The Montreal Process was formed in 1994 to develop an internationally agreed upon set of criteria and indicators for the conservation and sustainable management of temperate and boreal forests. In response to this effort, the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) and Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) programs have implemented a national soil monitoring program to address specific questions related to: (1) the current status of soil resources and (2) the contribution of forest soils to the global carbon cycle. As the first and only nationally consistent effort to monitor forest soil quality in the United States, this program provides critical baseline information on the current status of the soil resource and the potential effects of natural and human disturbance on forest health and productivity.
FIA/FHM soil indicator measurements are collected on a 1:16 subset of the national FIA forest inventory plot network with one plot representing approximately 96,000 forested acres. Measurements are divided into three general categories: compaction, erosion, and soil chemistry. Surface compaction is determined through a combination of visual estimates and associated evidences (e.g., changes in density or soil structure). Erosion measurements including % cover, plant canopy height, and forest floor thickness are used to parameterize existing soil erosion models such as the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP). Soil chemical and physical properties are determined by laboratory analysis of forest floor and mineral soil samples collected from each plot. Measurements include: bulk density, texture, pH, exchangeable cations, phosphorus, nitrogen, and carbon. Initial results are summarized with emphasis on describing: (1) the extent and spatial distribution of compaction and erosion reported on FIA/FHM plots and (2) the distribution of soil chemical variables.
Supplementary URL: