scholarly journals Modeling paludification and fire impacts on the forest productivity of a managed landscape using valuable indicators: the example of the Clay Belt

Author(s):  
Alexis Schab ◽  
Sylvie Gauthier ◽  
Jesus Pascual Puigdevall ◽  
Osvaldo Valeria ◽  
Yves Bergeron ◽  
...  

In areas sensitive to forest management, paludification and successive disturbances in boreal forest can affect forest regeneration negatively, sometimes resulting in stand opening. As these negative effects on forest productivity are not fully considered in strategic management planning, a new landscape dynamics model integrating fire, paludification, forest harvesting, and regeneration failure was used to assess these impacts in a large forest management unit (10,828 km2) of northwestern Québec. Two reforestation scenarios, one based on the accessibility of the areas to be treated and the other aimed at restoring all burned and paludified areas to production were compared to one with no intervention. The success of the scenarios was evaluated using the predicted volume harvested, the proportion of closed or opened stands areas, an indicator of productivity; the cost of reforestation and the royalties associated with harvesting. Harvesting the paludified areas without reforesting would lead to a sharp increase in open stands areas (+17.3%). The strategy of reforesting accessible areas is the most promising for achieving sustainable forest management targets. The monitoring of maximum potential volume (MPV) and the closed forest area as indicators of landscape productivity provides the ability to anticipate problems earlier than with the conventional forest planning indicators.

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Len M. Hunt ◽  
Brian Kolman ◽  
Peter Boxall

Forest harvesting can negatively affect nature-based tourism operations. Using observable and interpretable indicators of operating tourism establishments and associated prices charged for fishing packages, we illustrate how one can assess these forest harvesting effects. From a case of floatplane-accessible tourism in Ontario, Canada, we found no evidence to implicate recent (less than 10 years) forest harvests in decisions by tourism operators to close their establishments between 2000 and 2010. Using a hedonic price analysis, we found a significantly reduced effect of forest harvests on prices charged by these tourism operators between 2000 and 2010. These conclusions were robust to different specifications of forest harvesting. On the one hand, the results suggest that changes to forest management planning, policies, and practices in Ontario appear to have mitigated the negative effects from forest harvesting on nature-based tourism. On the other hand, the results show a method that other researchers and policy analysts can adopt to monitor the changing effects of forest management on economic activities such as nature-based tourism.


2008 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laird Van Damme ◽  
Peter N Duinker ◽  
Dennis Quintilio

Research from scientists embedded within Millar Western’s forest management planning process over the last 14 years was enabled by strong corporate leadership, cooperation by Alberta’s Ministry of Sustainable Resource Development, and funding by the Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta. Results of the supporting research are described in the articles that follow and are important contributions to Canada’s commitment to sustainable forest management (SFM). The process is as noteworthy as the results and is the subject of this paper. When scientists and practitioners work closely together in developing a forest management plan, as they have in this case, there is a much greater opportunity for science-based emergent strategies to be created and applied through the personal interactions among scientists and practitioners. For example, input from the science-based collaborators influenced the harvest schedule in the detailed forest management plan to minimize negative effects on water flow, biodiversity and fire risk. This approach to SFM is one of many being developed in Alberta. The diversity of input has clear benefits, not the least of which is the maintenance of innovation and intellectual enterprise in support of SFM. Key words: forest management planning, forest science, innovation, Alberta, biodiversity, timber supply, guidelines


2008 ◽  
Vol 140 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Langor ◽  
H.E. James Hammond ◽  
John R. Spence ◽  
Joshua Jacobs ◽  
Tyler P. Cobb

AbstractSaproxylic insect assemblages inhabiting dead wood in Canadian forests are highly diverse and variable but quite poorly understood. Adequate assessment of these assemblages poses significant challenges with respect to sampling, taxonomy, and analysis. Their assessment is nonetheless critical to attaining the broad goals of sustainable forest management because such species are disproportionately threatened elsewhere by the reductions in dead wood generally associated with commercial exploitation of northern forests. The composition of the saproxylic fauna is influenced by many factors, including tree species, degree of decay, stand age, and cause of tree death. Wildfire and forest harvesting have differential impacts on saproxylic insect assemblages and on their recovery in postdisturbance stands. Exploration of saproxylic insect responses to variable retention harvesting and experimental burns is contributing to the development of prescriptions for conserving saproxylic insects in boreal forests. Understanding of processes that determine diversity patterns and responses of saproxylic insects would benefit from increased attention to natural history. Such work should aim to provide a habitat-classification system for dead wood to better identify habitats (and associated species) at risk as a result of forest management. This tool could also be used to improve strategies to better maintain saproxylic organisms and their central nutrient-cycling functions in managed forests.


2002 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon Weetman

Forest companies in British Columbia and Alberta have requested increases in allowable cuts on their public land tenures. The present regulatory framework about allowable cut effects is briefly outlined for each province. Seven requirements are proposed for granting an ACE, including consistent and reliable performance, risk assessments, stable operating and market conditions, robust age class distribution, government and public confidence, adequate benefits, and no unacceptable negative impacts on non-timber values. Some of the important "bad" and "good" news about allowable cuts is itemized, together with the drivers for change in sustainable forest management (SFM). It is concluded that professional and technical rigour is required in requests for an ACE. The cost of access to Crown timber has been increased by SFM and foresters and the industry are challenged to produce credible scenarios using new computer technologies, and then to carry them out. Key words: annual allowable cut, allowable cut effect, sustainable forest management, British Columbia,Alberta, forest regulation


2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 436-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Robson ◽  
Troy Davis

The purpose of the paper is to analyse the extent of policy change and learning in the 20 years following the implementation of Ontario’s forest sustainability legislation. Extent of policy learning and change towards sustainable forest management are measured using a combination of content, co-occurrence, and textual analysis of the previous Crown Timber Act and the new Crown Forest Sustainability Act, as well as the latter’s 1996 and 2009 forest planning manuals. There were four key findings. First, policy change towards sustainable forest management has been limited. Second, although there was an increased number of values mentioned in new legislation and planning manuals, the frequency of timber values remained dominant. Third, although integration occurred among a greater range of values, integration with timber values continued to dominate. Fourth, with respect to policy learning, the achievement of sustainable forest management is now explicit and judged based on evidence regarding the inclusion of a range of values beyond timber. The paper concludes that the transition to the more integrative and responsive policies of sustainable forest management remains a work in progress.


Author(s):  
Andr Eduardo Biscaia de Lacerda ◽  
Maria Augusta Doetzer Rosot ◽  
Afonso Figueiredo ◽  
Marilice Cordeiro ◽  
Evelyn Roberta ◽  
...  

2006 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 512-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Lee ◽  
Shashi Kant

With the recent involvement of a greater diversity of groups working in forest management planning, the identification and understanding of people's forest values and their perceptions of one another's values may be a promising approach to sustainable forest management. This study identifies and analyzes the forest values and perceptions of the members of four groups, Aboriginal People, Environmental Non-Government Organizations (ENGOs), the forest industry, and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), in northwestern Ontario. Conceptual Content Cognitive Mapping (3CM) was used to identify people's forest values and perceptions and dominant forest value themes were created using hierarchical clustering. Inter-group and intra-group similarities and differences among the rankings of participants' forest values and their perceptions were determined through various non-parametric statistical tests. Participants' perceptions about each group were generally similar, which included the two most prominent themes to be similar across all participants' perceptions of each group. Although the perceptions for a particular group were similar across the participant groups, they differed substantially with that participant group's personal ranking of the forest value themes. Key words: forest values, perceptions, stakeholders, cognitive mapping, sustainable forest management, collaborative decision-making


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