Forest management is driving the eastern North American boreal forest outside its natural range of variability

Cyr, Dominic; Gauthier, Sylvie; Bergeron, Yves; Carcaillet, Christopher

doi:10.1890/080088

Cited by 287 publications

(199 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Current harvest strategies are meant to replicate a natural disturbance regime, which, in Alberta's boreal forest, is primarily fire. However, harvesting selectively targets old forest stands, whereas fire generally affects all age classes (Cyr et al 2009, Lee et al 2009). The result is that older age classes are underrepresented and younger age classes are overrepresented on the landscape compared with a landscape without harvesting.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional habitat needs of a nationally listed species, Canada Warbler (Cardellina canadensis), in Alberta, Canada

Ball¹,

Sólymos²,

Schmiegelow³

et al. 2016

ACE

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ABSTRACT. Understanding factors that affect the distribution and abundance of species is critical to developing effective management plans for conservation. Our goal was to quantify the distribution and abundance of Canada Warbler (Cardellina canadensis), a threatened old-forest associate in Alberta, Canada. The Canada Warbler has declined across its range, including in Alberta where habitat loss and alteration from urban expansion, forestry, and energy development are changing the forest landscape. We used 110,427 point count survey visits from 32,287 unique survey stations to model local-level (150-m radius circular buffers) and stand-level (564-m radius circular buffers) habitat associations of the Canada Warbler. We found that habitat supporting higher densities of Canada Warblers was locally concentrated yet broadly distributed across Alberta's boreal forest region. Canada Warblers were most commonly associated with older deciduous forest at the local scale, particularly near small, incised streams, and greater amounts of deciduous forest at the stand scale. Predicted density was lower in other forest types and younger age classes measured at the local scale. There was little evidence that local-scale fragmentation (i.e., edges created by linear features) influenced Canada Warbler abundance. However, current forestry practices in the province likely will reduce the availability of Canada Warbler habitat over time by cutting old deciduous forest stands. Our results suggest that conservation efforts aimed at Canada Warbler focus on retaining large stands of old deciduous forest, specifically stands adjacent to streams, by increasing the width of deciduous retention buffers along streams during harvest and increasing the size and number of old forest residual patches in harvested stands.Besoins régionaux en matière d'habitat d'une espèce inscrite sur la liste nationale d'espèces en péril, la Paruline du Canada (Cardellina canadensis), en Alberta, Canada RÉSUMÉ. La compréhension des facteurs qui influent sur la répartition et l'abondance d'une espèce est importante si l'on veut élaborer des plans de gestion efficaces pour sa conservation. L'objectif de notre étude était de quantifier la répartition et l'abondance de la Paruline du Canada (Cardellina canadensis), une espèce menacée associée aux forêts âgées en Alberta, Canada. Les effectifs de la Paruline du Canada ont diminué dans l'ensemble de son aire, y compris en Alberta où la perte et la modification d'habitat attribuables à l'étalement urbain, aux pratiques forestières et aux activités de développement énergétique modifient le paysage forestier. Nous avons utilisé 110 427 dénombrements à partir de 32 287 stations d'écoute afin de modéliser l'association de la Paruline du Canada avec l'habitat à l'échelle locale (rayon de 150 m autour de la station) et à celle du peuplement (rayon de 564 m autour de la station). Nous avons trouvé que les milieux qui hébergeaient les densités les plus élevées de Paruline du Canada étaient concentrés localement, mais aussi t...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional habitat needs of a nationally listed species, Canada Warbler (Cardellina canadensis), in Alberta, Canada

Ball¹,

Sólymos²,

Schmiegelow³

et al. 2016

ACE

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“…This influence has up until now been direct, via ignition, but the indirect influence through human-induced climate change is becoming worrisome (Flannigan et al 2009;Bergeron et al 2010;Metsaranta 2010). Furthermore, the cumulative impacts of fire and clear-cutting or other low-retention types of harvesting are becoming increasingly preoccupying when faced with the potential for these forests to exceed ecological thresholds (Cyr et al 2009;Bergeron et al 2010). The 'Wildfires in Boreal Ecosystems' conference and this special issue illustrate how effective collaborations can be developed amongst researchers of Eurasia and North America sharing similar interests.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wildfires in boreal ecosystems: past, present and some emerging trends

Girardin

Ali

Hély

2010

Int. J. Wildland Fire

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Abstract. With the emergence of a new forest management paradigm based on the emulation of natural disturbance regimes, interest in fire-related studies has increased in the boreal forest management community. A key issue in this regard is the improvement of our understanding of the variability in past disturbances and its linkages with climate and ecosystems. The surge in research activity has further been exacerbated by the increasing awareness of climate change, which has already exposed boreal forests to greater fire risk in recent decades. It is anticipated that further warming and drying will further enhance fire frequency and area burned in many boreal forests. Better predictions of future fire activity will contribute to better long-term forest planning in managed boreal forests. The 12 papers presented in this special issue exemplify this increased research activity by bringing together studies from diverse disciplines and presenting the latest advances regarding methodological approaches for reconstruction and modelling of past, present and future fire activity. Here we aim to summarise, evaluate and set into context some of the new insights arising from these studies and also to discuss some considerations to be taken into account in future research activities.

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“…The forest regions studied have been considerably modified by forest management (Gauthier et al 2009, Boulfroy andLessard 2009). Several elements, including the proportion of old forests and stand composition and structure, are currently outside their bounds of natural variability (Cyr et al 2009). It is generally accepted that significant modifications to stands can have strong impacts on biodiversity and the various natural processes of forest ecosystems (Hunter 1993, Burton et al 1999, Landres et al 1999, Messier and Kneeshaw 1999).…”

Section: Three Case Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vulnerability assessment to climate change of three ecosystem-based forest management projects in Quebec

GoffHéloïse

BergeronYves

2014

The Forestry Chronicle

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The new forest management stewardship of Quebec acknowledges the importance of integrating climate change consequences into forest management. However, forest professionals do not know how they could take climate change into account into their decision-making. This paper proposes the assessment of climate change vulnerability for three ecosystem-based forest management (EBFM) projects in Quebec: the Tembec project in the Abitibi region, the Triad project in the Mauricie region, and the Laurentian Wildlife Reserve project. The objectives were to identify: i) climate change vulnerabilities affecting forest ecosystems and forest management, ii) adaptation options to decrease these vulnerabilities, and iii) current EBFM practices impeding or facilitating the integration of climate change adaptations in forest management. Several features of EBFM, like promoting ecosystem resilience and using an adaptive management framework, may facilitate the integration of adaptation measures into the current forest management approach. We present climate change adaptation as a piece of the puzzle that would facilitate the achievement of EBFM objectives.Keywords: adaptation to climate change, sustainable forest management, resilience, adaptive management, case studies RÉSUMÉ Le nouveau régime forestier du Québec reconnaît l'importante de considérer les conséquences des changements climatiques en aménagement forestier. Cependant, les professionnels forestiers ne savent pas comment ils pourraient tenir compte des changements climatiques dans leurs décisions. Cet article présente l' évaluation de la vulnérabilité aux changements climatiques de trois projets d'aménagement forestier écosystémique (AFE) au Québec: le projet de Tembec dans la région de l' Abitibi, le projet Triade dans la région de la Mauricie, et le projet de la Réserve faunique des Laurentides. Les objectifs étaient d'identifier i) les vulnérabilités aux changements climatiques des écosystèmes forestiers et de l'aménagement forestier, ii) des options d'adaptation visant à réduire ces vulnérabilités, et iii) les pratiques empêchant ou facilitant l'intégration de l'adaptation aux changements climatiques en aménagement forestier. L' AFE présente plusieurs aspects, comme l'amélioration de la résilience des écosystèmes ou l'utilisation d'une gestion adaptative, qui pourraient faciliter l'intégration de mesures d'adaptation dans notre façon actuelle d'aménager les forêts. Nous présentons l'adaptation aux changements climatiques comme une pièce du casse-tête qui pourrait faciliter l'atteinte d' objectifs d' AFE.

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Forest management is driving the eastern North American boreal forest outside its natural range of variability

Cited by 287 publications

References 24 publications

Regional habitat needs of a nationally listed species, Canada Warbler (Cardellina canadensis), in Alberta, Canada

Regional habitat needs of a nationally listed species, Canada Warbler (Cardellina canadensis), in Alberta, Canada

Wildfires in boreal ecosystems: past, present and some emerging trends

Vulnerability assessment to climate change of three ecosystem-based forest management projects in Quebec

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