Forest health monitoring: national status, trends, and analysis 2017
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The annual national report of the Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Program of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, presents forest health status and trends from a national or multi-State regional perspective using a variety of sources, introduces new techniques for analyzing forest health data, and summarizes results of recently completed Evaluation Monitoring projects funded through the FHM national program. In this 17th edition in a series of annual reports, national survey data are used to identify geographic patterns of insect and disease activity. Satellite data are employed to detect geographic patterns of forest fire occurrence. Recent drought and moisture surplus conditions are compared across the conterminous United States. Data collected by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program are employed to detect regional differences in tree mortality. FIA plot-level lichen data are assessed as bioindicators for large-scale monitoring of air quality across eastern U.S. forests. A national summary of crown condition across the United States is presented for 2011–15, and change over time in crown dieback is used to identify species in decline. Eight recently completed Evaluation Monitoring projects are summarized, addressing forest health concerns at smaller scales.