Forest Responses to Anthropogenic Stress (FORAST) Database

The Forest Responses to Anthropogenic Stress (FORAST) project was designed to determine the effect of anthropogenically-produced pollutants and climate on long-term growth patters of several species of eastern forest trees. The project was supported by the U.S. EPA and the National Park Service.

The FORAST project began in 1982 to document patterns of radial growth of forest trees during the previous 50 or more years within 15 states in the northeastern United States. Radial growth patterns of more than 7,000 trees were provided along with data on stand characteristics (basal area, density and competitive indices); climate (temperature, precipitation, and drought); and anthropogenic pollutants (SO2 and NOX emissions, ozone monitoring and frequency of atmospheric stagnation episodes and atmospheric haze. A database was developed to facilitate exploratory analysis of tree growth patterns and responses to local and regional environmental conditions.

The database files are divided into three groups. Two of the groups (FORASTR and FORASTS) contain the same tree-ring chronology; one is sorted by region, and the other by tree species. The third group (FORASTEC) is a collection of background data including climate, air quality, and tree and site characteristics.