Spatiotemporal patterns of forest damage and disturbance in the northeastern United States: 2000–2016

摘要: Abstract Forest damage and disturbance can have significant influences on tree vigor, species composition, biodiversity, associated ecosystem services. Recognizing the importance of monitoring spatiotemporal patterns forest health, federal state agencies in United States (US) conducted aerial insect disease surveys (IDS) annually to quantify extent by type causal agent. Although collected these geospatial data for decades, long-term trends not been synthesized across predominantly forested region northern New England York. Here, we utilized a novel, online mapping portal, Northeastern Health Atlas, investigate inter-annual (2000–2016). Our analysis indicated that ∼11.0 million ha forestland (10% study region) experienced at least one event (i.e., an IDS polygon) over 17-year period, averaging 647,425 ± 215,482 ha (3.4 ± 1.1% region’s forestland) annually. While there were no detectable linear, annual or relative abundance agent category, found some ecoregions relatively higher rates (e.g., Acadian Plains Hills, Atlantic Coastal Pine Barrens). Across region, insects most extensive category mapped (∼8 ha), with small number invasive (19 species) accounting half this damage. Because climate change may alter type, severity, frequency disturbance, quantifying baseline is critical detecting shifts dynamics developing adaptive management strategies.