Prioritization of Old-Growth Forest Conservation on the Pisgah National Forest
Abstract
The structural complexity of old-growth forests allows them to play many distinctive
functional and compositional roles that are not fulfilled by younger forests. Left
undisturbed by humans, these forests function as reservoirs of biological diversity,
regulate energy and material cycles, and allow us the opportunity to study and understand
natural forest processes, while at the same time providing significant recreational,
existence, and heritage values. While old-growth forests are relatively rare in the
eastern United States due to historic land use patterns, the Blue Ridge province in
western North Carolina contains one of the highest remaining concentrations of these
forests. Management of the Pisgah National Forest provides a wonderful opportunity
to conserve many areas of old-growth in this region. In this master’s project, a series
of Geographical Information System models was developed to prioritize a network of
small, medium, and large patches of forest on the Pisgah National Forest to be conserved
and managed as old-growth. The prioritization was based on criteria established by
the USDA Forest Service, the amount of high quality old-growth forest contained by
the patches, and other ecological considerations. Patches selected by the models were
well distributed spatially and would conserve most of the identified high quality
old-growth habitat on the Forest, though they underrepresented certain natural community
types. Many of the chosen patches may not currently exhibit old-growth conditions
and will have to be restored. It is important that selected patches for old-growth
conservation be given permanent protective status so that natural processes are allowed
to proceed uninterrupted. The set of models developed in this project can be used
to help guide policy and management decisions by the Forest Service relating to its
plans to conserve and restore old-growth across the Pisgah National Forest.
Type
Master's projectPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/1373Citation
Shaffer, Jonathan (2009). Prioritization of Old-Growth Forest Conservation on the Pisgah National Forest. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/1373.Collections
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