Using knowledge of natural disturbances to support sustainable forest management in the northern Clay Belt

Bergeron, Yves; Drapeau, Pierre; Gauthier, Sylvie; Lecomte, Nicolas

doi:10.5558/tfc83326-3

Cited by 57 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 51 publications

(43 reference statements)

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“…These can be described as either ecological restoration practices (Stanturf and Madsen 2002 ), e.g. extending thinning rotation periods, regulating stem density and regeneration to match wildlife habitat requirements, and mimic the effects of natural disturbances (Bergeron et al 2007 ;Silver et al 2013 ) or retention forestry (Beese et al 2003 ;Gustafsson et al 2010 ). Gustafsson et al ( 2012 ) defined retention forestry as "an approach to forest management based on the long-term retention of structures and organisms, such as live and dead trees and small areas of intact forests, at the time of harvest".…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of old-growth characteristics in uneven-aged forests of the Italian Alps

et al. 2014

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During the last millennia, all forests of the Italian Alps have been heavily affected by human land-use. Consequently, forest structures have been modified, and there are no old growth remains. In the last decades, however, many forests have been withdrawn from regular management, because wood production was unprofitable, and left to develop naturally. At the same time, in currently managed forests, silvicultural systems able to develop or maintain old-growth characteristics are being required.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of old-growth characteristics in uneven-aged forests of the Italian Alps

et al. 2014

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“…By preserving the structural attributes of old-growth forests, post-fire residual patches could represent a refuge habitat for many forest species [2][3][4], and could also constitute a source of propagules for recolonization of the burned matrix [5,6]. However, in managed landscapes, harvesting, including large-scale clearcuts practiced in the last half century, progressively homogenizes the forest mosaic and simultaneously reduces the proportion of old-growth forests [7,8]. Consequently, the simplification of internal structure of forest stands could cause a loss of habitat for species that require structures associated with irregular old-growth forests [9,10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Retention Harvest Maintain Natural Structural Complexity? A Comparison of Post-Harvest and Post-Fire Residual Patches in Boreal Forest

Moussaoui

Fenton

Leduc

et al. 2016

Forests

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Abstract:Variable retention harvest promotes biodiversity conservation in managed boreal forests by ensuring forest continuity and structural complexity. However, do post-harvest and post-fire patches maintain the same structural complexity? This study compares post-harvest and post-fire residual patches and proposes retention modalities that can maintain the same structural complexity as in natural forests, here considering both continuous forest stands and post-fire residual patches. In boreal black spruce forests, 41 post-fire residual patches, and 45 post-harvest retention patches of varying size and ages (exposure time to disturbed matrix) and 37 continuous forest stands were classified into six diameter structure types. Types 1 (inverted-J) and 2 (trunked-unimodal) characterized stands dominated by small trees. The abundance of small trees decreased and the abundance of large trees increased from Type 1 to Type 6. Type 6 had the most irregular structure with a wide range of diameters. This study indicates that: (1) old post-harvest residual retentions maintained the range of structural complexity found in natural stands; (2) Types 1 and 2 were generally associated with young post-fire patches and post-harvest retention clumps; (3) the structure of residual patches containing only small trees was usually younger (in terms of the age of the original forest from which residual patches were formed) than those with larger trees. To avoid the risk of simplifying the structure, retention patches should be intentionally oriented towards Types 3-6, dominated by intermediate and large trees.

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“…In eastern Canadian boreal forests, fire return intervals often exceed the longevity of the first post-fire cohort of trees, leading to the development of increasingly complex stand structures characterized by multiple age cohorts of trees , Bergeron et al 2001, Groot et al 2004. However, because of relatively short forest rotations (c. 80-100 years), traditional even-aged silvicultural approaches threaten to truncate stand development and simplify forest structure across managed boreal forest landscapes (Bergeron et al 2001(Bergeron et al , 2007. "Multicohort forest management" (MFM) has been proposed as an alternative to the virtually exclusive use of such even-aged management in the boreal forest.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-cohort stand structure in boreal forests of northeastern Ontario: Relationships with forest age, disturbance history, and deadwood features

Kuttner

Malcolm

Smith

2013

The Forestry Chronicle

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Multi-cohort forest management (MFM) is a natural disturbance emulation strategy for boreal forests that recommends a diversification of silvicultural techniques to emulate three broad successive phases of post-fire development, termed "cohort classes". Here, for boreal mixedwood (n = 308) and black spruce (n = 108) stands of northeastern Ontario, we: 1) present a multivariate approach to classify the three cohort classes based on a broad set of stand structural variables related to live-tree diameters, densities, and measures of canopy stratification and 2) investigate variation in stand age, mode of stand origin (including horse-and mechanically logged and natural-origin stands), and deadwood features among the cohort classes. In both forest types, average stem diameter distributions in cohort class 1 were normally distributed, those in class 2 showed broader normal distributions, and those in class 3 showed inverse-J distributions. Mean stand age increased with cohort class, and was positively correlated with cohort class in both forest types. Overall, variation in age and deadwood features as a function of cohort class in both forest types provided strong support for developmental aspects of our cohort classifications. Previously logged stands were primarily associated with lower cohort classes, whereas natural-origin stands were strongly associated with complex cohort class 3 stand structures, especially in mixedwoods. As it is primarily the silvicultural manipulation of stand structure that has been proposed to emulate age-related multi-cohort development, our structural cohort classification approach is particularly relevant to the application of MFM in Ontario.Keywords: boreal forest, stand structure, cohort, multi-cohort forest management, boreal mixedwood, black spruce, forest classification, diameter distributions, tree size heterogeneity résumé L'aménagement forestier multi-cohortes (MFM) est une stratégie pour imiter les perturbations naturelles des forêts boréales qui propose une diversification des techniques sylvicoles pour reproduire trois grandes phases successives de développement post-incendie, appelés « classes de cohorte ». Cet article porte sur les peuplements mixtes (n = 308) et d' épinette noire (n = 108) en forêt boréale du nord-est de l'Ontario. Pour ces forêts, 1) nous présentons une approche multivariée pour classifier les trois classes de cohorte à partir d'un large ensemble de variables structurales des peuplements liées au diamètre et à la densité des arbres vivants et aux mesures de stratification du couvert et 2) nous étudions la variation de l'âge du peuplement, l' origine du peuplement (notamment les peuplements exploités avec des chevaux et mécaniquement et ceux d' origine naturelle), et les caractéristiques du bois mort entre les classes de cohorte. Dans les deux types de forêts, les diamètres moyens de tige dans la classe de cohorte 1 affichaient une distribution normale, ceux de la classe 2 avaient une distribution normale étendue et ceux de la classe 3 présentaien...

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Using knowledge of natural disturbances to support sustainable forest management in the northern Clay Belt

Cited by 57 publications

References 51 publications

Development of old-growth characteristics in uneven-aged forests of the Italian Alps

Development of old-growth characteristics in uneven-aged forests of the Italian Alps

Can Retention Harvest Maintain Natural Structural Complexity? A Comparison of Post-Harvest and Post-Fire Residual Patches in Boreal Forest

Multi-cohort stand structure in boreal forests of northeastern Ontario: Relationships with forest age, disturbance history, and deadwood features

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