Cumulative effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbances on the forest carbon balance in the oil sands region of Alberta, Canada; a pilot study (1985–2012)

Abstract Background Assessing cumulative effects of anthropogenic and natural disturbances on forest carbon (C) stocks and fluxes, because of their relevance to climate change, is a requirement of environmental impact assessments (EIAs) in Canada. However, tools have not been developed specifically for these purposes, and in particular for the boreal forest of Canada, so current forest C assessments in EIAs take relatively simple approaches. Here, we demonstrate how an existing tool, the Generic Carbon Budget Model (GCBM), developed for national and international forest C reporting, was used for an assessment of the cumulative effects of anthropogenic and natural disturbances to support EIA requirements. We applied the GCBM to approximately 1.3 million ha of upland forest in a pilot study area of the oil sands region of Alberta that has experienced a large number of anthropogenic (forestry, energy sector) and natural (wildfire, insect) disturbances. Results Over the 28 years, 25% of the pilot study area was disturbed. Increasing disturbance emissions, combined with declining net primary productivity and reductions in forest area, changed the study area from a net C sink to a net C source. Forest C stocks changed from 332.2 Mt to 327.5 Mt, declining by 4.7 Mt at an average rate of 0.128 tC ha−1 yr−1. The largest cumulative areas of disturbance were caused by wildfire (139,000 ha), followed by the energy sector (110,000 ha), insects (33,000 ha) and harvesting (31,000 ha) but the largest cumulative disturbance emissions were caused by the energy sector (9.5 Mt C), followed by wildfire (5.5 Mt C), and then harvesting (1.3 Mt C). Conclusion An existing forest C model was used successfully to provide a rigorous regional cumulative assessment of anthropogenic and natural disturbances on forest C, which meets requirements of EIAs in Canada. The assessment showed the relative importance of disturbances on C emissions in the pilot study area, but their relative importance is expected to change in other parts of the oil sands region because of its diversity in disturbance types, patterns and intensity. Future assessments should include peatland C stocks and fluxes, which could be addressed by using the Canadian Model for Peatlands.

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Cumulative effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbances on the forest carbon balance in the Oil Sands Region of Alberta, Canada; a pilot study (1984–2012)

10.21203/rs.3.rs-54065/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Cindy Shaw ◽

Sebastien Rodrigue ◽

Mihai Voicu ◽

Rasim Latifovic ◽

Darren Pouliot ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Oil Sands ◽

Average Rate ◽

Energy Sector ◽

Forest Carbon ◽

Cumulative Effects ◽

Natural Disturbances ◽

Relative Importance ◽

C Stocks ◽

Forest C

Abstract Background Assessing cumulative effects of anthropogenic and natural disturbances on forest carbon (C) stocks and fluxes, because of their relevance to climate change, is a requirement of environmental impact assessments (EIAs) in Canada. However, tools have not been developed specifically for these purposes, and in particular for the boreal forest of Canada, so current forest C assessments in EIAs take relatively simple approaches. Here, we demonstrate how an existing tool, the Generic Carbon Budget Model (GCBM), developed for national and international forest C reporting, was used for a relatively rigorous assessment of the cumulative effects of anthropogenic and natural disturbances to support EIA requirements. We applied the GCBM to approximately 1.3 million ha of upland forest in a pilot study area of the oil sands region of Alberta that has experienced a large number of anthropogenic (forestry, energy sector) and natural (wildfire, insect) disturbances.Results 24% of the pilot study area was disturbed. Increasing disturbance emissions combined with declining net primary productivity over the 29 years of the pilot study changed the area from a net C sink to a net C source. Forest C stocks changed from 332 Mt to 327.5 Mt, declining at an average rate of 0.155 tC ha− 1 yr− 1. The largest cumulative areas of disturbance were caused by wildfire (139,000 ha), followed by the energy sector (110,000 ha), insects (33,000 ha) and harvesting (31,000 ha) but the largest cumulative disturbance emissions were caused by the energy sector (9.5 Mt C), followed by wildfire (5.5 Mt C), and then harvesting (1.3 Mt C).Conclusion An existing forest C model was used successfully to provide a rigorous regional cumulative assessment of anthropogenic and natural disturbances on forest C, which meets requirements of EIAs in Canada. The assessment showed the relative importance of disturbances on C emissions in the pilot study area but their relative importance is expected to change in other parts of the oil sands region because of its diversity in disturbance, types, patterns and intensity. Future assessments should include peatland C stocks and fluxes, which could be addressed by using the Canadian Model for Peatlands.

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Cumulative effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbances on the forest carbon balance in the Oil Sands Region of Alberta, Canada; a pilot study (1985–2012)

10.21203/rs.3.rs-54065/v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Cindy Shaw ◽

Sebastien Rodrigue ◽

Mihai Voicu ◽

Rasim Latifovic ◽

Darren Pouliot ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Oil Sands ◽

Average Rate ◽

Energy Sector ◽

Forest Carbon ◽

Cumulative Effects ◽

Natural Disturbances ◽

Relative Importance ◽

C Stocks ◽

Forest C

Abstract Background: Assessing cumulative effects of anthropogenic and natural disturbances on forest carbon (C) stocks and fluxes, because of their relevance to climate change, is a requirement of environmental impact assessments (EIAs) in Canada. However, tools have not been developed specifically for these purposes, and in particular for the boreal forest of Canada, so current forest C assessments in EIAs take relatively simple approaches. Here, we demonstrate how an existing tool, the Generic Carbon Budget Model (GCBM), developed for national and international forest C reporting, was used for an assessment of the cumulative effects of anthropogenic and natural disturbances to support EIA requirements. We applied the GCBM to approximately 1.3 million ha of upland forest in a pilot study area of the oil sands region (OSR) of Alberta that has experienced a large number of anthropogenic (forestry, energy sector) and natural (wildfire, insect) disturbances. Results: Over the 28 years, 24% of the pilot study area was disturbed. Increasing disturbance emissions, combined with declining net primary productivity and reductions in forest area, changed the study area from a net C sink to a net C source. Forest C stocks changed from 332.2 Mt to 327.5 Mt, declining at an average rate of 0.128 tC ha-1 yr-1. The largest cumulative areas of disturbance were caused by wildfire (139,000 ha), followed by the energy sector (110,000 ha), insects (33,000 ha) and harvesting (31,000 ha) but the largest cumulative disturbance emissions were caused by the energy sector (9.5 Mt C), followed by wildfire (5.5 Mt C), and then harvesting (1.3 Mt C). Conclusion: An existing forest C model was used successfully to provide a rigorous regional cumulative assessment of anthropogenic and natural disturbances on forest C, which meets requirements of EIAs in Canada. The assessment showed the relative importance of disturbances on C emissions in the pilot study area, but their relative importance is expected to change in other parts of the oil sands region because of its diversity in disturbance types, patterns and intensity. Future assessments should include peatland C stocks and fluxes, which could be addressed by using the Canadian Model for Peatlands.

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Cumulative effects assessment and EIA follow-up: a proposed community-based monitoring program in the Oil Sands Region, northeastern Alberta

Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal ◽

10.3152/147154605781765508 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 205-209 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

L. B. Lawe ◽

J. Wells ◽

Mikisew Cree

Keyword(s):

Oil Sands ◽

Monitoring Program ◽

Cumulative Effects ◽

Community Based ◽

Cumulative Effects Assessment ◽

Northeastern Alberta ◽

Effects Assessment

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Could increased boreal forest ecosystem productivity offset carbon losses from increased disturbances?

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2007.2198 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 363 (1501) ◽

pp. 2259-2268 ◽

Cited By ~ 70

Author(s):

Werner A Kurz ◽

Graham Stinson ◽

Greg Rampley

Keyword(s):

Boreal Forest ◽

Net Primary Production ◽

Natural Disturbance ◽

Climatic Changes ◽

Forest Sector ◽

Carbon Budget Model ◽

C Stocks ◽

Carbon Losses ◽

Forest C ◽

Landscape Level

To understand how boreal forest carbon (C) dynamics might respond to anticipated climatic changes, we must consider two important processes. First, projected climatic changes are expected to increase the frequency of fire and other natural disturbances that would change the forest age-class structure and reduce forest C stocks at the landscape level. Second, global change may result in increased net primary production (NPP). Could higher NPP offset anticipated C losses resulting from increased disturbances? We used the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector to simulate rate changes in disturbance, growth and decomposition on a hypothetical boreal forest landscape and to explore the impacts of these changes on landscape-level forest C budgets. We found that significant increases in net ecosystem production (NEP) would be required to balance C losses from increased natural disturbance rates. Moreover, increases in NEP would have to be sustained over several decades and be widespread across the landscape. Increased NEP can only be realized when NPP is enhanced relative to heterotrophic respiration. This study indicates that boreal forest C stocks may decline as a result of climate change because it would be difficult for enhanced growth to offset C losses resulting from anticipated increases in disturbances.

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Relative importance of variables in determination of practice location: A pilot study

Social Science & Medicine (1967) ◽

10.1016/0037-7856(76)90025-1 ◽

1976 ◽

Vol 10 (11-12) ◽

pp. 559-563 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Robert A. Diseker ◽

James A. Chappell

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Relative Importance ◽

Practice Location

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Compaction of Unconsolidated Oil Sands: Pilot Study in Orinoco Oil Belt: ABSTRACT

AAPG Bulletin ◽

10.1306/703c9d2f-1707-11d7-8645000102c1865d ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 73 ◽

Author(s):

Marcel Chin-A-Lien, Carlos Porras,

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Oil Sands

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Forest carbon accounting at the operational scale

The Forestry Chronicle ◽

10.5558/tfc78672-5 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 78 (5) ◽

pp. 672-679 ◽

Cited By ~ 54

Author(s):

Werner A Kurz ◽

Mike Apps ◽

Ed Banfield ◽

Graham Stinson

Keyword(s):

Technology Transfer ◽

Forest Management ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emission ◽

Carbon Accounting ◽

Growth And Yield ◽

Transfer Program ◽

C Cycle ◽

C Stocks ◽

Forest C ◽

Forest Managers

Canadas forests play an important role in the global carbon (C) cycle. Forest management activities, implemented at the operational scale, can have a significant impact on the C budget of Canadas forests. With the increasing national and international recognition that forest management activities can contribute to national C sources and sinks, forest managers could benefit from having a scientifically credible tool to assess the potential impacts of alternate management activities on the C stocks and stock changes on their land base. Such a tool must incorporate the best available science, be compliant with evolving international accounting rules and have enough flexibility to address the types of scenarios and management questions that are of interest to forest managers. To be cost effective and efficient for use by forest managers, the tool should make use of existing information on inventory, growth and yield, and disturbances that their analysts routinely use in their forest management planning activities. The readily available information must be augmented with additional data and modelling to estimate changes in those C pools that are not commonly included in forest inventories, such as carbon in the dead organic matter associated with litter, coarse woody debris and soil C. Building upon the past decade of work in the development and application of the C Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector (CBM-CFS2), the Canadian Forest Service C Accounting Team is now working with the Model Forest Network to develop, test and deliver an operational scale C accounting tool and its supporting databases with regional parameter values. When fully developed (2004), the operational model will be made available without charge to anyone interested in using it to estimate landscape level forest C stocks and C stock changes. Expertise developed within the extensive network of Model Forests and their partners in Canada will facilitate technology transfer and training of the larger user community. The tools and the technology transfer program will empower forest managers to include considerations of the impacts of the planned activities on forest C stocks. This will increase the potential use of forests and forest management activities in contributing towards a greenhouse gas emission reduction strategy. Key words: carbon cycle, carbon accounting, forest management, operational scale, land-use change, model forests, CBM-CFS2

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SYeNERGY: the satellite data-based platform for energy sector in Poland, the pilot study with PGE S.A. company

Earth Resources and Environmental Remote Sensing/GIS Applications VIII ◽

10.1117/12.2278622 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Martyna Gatkowska ◽

Wojciech Kiryla

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Satellite Data ◽

Energy Sector

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A Priority Analysis of the Problems of Small Business Managers

American Journal of Small Business ◽

10.1177/104225877800300204 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 28-36 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Thomas C. Dandridge ◽

Murphy A. Sewall

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Small Business ◽

Empirical Analysis ◽

Decision Problems ◽

Relative Importance ◽

Business Managers ◽

A Priority

Much has been written about problems of operating a small business. However, most of this work has been qualitative, and there has been little empirical analysis of assertions and conclusions presented in this literature. This paper presents a pilot study of small business managers' perceptions of the relative importance of decision problems confronting them. Problems which result from externally imposed regulatory or financing requirements dominate the attention of most small business operators — perhaps to the detriment of actually operating the firm.

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