American Forests Fragmented

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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

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Forest Networking a Project of forests.org

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http://forests.org/web/ -- Discuss Forest Conservation

9/22/99

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by EE

The fragmentation of forests on landscapes is a defining

characteristic of Western style forest management and land use. The

maintenance of functioning, stable forest bioregions and landscapes

require connected and expansive forests sufficient to sustain

ecosystem functionality and native biodiversity. America's forests

have been ravaged, and indeed deforested in many locales, to such an

extent that in much of the country forests are arrayed in small

patches of mostly degraded secondary growth across an urban and rural

agricultural landscape matrix. There is a need to regenerate and

restore forests in America and elsewhere, and not repeat this over-

harvest in the few remaining forest wildernesses of the Planet.

g.b.

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Title: USGS: American Forests Fragmented

Source: Environment News Service

Date: September 20, 1999

WASHINGTON, DC, September 20, 1999 (ENS) - Fragmentation of forests

is one of four major land-use changes negatively affecting the health

of America's biological resources, a newly released in-depth study by

the U.S. Geological Survey has found. The other three factors are

urbanization, conversion of lands to agriculture and the draining of

wetlands.

The two-volume report, "Status and Trends of the Nation's Biological

Resources," was presented Friday at the S. Dillon Ripley Center in

the Smithsonian Institution in an event sponsored by the U.S.

Geological Survey, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the

Smithsonian Institute for Conservation Biology, and the White House

Office of Science and Technology Policy.

The report was produced by the U.S. Geological Survey with

contributions from nearly 200 experts from federal government,

academic and nongovernmental communities. It is the first large-scale

assessment of the health and status and trends of the nation's

biological resources.

Dr. Charles "Chip" Groat, director of the U.S. Geological Survey,

called invasions by non-native species one of the most important

issues in natural resource management and conservation biology today.

"Invasive species are especially troublesome because many of them

have become established in habitats that have no natural competitors

or predators, enabling the invaders to thrive to the extent where

they either out-compete native species, significantly alter habitat

or both," he said.

"Eastern forests have been defoliated by gypsy moths; elm and

chestnut trees have been decimated by non-native diseases; and a non-

native fungus called anthracnose threatens dogwood trees," Groat

said.

The report found that the logging on the Olympic Peninsula in

Washington State since 1940 left remaining patches of ancient forests

measuring no more than 100 acres, most at higher elevations.

There is some good news, although not in the forest sector. Dr.

Michael Mac, the USGS project director for the report, said efforts

to clean up the Great Lakes have been successful in reducing the

levels of toxic chemicals, enabling bald eagles and other raptors to

recover in the region.

The report is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office for

$98. Contact Tel: 202-512-1800. The report will soon be available on

both a CD-ROM and online at: http://www.usgs.gov

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