A unit of Lasting Forests evolving since March 30, 1999
A Total Forest Management Plan and Wildland Management Decision Support System
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Forest Cover Types for Virginia

The assistance of Mr. George M. Leonard, Director of Timber Management, U.S.F.S., and his staff in obtaining Renewable Resources Evaluation G roup forest type group codes and U. S. Forest Service Su rvey codes is appreciated.

by D. Ann Rasberry, Michael l. Fies, and Robert H. Giles, Jr. (1984)

There are a variety of needs for knowing forest types. The type influences many factors such as rainfall interception, transpiration, soil slope stability, and wildlife. They have different values for wood, as habitat, and as an element in watersheds. The Society of American Foresters (SAF) has been classifying and describing forest types since 1929. The SAF bulletin (1980), entitled Forest Cover Types of the United States and Canada, is the Society's most recent attempt to bring order to the existing confusion surrounding the subject. In the eastern hardwood forest, "the seemingly chaotic mingling of species often makes type determination difficult."

Nevertheless, the types decribed by the SAF are recognizable and useable. landsat imagery can be used fai rly effectively to identify forest areas. The procedures of Fies (1983) suggest that land factors (e.g., slope, aspect, elevation) can be used to estimate the likely .type or a group of types on an area known from landsat to be a forest.

A list of types known for Virginia has been prepared. The latest version of the Society of American Foresters (1980) has revised an earlier list and has presented "variants."

Herein we show the list of types and variants (Table 1). We have prepared a comprehensive list that may make identification of the type of a particular stand in the field easier and more consistently judged than in the past. Beside each type name are the numbers to be used in CAPS as well as the BOVA System.

References

Fies, M. L. 1983. Predicting forest cover types in southwestern Virginia using topographic information. M. S. THesis,VPI and SU, Blacksburg, Va. xii + 134 pp.

Society of American Foresters. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. (map and manual). Soc. Am. For., Washington, D.C. 148 p.

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