Issue 7

What Can Experimental Forests Teach Us About Fire In The Wildland-Urban Interface?

Since the 1920s, the USDA Forest Service has maintained a system of experimental forests to test hypotheses and collect long-term data about the ecological effects of fire, grazing, insect infestations, air pollution, and other disturbances. In the South, researchers from Federal agencies and universities use 15 active experimental forests for studies ranging from the practices needed to maintain healthy forests, to the water filtration functions of forests, to habitat restoration for endangered species.

Experimental forests are some of the few places in the United States where longterm data are collected about forests and how they change over time. These living laboratories also serve as demonstration sites where cooperators and landowners can see the results of different forest management options. (...continued...)