Ashley Lehman
Pacific Northwest Research Station
My favorite science experience is collecting forest monitoring data. My favorite place to collect data is on the permanent Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) plots in the mangrove forests in the Federated States of Micronesia. You will learn about FIA research in this article.
I like studying mangrove forests because they provide important functions to the Pacific Island ecosystem and nearby human communities. Mangrove forests provide a natural barrier to the human and natural communities from large storm systems that cause surges and large wind events. These mangrove forests play an important role for cycling and storing carbon. These forests also provide habitat for the desirable mangrove crab and a diversity of juvenile fish species.
Monitoring mangrove forests is uniquely challenging because it requires moving through a tight web of aboveground root systems. Many mangrove forests have a maze of channels that flood with the incoming tides. This twice-daily flooding creates a limited work window and accessing the forests by boat becomes more difficult. Boating through this watery channel maze and through a web of mangrove roots is both fun and challenging! You can learn more about mangrove forests in this journal.
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