Assessing forest mortality patterns using climate and FIA data at multiple scales
This article is part of a larger document. View the larger document here.Abstract
Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) and PRISM climate data from 1991-2000 were obtained for 10 states in the southeastern United States. Mortality was calculated for each plot, and annual values for precipitation and maximum and minimum temperature were extracted from the PRISM data. Data were then stratified by upland/bottomland for red oak species, and classification and regression tree (CART) analysis was used to determine the influence of climate variables on mortality at ecoregion province and section levels. The results presented here will provide a basis for future research on the causal factors related to red oak mortality.