Ontario's Forest Science Research and Extension Efforts after the 1998 Ice Storm

Abstract

The 1998 ice storm devastated major portions of south central Canada and the northeastern United States. After the storm, Ontario developed major communication and forest-focused research efforts designed to improve understanding of the short- and longer-term ecological consequences of the storm, its economic consequences, and proactive approaches that could be developed to reduce damage in the future. This article summarizes results from the major aspects of that effort: (1) communications, (2) a fertilizer/competition control experiment designed to aid sugar maple recovery and document the physiological and stand-level ecological consequences of those treatments, and (3) the consequences of both damage and postdamage management in woodlots, including plantations.