2008 Science Delivery Highlights
International Dialogue Aids European Forest Monitoring Efforts
The International Cooperative Program for the Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests in Europe (ICP Forests) has been collecting data on a network of ground plots across Europe since 1985. Forty-one countries are currently ICP Forests members. Unlike the ICP forest health monitoring system, which is standardized across the continent, each country has its own unique forest inventory system. An international workshop was held in Hamburg in October 2008 to discuss the harmonization of forest inventory procedures across Europe, as well as the integration of forest health monitoring network with forest inventory plots.
The U.S. Forest Service underwent a similar process during the 1990's, which resulted in the integration of Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) and Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) programs. A scientist working with the Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center represented FIA and shared details of the U.S. experience with European colleagues. The effort to standardize and integrate all aspects of forest monitoring in Europe has an improved chance of success as a result of this interaction. This interchange has also created opportunities for more collaboration among European and American scientists involved in forest health monitoring.
Contact: Bill Bechtold, Forest Health Monitoring team leader, (828) 257-4357, wabechtold@fs.fed.us
Partners: Forest Inventory and Analysis, Forest Health Monitoring, International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests
<--Previous Next--> Return to contents
Photo by USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station archive
