Spatial Trends and Factors Associated with Hardwood Mortality in the Southeastern United States

Hardwood species play an integral role in forested ecosystems in the southeastern United States. This necessitates an assessment of mortality patterns in these species as well as factors associated with them. This study assessed mortality patterns for hardwood species utilizing Forest Inventory Analysis (FIA) data from the United States Forest Service for two consecutive inventory cycles using kernels smoothing and Classification and Regression Tree (CART) modeling. The first inventory cycle (2000–2004) reveals a patterns and associated factors that can be associated with decline events that have recurred throughout the region while the second inventory cycle (2005–2009) exhibits a different pattern in mortality than cycle one. Mortality patterns and their associated factors should be monitored in the hope that methods can be developed to mitigate extreme impacts to these vitally important species.