STATISTICS: United States of America


United States of America

33.1% —or about 303,089,000 hectares—of United States of America is forested. Of this, 34.4% —or roughly 104,182,000 hectares—is classified as primary forest, the most biodiverse form of forest.

Change in Forest Cover: Between 1990 and 2000, United States of America gained an average of 364,600 hectares of forest per year. The amounts to an average annual reforestation rate of 0.12%. Between 2000 and 2005, the rate of forest change decreased by 56.9% to 0.05% per annum. In total, between 1990 and 2005, United States of America gained 1.5% of its forest cover, or around 4,441,000 hectares. United States of America lost -1,086,000 hectares—0—of its primary forest cover during that time. Deforestation rates of primary cover have decreased 1.0% since the close of the 1990s. Measuring the total rate of habitat conversion (defined as change in forest area plus change in woodland area minus net plantation expansion) for the 1990-2005 interval, United States of America lost 0.8% of its forest and woodland habitat.

Biodiversity and Protected Areas: United States has some 2001 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles according to figures from the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Of these, 26.3% are endemic, meaning they exist in no other country, and 9.4% are threatened. United States is home to at least 19473 species of vascular plants, of which 20.7% are endemic. 8.4% of United States is protected under IUCN categories I-V.






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United States of America: Forest Cover, 2005
Total Land Area (ha)915,896,000
Total Forest Area (ha)303,089,000
Percent Forest Cover33.09%
Primary Forest Cover (ha)104,182,000
Primary Forest, % total forest34.37%
Primary Forest, % total land11.37%
Other wooded land (ha)-


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United States of America: Breakdown of forest types, 2005
Primary forest (ha | %)104,182,00034.4%
Modified natural (ha | %)175,523,00057.9%
Semi-natural (ha | %)6,323,0002.1%
Production plantation (ha | %)17,061,0005.6%
Production plantation (ha | %)--


United States of America: Change in Forest Cover
TOTAL FOREST COVER
Forest 1990 (ha)298,648,000
Forest 2000 (ha)302,294,000
Forest 2005 (ha)303,089,000
Annual Change 1990-2000 (ha | %)364,6000.12%
Annual Change 2000-2005 (ha | %)159,0000.05%
Total Change 1990-2005 (ha | %)4,441,0001.49%
Change in rate (%)-56.92%
PRIMARY FOREST COVER
Primary 1990 (ha)105,268,000
Primary 2000 (ha)105,258,000
Primary 2005 (ha)104,182,000
Annual Change 1990-2000 (ha | %)(1,000)0.00%
Annual Change 2000-2005 (ha | %)(215,200)-0.20%
Total Change 1990-2005 (ha | %)(1,086,000)-1.03%
Change in rate (%)21422.04%
OTHER WOODED LAND
Other 1990 (ha)-
Other 2000 (ha)-
Other 2005 (ha)-
Annual Change 1990-2000 (ha | %)--
Annual Change 2000-2005 (ha | %)--
Total Change 1990-2005 (ha | %)--
Change in rate (%)-
PLANTATIONS
Other 1990 (ha)10,305,000
Other 2000 (ha)16,274,000
Other 2005 (ha)17,061,000
Annual Change 1990-2000 (ha | %)596,9005.79%
Annual Change 2000-2005 (ha | %)157,4000.97%
Total Change 1990-2005 (ha | %)6,756,00065.56%
Change in rate (%)-83.30%
TOTAL DEGRADATION/CONSERVSION
Forest area+Wooded Area-Plantations
Other 1990 (ha)288,343,000
Other 2000 (ha)286,020,000
Other 2005 (ha)286,028,000
Annual Change 1990-2000 (ha | %)(232,300)-0.08%
Annual Change 2000-2005 (ha | %)1,6000.00%
Total Change 1990-2005 (ha | %)(2,315,000)-0.80%
Change in rate (%)-100.69%


United States of America: Primary
Primary or "old-growth" vegetation
Primary Forest 2005 (ha)104,182,000
Other primary wooded land 2005 (ha)-
Other primary wooded land 2005 (ha)104,182,000
Undisturbed vegetation 2005 (% land area)11.37%


United States of America: Forest designation
Ownership of forest land, 2000
Public (%)42.4%
Private (%)57.6%
Other (%)-
Ownership of other wooded land, 2000
Public (%)-
Private (%)-
Other (%)-
Designated functions of forest � primary function 2005
Production (%)12.0%
Protection (%)-
Conservation (%)19.8%
Social Services (%)-
Multiple Services (%)68.1%
None of Unknown (%)-


United States of America: Disturbances affecting forest land 2000
Forest Area annually affected by
Fire (%)0.69%
Insects (ha)1.68%
Diseases (ha)5.75%
Other (ha)-


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United States of America: Biodiversity - Plants
Growing stock composition
3 most common species
% of total growing stock
25.20%
Growing stock composition
3 most common species
% of total growing stock
48.30%
Number of Native tree species
Native tree species1,051
Number of tree species in IUCN red list
Critically Endangered55
Endangered69
Vulnerable60
Vascular Plant Species, 2004
Total19473
Number endemic4036
Number of Threatened Plant Species, 2004
Species threatened240


United States of America: Value of forests
Biomass stock in forest, 2005
Above-ground biomass (M t)31,653
Below-ground biomass (M t)6,276
Dead wood (M t)5,350
Total (M t)43,279
Carbon stock in forest, 2005
Carbon in above-ground biomass (M t)15,826
Carbon in below-ground biomass (M t)3,138
Carbon in dead wood (M t)2,675
Carbon in litter (M t)4,657
Soil carbon (M t)15,732
Change in growing stock 1990 - 2005
Annual change rate (1000 cubic m/yr)
1990-2000189,600
2000-2005210,000
Growing stock per hectare 1990 - 2005
Annual change rate ( cubic m/ha per yr)
1990-20000.5
2000-20050.63
Wood removal 2005
Industrial roundwood (1000 cubic m)489,586
Wood fuel (1000 cubic m)51,252
Total wood removal 2005 (1000 cubic m)540,838
Total wood removal 2005 (% of growing stock)2
Plant products 2005
Food (t)6,443
Fodder (t)-
Raw material for medicine and aromatic products (t)-
Raw material for colorants and dyes (t)-
Raw material for utensils, handicrafts & construction (t)-
Ornamental plants (t)-
Exudates (t)-
Other plant products (t)-
Animal products 2005
Living animals (units)-
Hides, skins and trophies (units)-
Wild honey and bee-wax (t)-
Bush meat (t)-
Raw material for medicine and aromatic products (t)-
Raw material for colorants and dyes (t)-
Other edible animal products (t)-
Other non-edible animal products (t)-
Value of wood and non-wood forest product removal 2005
Industrial roundwood (US$)$18,682,708,000
Wood fuel (US$)$309,226,000
Non-wood forest products (US$)$34,200,000
Total value (US$)$19,026,134,000
Total value ($USD/ha)$63
Employment in forestry 2000
Total people employed281,000


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United States of America : References & Data Sources


 Environment, Land use / Resources, Economy, Population / Demographics, Infrastructure, Health -- CIA World Factbook, 2005
 Forest Cover, Forest types, Breakdown of forest types, Change in Forest Cover, Primary forests, Forest designation, Disturbances affecting forest land, Value of forests, Production, trade and consumption of forest products -- The FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS's Global Forest Resources Assessment (2005) and the State of the World�s Forests (2005, 2003, 2001)
 Protected Areas, Plant and animal biodiversity -- United Nations Environment Programme - World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). 2004. World Database on Protected Areas.
 Biosphere reservers -- United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) - Man and Biosphere Program. 2004. UNESCO - MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory.
 RAMSAR sites -- The Bureau of the Convention on Wetlands . 2005. The Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.
 World Resources Institute's EarthTrends web site
 The 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
 Population Data -- United Nations Population Fund
 With additional analysis by Rhett Butler of mongabay.com



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