scholarly journals Boreal forests will be more severely affected by projected anthropogenic climate forcing than mixedwood and northern hardwood forests in eastern Canada

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Boulanger ◽  
Jesus Pascual Puigdevall
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Climate Forcing ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Northern Forest ◽  
Northern Hardwood ◽  
Forest Regions ◽  
Rcp 8.5 ◽  
Projected Changes

AbstractContextIncreased anthropogenic climate forcing is projected to have tremendous impacts on global forest ecosystems, with northern biomes being more at risk.ObjectivesTo model the impacts of harvest and increased anthropogenic climate forcing on eastern Canada’s forest landscapes and to assess the strong spatial heterogeneity in the severity, the nature and direction of the impacts expected within northern forest regions.MethodsWe used LANDIS-II to project species-specific aboveground biomass (AGB) between 2020 and 2150 under three climate (baseline, RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5) and two harvest (baseline harvest, no harvest) scenarios within four forest regions (boreal west, boreal east, mixedwood and northern hardwood).ResultsClimate change impacts within the boreal forest regions would mainly result from increases in wildfires activity which will strongly alter total AGB. In the mixedwood and northern hardwood, changes will be less important and will result from climate-induced growth constraints that will alter species composition towards more thermophilous species. Climate-induced impacts were much more important and swifter under RCP 8.5 after 2080 suggesting that eastern Canada’s forests might cross important tipping points under strong anthropogenic climate forcing.ConclusionsBoreal forest regions will be much less resilient than mixedwood or northern hardwoods to the projected changes in climate regimes. Current harvest strategies will interact with anthropogenic climate forcing to further modify forest landscapes, notably by accelerating thermophilous species AGB gain in southernmost regions. Major changes to harvest practices are strongly needed to preserve the long-term sustainability of wood supply in eastern Canada. Adaptation strategies should be region-specific.

scholarly journals Future Precipitation Scenarios over Italy

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1335
Author(s):  
Paola Faggian
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Extremes ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Base Line ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Italian Regions ◽  
Rcp 8.5 ◽  
Projected Changes

To support the development of national adaptation policies and measures addressing climate change impacts over Italy, this work aims to analyze projected changes in mean temperatures and precipitations, and extreme events such as droughts and floods, highlighting some local trends in the different Italian regions that have been little considered to date. The investigations are made on the basis of a set of high-resolution Euro-CORDEX models (horizontal resolution 0.11°, about 12 km) to infer quantitative assessments about the danger of climate changes under three different Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs): business as usual scenario, i.e., without a reduction in green-house gas emissions (RCP 8.5), medium stabilization scenario (RCP 4.5) and mitigation scenario (RCP 2.6). After filtering the models with limited performances in reconstructing the current climate, the multi-model climate change scenarios were characterized by comparing the ensemble mean values computed for the base-line period (1971–2000) with those elaborated for the short- (2021–2050), medium- (2041–2070) and long-term (2071–2100). Two WMO ETCCDI indices were considered to investigate climate extremes: Consecutive Dry Days and extreme precipitations. Despite some uncertainties (related to discrepancies among the models), drought conditions and extreme precipitations will likely exacerbate in the coming decades without mitigation (RCP 8.5). Such conditions will be less critical if partial mitigation actions will be undertaken (RCP 4.5) and are expected to be significantly reduced with decarbonization policies (RCP 2.6).

scholarly journals Lake Temagami and the Northern Experience

1988 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Lynn Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Current Work ◽  
Prehistoric Archaeology ◽  
Northern Forest ◽  
Forest Regions ◽  
The City

My current research in Ontario archaeology is centred on the analysis and interpretation of the Three Pines Site (Druid's Cove) CgHa-6, a multi-component site on Lake Temagami in northeastern Ontario. Lake Temagami is located 50 miles north of the city of North Bay. This paper title: Lake Temagami and the Northern Experience, caused me to reflect on how this current work has been influenced by my previous experiences in prehistoric archaeology and ethnoarchaeology in Boreal Forest regions of Subarctic Ontario and Quebec. In this paper, I would like to give an impression of what it is like to do archaeology in the northern forest, show how I have approached research on Lake Temagami, and indicate how this current work has developed out of my own earlier northern experiences.

Natural plant colonization of borrow pits in boreal forest highlands of eastern Canada

Botany ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 89 (7) ◽  
pp. 451-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandrine Hugron ◽  
Roxane Andersen ◽  
Monique Poulin ◽  
Line Rochefort
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Primary Succession ◽  
Regression Tree ◽  
Road Construction ◽  
Plant Colonization ◽  
Quebec City ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Colonization Process

Plant colonization after gravel extraction for road construction is slow and is often considered to be primary succession. The goal of this study was to identify the plant communities that spontaneously colonized borrow pits located in boreal climate zones and to assess how environmental variables influenced this colonization process. It also helped identifying potential combinations of plants to use as well as environmental factors to improve to restore borrow pits. A total of 505 plots were inventoried in 117 borrow pits located in the boreal forest highlands 120 km northeast of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada (Parc national des Grands Jardins). Species cover was visually estimated for different plant communities within each borrow pit where slope and soil characteristics were also evaluated. We used multivariate analyses, including clustering, redundancy, and regression tree analyses. The borrow pits studied were undergoing primary succession processes decades after abandonment. The main pioneer species were bryophytes and lichens. Soil water content and soil physicochemistry had the greatest influence on the natural colonization of borrow pits. We observed that, based on the prevailing conditions, the bryophytes Polytrichum piliferum Hedw. and Niphotrichum canescens (Hedw.) Bednarek-Ochyra & Ochyra, lichens of the genus Stereocaulon , and the lichen Trapeliopsis granulosa (Hoffm.) Lumbsch could potentially act as nurse species and could initiate the restoration of borrow pits located in boreal forests.

Maintenance of the Boreal Forest Rainbelts during Northern Summer

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 1437-1449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin-Ho Yoon ◽  
Tsing-Chang Chen
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
Boreal Forest ◽  
High Latitude ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Storm Tracks ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Vapor Flux ◽  
Northern Summer

Abstract It is not unreasonable to expect that boreal forests that exist along 60°N in the Eurasian and North American continents were created and are maintained by warm seasonal rainfall. As revealed from satellite observations and various precipitation sources, zonally elongated rainbelts appear along these forests. Previous studies show that a relationship may exist between the frontal zone along the Arctic seaboard and regional patterns of high-latitude precipitation. It was observed by this study that baroclinic zones associated with strong Arctic westerlies coincide with minor storm tracks and boreal forest rainbelts only in eastern Canada. In contrast, this coincidence does not occur in northern Europe, eastern Siberia, and the Alaska–Pacific coast, because boreal forest rainbelts in these regions are located farther south of strong Arctic westerlies and ahead of high-latitude troughs over central Eurasia, the Bering Sea, the Labrador Sea, and the Norwegian Sea. Therefore, instead of baroclinicity along strong Arctic westerlies, favorable environments for the formation of minor storm tracks are developed by positive vorticity advections ahead of these high-latitude troughs. The water vapor budget analyses performed with NCEP and Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS-1) reanalyses show that the boreal forest rainbelts are essentially maintained by the convergence of water vapor flux associated with transient disturbances at high latitudes.

scholarly journals Boreal Forest Songbird Communities of the Liard Valley, Northwest Territories, Canada

The Condor ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig S. Machtans ◽  
Paul B. Latour
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Northwest Territories ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Bird Community ◽  
Deciduous Forests ◽  
Zonotrichia Albicollis ◽  
Catharus Ustulatus ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Dendroica Coronata ◽  
Spizella Passerina

Abstract Songbird communities in the boreal forest of the Liard Valley, Northwest Territories, Canada, are described after three years of study. Point count stations (n = 195) were placed in six types of forest (mature deciduous, coniferous, and mixedwood; young forests; wooded bogs; clearcuts) in a 700-km2 area. Vegetation characteristics at each station were also measured. Eighty-five species of birds (59 passerine species) occurred in 11 647 detections. Mixedwood forests had the highest richness of songbirds (∼41 species per 800 individuals) of the six forest types, and contained approximately 30% more individuals than nearly pure coniferous or deciduous forests. Species richness and relative abundance was 10–50% lower than in comparable forests farther south and east, and the difference was most pronounced in deciduous forests. Communities were dominated by a few species, especially Tennessee Warbler (Vermivora peregrina), Magnolia Warbler (Dendroica magnolia), Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus), Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata) and Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina). White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis), a dominant species in boreal forests farther south, was notably scarce in all forests except clearcuts. Clearcuts and wooded bogs had the simplest communities, but had unique species assemblages. Canonical correspondence analysis showed that the bird community was well correlated with vegetation structure. The primary gradient in upland forests was from deciduous to coniferous forests (also young to old, respectively). The secondary gradient was from structurally simple to complex forests. These results allow comparisons with other boreal areas to understand regional patterns and help describe the bird community for conservation purposes. Comunidades de Aves Canoras de Bosques Boreales del Valle de Liard, Territorios del Noroeste, Canadá Resumen. Luego de tres años de estudio, se describen las comunidades de aves canoras de bosques boreales del Valle de Liard, Territorios del Noroeste, Canadá. Se ubicaron estaciones de conteo de punto (n = 195) en seis tipos de bosque (maduro caducifolio, conífero y de maderas mixtas; bosques jóvenes; pantanos arbolados; zonas taladas) en un área de 700 km2. Las características de la vegetación en cada estación también fueron medidas. Se registraron 85 especies de aves (59 especies de paserinas) en 11 647 detecciones. Los bosques mixtos presentaron la mayor riqueza de aves canoras (∼41 especies por 800 individuos) de los seis tipos de bosque, y contuvieron aproximadamente 30% individuos más que los bosques de coníferas y los caducifolios. La riqueza de especies y la abundancia relativa fue 10–50% menor que en bosques comparables más al sur y al este, y la diferencia fue más pronunciada en los bosques caducifolios. Las comunidades estuvieron dominadas por unas pocas especies, especialmente Vermivora peregrina, Dendroica magnolia, Catharus ustulatus, Dendroica coronata y Spizella passerina. Zonotrichia albicollis, una especie dominante en bosques boreales más al sur, fue notablemente escasa en todos los bosques, excepto en las zonas taladas. Las áreas taladas y los pantanos arbolados tuvieron las comunidades más simples, pero presentaron ensamblajes únicos. Análisis de correspondencia canónica mostraron que la comunidad de aves estuvo bien correlacionada con la estructura de la vegetación. El gradiente primario en bosques de zonas altas fue de bosque caducifolio a conífero (también de joven a viejo, respectivamente). El gradiente secundario fue de bosques estructuralmente simples a bosques complejos. Estos resultados permiten hacer comparaciones con otros bosques boreales para entender los patrones regionales y ayudar a describir las comunidades de aves con fines de conservación.

scholarly journals The Delphi method as an alternative to standard committee meetings to identify ecological issues for forest ecosystem-based management: A case study

2016 ◽  
Vol 92 (04) ◽  
pp. 453-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Waldron ◽  
J.-M Lussier ◽  
N. Thiffault ◽  
F. Bujold ◽  
J.-C. Ruel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Ecosystem ◽  
Delphi Method ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Expert Consultation ◽  
Committee Meeting ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Time Investment ◽  
Second Growth ◽  
The Face

The face-to-face committee meeting is one of the most common expert consultation methods used in forest management. However, it is also laden with disadvantages, such as potential inequity in its consideration of participant opinion and the time involvement required. This led us to evaluate another expert consultation method, the Delphi method, namely by implementing it to identify ecological issues associated with second-growth boreal forests in eastern Canada. We compared this method to the committee meeting method with regard to the time investment required and the efficiency of the consultations. In all, 21 experts participated in three rounds of our implementation of the Delphi method. Subsequently, we administered an appreciation survey comparing the participants’ attitudes vis-à-vis the two methods. These comparisons showed that Delphi was less time-consuming compared to a committee meeting consultation of comparable scope. Participants also considered the Delphi method to be fair and impartial, as all opinions were considered, which is frequently not the case in committee meetings. That said, participants believed that committee meetings allowed for a greater understanding of others’ opinions. Overall, the application of the Delphi method was shown to be a promising way of determining forest ecosystem management issues.

scholarly journals Projections of runoff in the Vistula and the Odra river basins with the help of the SWAT model

2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikołaj Piniewski ◽  
Mateusz Szcześniak ◽  
Shaochun Huang ◽  
Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz
Keyword(s):  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Swat Model ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Odra River ◽  
Assess Climate Change ◽  
Rcp 8.5 ◽  
Model Set ◽  
Seasonal Runoff ◽  
Set Up

Abstract The objective of this paper is to assess climate change impacts on spatiotemporal changes in annual and seasonal runoff and its components in the basins of two large European rivers, the Vistula and the Odra, for future horizons. This study makes use of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model, set up at high resolution, and driven by a multi-model ensemble (MME) of nine bias-corrected EURO-CORDEX simulations under two representative concentration pathways (RCPs), 4.5 and 8.5. This paper presents a wealth of illustrative material referring to the annual and seasonal runoff (R) in the reference period as well as projections for the future (MME mean change), with explicit illustration of the multi-model spread based on the agreement between models and statistical significance of change according to each model. Annual R increases are dominating, regardless of RCP and future horizon. The magnitude of the MME mean of spatially averaged increase varies between 15.8% (RCP 4.5, near future) and 41.6% (RCP 8.5, far future). The seasonal patterns show the highest increase in winter and the lowest in spring, whereas the spatial patterns show the highest increase in the inner, lowland part, and the lowest in the southern mountainous part of the basin.

The stock and age of pyrogenic carbon in boreal forest soils of the Mackenzie Basin, Northern Canada

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Schiedung ◽  
Philippa Ascough ◽  
Severin-Luca Bellè ◽  
Samuel Abiven
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Forest Soils ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Bulk Soil ◽  
Northern Canada ◽  
Pyrogenic Carbon ◽  
Discontinuous Permafrost ◽  
Soc Stocks ◽  
Mackenzie River

<p>Wildfires occur regularly in the boreal forests of Northern Canada and an increasing frequency and intensity due to the global climate change is projected. A by-product of these forest fires is pyrogenic carbon (PyC) as a residue of incomplete combustion. The quantity and age of PyC in boreal forest soils, however, are largely unknown although boreal soils contribute to a large extent to the global soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. The Mackenzie River is a major export pathway for PyC between terrestrial and marine environments, with exported PyC ages on geological timescales. This indicates that soil may play an important role as an intermediate pool prior to the PyC export. We sampled eleven forest soils (with nine replicates) in the Canadian Taiga Plains and Shield within the Mackenzie River basin. Our sample sites were located in regions with soils under continuous permafrost in the Inuvik region (northern sites) and under sporadic and discontinuous permafrost in the South Slave Lake regions (southern sites). All sites were unaffected by fire for at least four decades. We used the hydrogen pyrolysis (HyPy) method to separate the PyC<sub>HyPy</sub> from the non-fire-derived SOC in the upper 0-15 cm to determine PyC<sub>HyPy</sub> stocks and performed radiocarbon dating upon both bulk soil and isolated PyC<sub>HyPy</sub>. The total SOC stocks were lower in the soil from the southern sites with on average 26 ± 20 Mg ha<sup>-1</sup> (10-153 Mg ha<sup>-1</sup>) compared to 57 ± 29 Mg ha<sup>-1</sup> (16-188 Mg ha<sup>-1</sup>) in the northern sites. The radiocarbon dating revealed much older PyC<sub>HyPy</sub> compared to the bulk soil SOC radiocarbon age, supporting the persistent nature of PyC and stabilization in soils. The PyC<sub>HyPy </sub>found in the soil of the southern sites, however, was much younger with ages in the range of 495-3 275 radiocarbon years BP than in the northern sites with ages on the range of 2 083-10 407 radiocarbon years BP. The larger SOC stocks and higher ages of PyC<sub>HyPy</sub> in the soils of the northern sites indicate the importance of permafrost conditions for the whole carbon cycle of boreal forests soils.</p>

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