Vermont Forest Health Monitoring Protocol Contributing Authors: Sandra Wilmot, James Duncan, Jennifer Pontius, David Gudex - Cross, Christine Sandbach Last Updated: 5/23/2017. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Contents About the Vermont Forest Health Monitoring Program ............................................................................................... 1 Plot Establishment ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Subplot Establishment .............................................................................................................................................. 3 Microplot Establishment ........................................................................................................................................... 4 Annular Ring Area ..................................................................................................................................................... 4 Plot Metrics Overview ................................................................................................................................................... 5 Overview of Subplot Measurements......................................................................................................................... 5 Tree Location and Structure ................................................................................................................................. 5 Tree Health ........................................................................................................................................................... 5 Subplot-Level Metrics ........................................................................................................................................... 5 Overview of Microplot Measurements ..................................................................................................................... 6 Regeneration......................................................................................................................................................... 6 Hemispherical photos ........................................................................................................................................... 6 Details of Measurements .............................................................................................................................................. 6 Tree Location and Structure Measurements ............................................................................................................ 6 Diameter Measurements ...................................................................................................................................... 6 Height and Live Crown Ratio Measurements ....................................................................................................... 8 Tree Health Measurements .................................................................................................................................... 10 Canopy Position (Crown Class)............................................................................................................................ 10 Tree Vigor ............................................................................................................................................................ 11 Crown Fine Twig Dieback .................................................................................................................................... 13 Foliage Transparency .......................................................................................................................................... 15 Defoliation .......................................................................................................................................................... 17 Foliage Discoloration........................................................................................................................................... 18 Special Damages ................................................................................................................................................. 19 Additional Subplot-Level Metrics ............................................................................................................................ 20 Invasive Species .................................................................................................................................................. 20 Browse ................................................................................................................................................................ 21 Basal Area ........................................................................................................................................................... 22 Microplot Measurements ....................................................................................................................................... 23 Regeneration Measurements ............................................................................................................................. 23 Ground Cover Measurements ............................................................................................................................ 23 Photography Methods ............................................................................................................................................ 24 Transparency Photos .......................................................................................................................................... 24 Hemispherical Photos ......................................................................................................................................... 26 Data Management ....................................................................................................................................................... 28 References ................................................................................................................................................................... 28 Appendix A. Sample Data Sheets ................................................................................................................................. 29 Appendix B. Trimble GeoExplorer Field Data Collection Workflow ............................................................................. 33 Initial Setup ............................................................................................................................................................. 33 Creating a New Data File (Point) and Logging Location .......................................................................................... 33 Shutting Down the Trimble ..................................................................................................................................... 34 Exporting from the Unit .......................................................................................................................................... 34 Data Correction ....................................................................................................................................................... 34 Appendix C. Using the Haglof Hypsometer ................................................................................................................. 36 Required Settings .................................................................................................................................................... 36 Calibration ............................................................................................................................................................... 36 Measuring Distance ................................................................................................................................................. 36 Measuring Heights .................................................................................................................................................. 36 Appendix D. Common VT Tree Species Codes ............................................................................................................. 37 Appendix E. Special Damages ...................................................................................................................................... 38 Special Damages Table ............................................................................................................................................ 38 Special Damages Supplement ................................................................................................................................. 39 Animal Damage ................................................................................................................................................... 39 Borers and Insects ............................................................................................................................................... 41 Cankers, Conks and Diseases .............................................................................................................................. 44 Human-Related and Weather-Related ............................................................................................................... 47 Appendix F. Invasive