A study performed in the Ouachita National Forest, AR, compares alternatives for an ecological assessment using a LANDFIRE model as a starting point for a current conditions model that was then used as a benchmark from which to develop the results of different scenarios. Kori Blankenship (TNC), Ayn Shlisky (USDA Forest Service) and Shawn Cochran (USDA Forest Service) developed the study; eight conclusions are presented in this poster.
Effective land management decision-making depends on scientifically-sound analyses of management alternatives relative to desired future conditions and environmental effects. This poster illustrates the use of a state-and-transition model to evaluate likely future landscape conditions in pine-oak forest on the Ouachita National Forest, Arkansas based on current and potential future alternative management actions. We used the model to simulate and compare the effects of several alternatives:
A. Current Management
B. Regeneration Harvest/Thinning
C. Woodland Management
D. B + Climate Change
E. C + Climate Change
The authors compared all management scenarios.