- Additional Authors
- United States. Forest Service. Northern Research Station.
- Description
- 86 pages : digital, PDF file.
- Summary
- In 2000, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation's Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry and the Northern Research Station's Forest Inventory and Analysis unit implemented a new annual system for inventorying and monitoring Pennsylvania's forests. This report includes data from 2000 to 2004. Pennsylvania's forest-land base is stable, covering 16.6 million acres or 58 percent of land area. More than 660,000 acres of forest land were lost from 1989 to 2004, mostly to residential or industrial development. However, there was a 617,500-acre gain in forest land, mostly from agricultural land. Fifty-four percent of forest land is owned by families and individuals. Forest types with red maple as a dominant species have increased, while stands with sugar maple as a dominant have decreased.̂The distribution of forest land by stand-size class has been shifting toward large stands that now account for 6 of 10 acres.̂The area of forest has increased in the poor and moderate stocking classes and decreased in the full and overstocked classes. Hemlock, sugar maple, and oaks are poised to be less dominant in the future. Increases in red maple are slowing while black birch continues to increase. Sawtimber volume totals 88.9 billion board feet, an average of about 5,000 board feet per acre. Increases in sawtimber inventory have slowed over time. Currently, only half of the forest land that should have advance regeneration is adequately stocked with high-canopy species, and only one-third has adequate regeneration for commercially desirable timber species. Grass/forb and rhizomous ferns dominate understory communities, accounting for nearly one-third of the total nontree vegetative cover sampled.Ŝeveral exotic diseases and insects threaten the health of Pennsylvania's forests.Êxoticinvasive plants threaten native plant diversity and forest health; however, monitoring efforts are only beginning to quantify their distribution and abundance. Stressors such as drought, acidic deposition, and ground-level ozone pollution are adversely affecting the State's forests. Continued monitoring is required to gain a more complete understanding of these impacts on this valuable resource.
- Series Statement
- Resource bulletin NRS ; 20
- Uniform Title
- Resource bulletin NRS ; 20.
- Subject
- Note
- "October 2007"--Cover.
- Title from title screen (viewed Aug. 29, 2008).
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 76-79).
- System Details (note)
- Mode of access: Internet at the U.S. Forest Service NRS web site. Address as of 8/29/08: http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/rb/rb%5Fnrs20.pdf; current access available via PURL.
- Call Number
- GPO Internet A 13.80:NRS-20
- OCLC
- marcive232959350
- Author
McWilliams, William H.
- Title
Pennsylvania's forest 2004 / William H. McWilliams ... [and others].
- Publisher
Newtown Square, PA : USDA Forest Service, [2007]
- Type of Content
text
- Type of Medium
computer
- Type of Carrier
online resource
- Series
Resource bulletin NRS ; 20
Resource bulletin NRS ; 20.
- Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 76-79).
- System Details
Mode of access: Internet at the U.S. Forest Service NRS web site. Address as of 8/29/08: http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/rb/rb%5Fnrs20.pdf; current access available via PURL.
- Connect to:
- Added Author
United States. Forest Service. Northern Research Station.
- Other Form:
McWilliams, William H. Pennsylvania's forest 2004 86 p. (OCoLC)225184821
- Gpo Item No.
0083-B-05 (online)
- Sudoc No.
A 13.80:NRS-20