New insights into old forests: Forest ecology and conservation in the area of the Northwest Forest Plan. Dr. Tom Spies
January 24, 2018 4PM, LINC 302
About the Seminar: The 1994 Northwest Forest Plan for federal forests was designed to conserve populations of species associated with complex old-growth forests within the range of the northern spotted owl. Over the last 24 years we have learned that the ecology of old growth forests in the region is more diverse than we appreciated when the plan was developed. Improved knowledge of historical fire regimes can inform old-growth forest conservation based on ecosystem perspectives, but it can also be a challenge to existing conservation approaches based on individual species associated with one type of old growth. In addition, recent research indicates that forest conservation is more than just protecting existing areas of old-growth from disturbance: disturbance processes and other successional stages must also be considered.
About Dr. Spies: Thomas Spies is a Senior Scientist at the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station in Corvallis, Oregon. He is also a courtesy professor in the College of Forestry at Oregon State University. He received his Ph.D. in forest ecology 1983 from the University of Michigan. His research interests include, old-growth forest ecology and conservation, remote sensing, landscape ecology, fire ecology, and coupled human and natural systems. He is editor of the 2009 book “Old-growth in a New World: A Pacific Northwest Icon Reexamined”, which explores the social, ecology and policy dimensions of old-growth forests. He is currently leading a USFS effort to synthesize science and monitoring results to inform revision of national forest plans in the area of the Northwest Forest Plan. http://fpf.forestry.oregonstate.edu/faculty/thomas-spies
WebEx Address: https://oregonstate.webex.com/oregonstate/j.php?MTID=me0bf783a44637fd96c48f76817298f6c