Forest RRAMS: Restoring Resilience at Multiple Scales: Using light detection and ranging (lidar) to guide landscape recovery and management of burned and drought-induced mortality of forests in the Sierra Nevada, California
The Forest RRAMS project is a collaboration between the Forest Resilience Lab in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington, the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest & Southwest Research Stations, and the USDA Forest Service, Region 5. Airborne lidar can provide high-resolution measurements of vertical and horizontal forest structure over very large areas, such as watersheds and entire ecoregions. To make this immense amount of information usable for forest restoration, tools must be built to quantify current and desired forest structure and patterns. These tools must be applicable from the tree clump scale across landscapes. We are developing a suite of monitoring and assessment products to guide planning and management actions of burned and drought-effected forests. These tools and products will provide an important missing link in the application of lidar for promoting ecological resistance to disturbance, now and in the future.
Drought-induced tree mortality, Sierra National Forest, California, Credit: USFS Region 5
Project overview:
We are working on building the following monitoring and assessment products to guide restoration of burned landscapes and management of planned large-scale treatment implementation. These tools and products will provide an important “missing link” in LiDAR application to restoration of burned areas and the affected watersheds:
1. Assess Vertical and Horizontal Structure, Scale and Pattern by Topographic Position and Forest Type in Post-Wildfire Conditions
2. Quantify Reference Landscape Heterogeneity
3. Develop a Landscape Resilience Assessment Tool
4. Scaling Landscape Analyses into Stand-Level Prescriptions
5. Monitor Treatment Effects
Forest RRAMS Participants
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Contact Us:
For inquiries regarding the Forest RRAMS project, please contact us via email: forest_res_lab@u.washington.edu
