WATERSHED ECOSYSTEM ANALYSIS AS A BASIS FOR MULTIPLE-USE MANAGEMENT OF EASTERN FORESTS

There is ever-increasing competition for the many uses and natural resources of forests in the eastern United States. Multiple-use management has long been a stated goal for these forests, but application has been problematic and seldom satisfactory to all users. There is a need to incorporate more science into management decisions for Eastern forests, and thereby convincingly demonstrate to forest managers and the public why certain combinations of uses may or may not be compatible. One proven approach for doing this is to use watershed ecosystem analysis. Small watersheds, usually <100 ha in area, serve as a convenient ecosystem for studying how forests function in terms of cycling energy, nutrients, and water. Results of these studies allow assessments of forest health and productivity, and evaluations of impacts of both natural and human-related disturbances. This paper provides illustrations of how watershed ecosystem analysis can be used to study the effects of current harvesting practices, acidic deposition, and past land use. The paper also shows how recommendations for land use are derived from watershed ecosystem analysis, and how they are put into practice.