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Land and Water

Biological Monitoring

In addition to the comprehensive Forest Inventory that is occurring across all DFW lands, individual harvest sites are intensively monitored for plant species composition prior to and after harvest activities so that harvest goals for regeneration of particular tree species and structural habitat conditions can be assessed. DFW is also working with EOEA and DCR on long term environmental monitoring on harvested lands and forest reserve lands (this effort is described below).

Pre- and post-harvest monitoring provide data on occurrence and abundance of plant species in the forest overstory and understory, and emphasize location of both rare and invasive plant species. Vegetation monitoring is conducted by DFW Forestry Program staff and/or qualified ecologists hired as temporary vendors.

Pre- and post-harvest monitoring consists of:

  • Conducting a thorough walk through survey of each stand and record all plant species occurring in each stand. Upon completion of the survey in each stand, assign a frequency of occurrence (occasional, common, or abundant ) and cover (sparse, moderate, dense) estimate for each plant species. For tree species, indicate relative abundance separately for the overstory (tree canopy) vs. the understory.
  • Recording a GPS location for any state-listed and/or invasive plant species encountered. If a state-listed species is encountered, the appropriate NHESP observation form must be completed.
  • Use GPS settings that will provide DFW with an ESRI format point shapefile in MA State Plane meters, NAD83, WGS84 datum. The GPS receiver should be set to average at least 30 points per location.

DFW will post summaries for pre- and post-harvest surveys as they become available.

Harvest sites that contain rare species or priority natural communities are managed in compliance with science-based restrictions designed to conserve the species or communities in question. Conservation Management Practices (CMPs) for rare species have been developed by the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program and EOEA to guide harvesting operations in areas that support certain state-listed plants and animals. Where CMPs do not exist for particular rare species that occur in a harvest site, the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program provides specific mitigation designed to conserve those species. Typically, mitigation involves restrictions on harvesting levels and environmental conditions under which harvesting machinery can be operated.

Harvest sites that contain invasive exotic species are managed by using mechanical and/or chemical means to reduce or eliminate those species. GPS waypoints are recorded when invasive plants are located to insure that subsequent control measures are effective. Follow-up monitoring after timber harvests is used to detect any reoccurrence, and additional control measures are taken when necessary.

The Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA) in collaboration with faculty and students at the University of Massachusetts and scientists from private conservation groups are developing a long-term ecological monitoring (LTEM) program to measure and analyze critical environmental indicators on state-owned lands. Data will be collected in reserves where no timber harvesting is allowed as well as in sustainably managed forests. Information obtained from this monitoring program will be used to guide environmental and conservation policies and to inform on-the-ground forest management decisions. Data from the reserves also will serve as the reference condition for the study of environmental disturbances such as climate change and atmospheric deposition, insect infestations, pathogens, and catastrophic wind or damaging ice and snowstorms.

The LTEM program will respond to questions such as: Will harvesting this forest negatively affect water quality or wildlife? Is climate change causing changes in the composition or functioning of unmanaged reserves? In what ways are invasive species affecting biological diversity? As of July 2006, the proposal is to base the monitoring on several data sets: landscape scale forest type and canopy gaps from aerial photographs; plot scale CFI data including tree species, DBH, status (including snags, and woody debris) and additional measurements; and plant scale temporary plots for rare herbaceous plants, lichens, and invasive species. The specific questions to be answered by analysis of data collected in reserves include: Has the reserve forest shifted to late successional species and uneven-aged structure over time? What is the role of natural disturbance in shaping the forest landscape? What is the location, distribution, and area of openings caused by disturbances - wind, insects, fire? What is the regeneration response in areas affected by natural disturbance? Are non-native species increasing or decreasing in reserves?

Following completion of the comprehensive inventory described above on any forest reserve sites, periodic re-inventory will be essential to document forest structure and composition. At present, DFW anticipates re-visiting sample locations in reserves once every ten years.