knowledge in the workforce across all three domains. Employers identified dealing with change, motivating personnel, negotiating contracts, problem solving, and financial analysis as the top educational needs. In addition, we assessed the willingness of students to accept the culture of work within the forest products industry. Despite the anecdotes shared by employers, we did not find significant evidence of a work culture mismatch between current students and their potential future employers. We recommend that gaps related to regulations, certification standards, or log scaling be addressed through workshops or on-the-job training, whereas areas such as customer relations, marketing, or problem solving could be emphasized in academic curriculum.

Phosphorus Limits Nitrogen Dynamics in the O Horizon of a Forested Watershed in Maine, USA

Anthropogenic emissions have altered the N status of forests in the northeastern United States, highlighting the importance of our imperfect understanding of the interaction between nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in response to atmospheric N deposition. We investigated soil N and P dynamics at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM), a long‐term paired watershed experiment established to study ecosystem response to experimental N enrichment. One watershed (West Bear [WB]) was treated bimonthly for 25 yr with ammonium sulfate, and the reference East Bear (EB) received only ambient N deposition. We conducted field and laboratory studies to examine the interaction between N and P in O horizon soils in both EB and WB. In the “Field Addition” study, an addition of 100 kg P ha−1 resulted in an overall 38% decrease in extractable ammonium (NH4+–N) due to increased immobilization. Even under ambient N deposition rates, EB displayed parallel, although lower, evidence of P limitation compared with WB. In contrast, in the “Laboratory Addition” study, soils incubated in the laboratory at rates of 0 to 200 kg P ha−1 showed increases in potential net N mineralization (PNNM) and NH4+–N concentrations in response to P additions. There was no effect of N status in the Laboratory Addition study, but hardwood soils showed a faster response and greater rates of PNNM compared with softwood soils. Despite contrasting responses, both the field and laboratory studies suggested that N dynamics at BBWM were P limited and that N status and forest type influenced the N and P interaction.Core Ideas N transformations in Maine's forest soils are P limited. P limitation is greater in N‐enriched soils. Hardwood soils show greater response to P additions than softwood soils.

Inheritance, Land Sales and the Future of Maine's Forests

Large areas of the world’s forests are being converted to non-forest use. Th is article examines factors infl uencing decisions of small forest landowners in Maine to convert or sell their land. Our analysis is based on a large-scale survey of a random sample drawn from the membership lists of organizations of forest landowners in 2005. Maine landowners are caught between countervailing pressures. Although many of them love their land and want to pass it to their heirs, there are many economic, legal and social pressures motivating forest landowners to sell or convert their property. Analysis of the data on the reasons to sell land suggests it would be expensive to curb forest conversion. Strategies that are likely to be eff ective in motivating forest landowners to maintain forest are expensive; those that can solve problems cheaply are apt to be ineff ective.

Maine: On the Cusp of the Forest Transition

Deforestation is a serious problem in many parts of the world. Recently, deforestation is being reversed in some areas, a process called the transition. This article describes the historic changes occurring in Maine's forests, and discusses the implications of those changes. Large scale deforestation occurred as land was cleared for agriculture in the southern and central parts of the state; the forests in the north were heavily harvested by industry. Recently, a turnaround of sorts has occurred in the condition of the forests, and the latest [2005] forest inventory is quite optimistic. However, it is difficult to argue that a forest transition has occurred because improvements made by some forest landowners are counterbalanced by declines in forest conditions due to the activities of other landowners. As a result, the amount of forested land is likely to fall again as the acreage of agricultural land reverting to forest is overwhelmed by a larger amount of land being converted to housing and dev...

Perspectives of Maine Forest Cover Change from Landsat Imagery and Forest Inventory Analysis (FIA)

Abstract A forest change detection map was developed to document forest gains and losses during the decade of the 1990s. The effectiveness of the Landsat imagery and methods for detecting Maine forest cover change are indicated by the good accuracy assessment results: forest—no change, forest loss, and forest gain accuracy were 90, 88, and 92%, respectively, and the good correlation of mapped areas of forest cover loss with forest inventory analysis (FIA) tree size class decrease at the county level. The combination of annually collected permanent FIA plots with accurate statewide forest change maps offers a complementary perspective of Maine's forest resource.

Analysis of the Interaction Between Timber Markets and the Forest Resources of Maine

Abstract The abundant timber resources of Maine are critical to the State's timber economy; thus, when the 1995 forest inventory indicated a 20% decline in softwood growing stock, there was great concern by industry and government. Furthermore, declining near-term softwood growing stock levels were forecast. To better understand what was occurring in Maine's forest, we examined changes in composition and evaluated the relative impacts of harvesting versus growth and mortality. Much of the decline in spruce-fir inventory can be attributed to the budworm infestation of the 1970s and 1980s, although continued high utilization contributed to the decline. The high rate of softwood utilization was facilitated by low softwood timber prices due to increased supply from salvage cutting and high prices for softwood dimension lumber. The high price of dimension lumber also allowed the adoption of sawmill technology in Canada and Maine that used small-diameter logs, formerly consumed by the pulp industry, for lumber production. The increased demand for spruce-fir roundwood occurred during a period when changes in paper demand and pulping technology increased the demand for hardwood pulpwood. Unlike spruce-fir and hemlock, hardwood growing-stock volumes have increased steadily due to low utilization, high growth, and low mortality. Ample inventories of hardwoods have allowed increased volumes of these species to be used in the manufacture of pulp and engineered wood products. A recent partial forest survey of Maine indicated that spruce-fir growing stock inventory has stabilized as a result of regeneration of these species that began after the last spruce budworm infestation. North. J. Appl. For. 21(3):135–143.

Maine's Forest Vegetation Regions: Selected Maps 1858-1993

Past maps of Maine forest vegetation regions display changing perceptions of economically important resources, changing scientific knowl? edge, and the author's purpose in preparing them. Recent maps divide Maine into as many as 15 biophysical regions (McMahon 1993), or as few as one ecoregion (Braun 1972). A new map based on satellite imagery displays pixels indicating different forest types, dispensing with regional boundaries. This map may provide the most accurate view of Maine's complex forest vegetation. Forest vegetation maps provide a way of depicting and visualizing the forest. Maps prepared for managing individual tracts may depict extremely detailed distinctions of composition, structure, age, and stocking. At another level, Maine forests are included in regional or national maps showing the distribution of major plant formations or biomes. How these maps show the forest illustrates current economic perceptions of forest values, the status of scientific knowledge, and the purpose of the map (Bailey et al. 1985, Bailey 1995). This article provides a selective overview of forest vegetation maps prepared for Maine. Reviewing these maps enables us to see the developing aware? ness of the forest and its changes over time. This summary may be of interest to naturalists, teachers, and authors who occasionally wish to use visual portrayals of Maine's forests.

Evaluating Models for Spruce Budworm-Forest Management: Comparing Output with Regional Field Data.

The evaluation of models used in the management of populations can be complicated by the number of component parts and by the large temporal and spatial scales often required. This is particularly true of models developed for the analysis of management policy in forest pest situations. In this study, two large-scale spruce budworm-forest simulation models were evaluated by comparing their output with data collected annually by the Maine Forest Service survey at 1000 sites from 1975 to 1980. In practice, model evaluation typically involves a comparison of observations, independent of those used to construct the model, with overall model output. We did this, and in addition, separate tests were performed on major components of each large-scale budworm model. These components represent Maine's forest protection policy, the budworm-forest dynamics, and pest control efficacy. Both models produced output that was in some way inconsistent with the Maine survey data. Inconsistencies were most prevalent at low budworm densities, especially after pesticide spraying, when model output predicts budworm populations increase more slowly than the survey data suggest. These inconsistencies pointed to inaccuracies in the models' representation of Maine's forest protection policy, of budworm population growth at low densities, and of the effectiveness of spraying (especially at low budworm densities). Problems translating the results of studies of nonlinear population dynamics from small experimental plots to the larger spatial scale used in the models are implicated. Our results suggest that the optimal threshold density of budworm for insecticide application is probably higher than the upper threshold of 20 egg masses/m2 inferred from the models.

Mixed integer programming improves spray operation planning

The spruce budworm is the most destructive pest of spruce and fir forests in the northern United States and Canada. To counter the insect, the Maine Forest Service has, for the last decade (1975–1985), conducted a large-scale spray operation in Maine's northern and eastern forests. The operation involves the use of several types of aircraft flying from several airfields to spray hundreds of target areas. A minimum cost mixed integer programming model was developed to determine the airfield locations, the number of types of aircraft, and the flight plans to best conduct the spray operation. The model extends and complements a microcomputer linear programming model previously developed for and used by the Maine Forest Service. The savings obtained by the mixed integer programming model can be seen by the included comparison of their results.

Blaine House Conference on Maine's Forest Outlook

Abstract A conference in Augusta, Maine, during January 1981 considered the ability of the forests to sustain increased demands created by industrial expansion. Damage by the spruce budworm, together with decades of nonmanagement and diameter-limit harvesting, has left both spruce-fir and northern hardwood stands yielding far below potential but still capable of responding to good forestry. Participants were concerned that government regulations had a dampening effect on investment in forestry, and they regretted cutbacks in the state's forestry programs.