Variability in Fire Frequency and Forest Composition in Canada's
Southeastern Boreal Forest: A Challenge for Sustainable Forest
Management

We examined a landbird community and its relationship to environmental variables within the boreal forest in north–central Ontario to evaluate its potential usefulness as an indicator of sustainable forest management. Our study had two components. First, we compared bird assemblages in mature forest stands inside Pukaskwa National Park (n = 17) with similar forested stands in a logged landscape (n = 18) over 3 years. We found significant separation of sites in the two treatments based on an ANOSIM (analogue of the standard univariate one-way ANOVA test) of the bird communities (R = 0.238, p < 0.001). We identified four significant indicators of the park landscape (bay-breasted warbler ( Dendroica castanea (Wilson, 1810)), black-throated green warbler ( Dendroica virens (J.F. Gmelin, 1789)), ovenbird ( Seiurus aurocapillus (L., 1766)), and red-eyed vireo ( Vireo olivaceus (L., 1766))) and five indicators of the logged landscape (black-backed woodpecker ( Picoides arcticus (Swainson, 1832)), brown creeper ( Certhia americana Bonaparte, 1838), winter wren ( Troglodytes troglodytes (L., 1758)), white-throated sparrow ( Zonotrichia albicollis (J.F. Gmelin, 1789)), and yellow-bellied sapsucker ( Sphyrapicus varius (L., 1776))). Some relationships were attributable to differences in vegetation, whereas other differences were attributable to the landscape context. Second, we used generalized additive models to examine the relationship of individual species with four sets of environmental data (understorey floristics, forest structure, overstorey composition, and landscape context) using the 35 sites noted above and 18 additional mature forest sites in the logged landscape (n = 53). We found that all four types of variables were frequently included in the best model based on Akaike's information criterion (AIC) (structure in 23 models, landscape in 20 models, overstorey in 19 models, and understorey in 15 models). We discuss our results in terms of their implications to forest management and note that our ability to map habitat for forest birds is substantially compromised by the lack of good spatial estimates of environmental variables that describe bird habitat.

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Past, current, and future fire frequencies in Quebec's commercial forests: implications for the cumulative effects of harvesting and fire on age-class structure and natural disturbance-based management

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x06-177 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 36 (11) ◽

pp. 2737-2744 ◽

Cited By ~ 110

Author(s):

Yves Bergeron ◽

Dominic Cyr ◽

C Ronnie Drever ◽

Mike Flannigan ◽

Sylvie Gauthier ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Natural Disturbance ◽

Fire Frequency ◽

Ecological Functions ◽

The Past ◽

Class Distribution ◽

Age Class ◽

If Current ◽

In Fire

The past decade has seen an increasing interest in forest management based on historical or natural disturbance dynamics. The rationale is that management that favours landscape compositions and stand structures similar to those found historically should also maintain biodiversity and essential ecological functions. In fire-dominated landscapes, this approach is feasible only if current and future fire frequencies are sufficiently low compared with the preindustrial fire frequency, so a substitution of fire by forest management can occur without elevating the overall frequency of disturbance. We address this question by comparing current and simulated future fire frequency based on 2 × CO2 and 3 × CO2 scenarios to historical reconstructions of fire frequency in the commercial forests of Quebec. For most regions, current and simulated future fire frequencies are lower than the historical fire frequency, suggesting that forest management could potentially be used to maintain or recreate the age-class distribution of fire-dominated preindustrial landscapes. Current even-aged management, however, tends to reduce forest variability by, for example, truncating the natural age-class distribution and eliminating mature and old-growth forests from the landscape. Therefore, in the context of sustainable forest management, silvicultural techniques that retain a spectrum of forest compositions and structures at different scales are necessary to maintain this variability and thereby allow a substitution of fire by harvesting.

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Past, Current and Future Fire Frequency in the Canadian Boreal Forest: Implications for Sustainable Forest Management

AMBIO ◽

10.1579/0044-7447-33.6.356 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 33 (6) ◽

pp. 356-360 ◽

Cited By ~ 134

Author(s):

Yves Bergeron ◽

Mike Flannigan ◽

Sylvie Gauthier ◽

Alain Leduc ◽

Patrick Lefort

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Boreal Forest ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Fire Frequency ◽

Canadian Boreal Forest

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Natural fire frequency for the eastern Canadian boreal forest: consequences for sustainable forestry

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x00-178 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 31 (3) ◽

pp. 384-391 ◽

Cited By ~ 250

Author(s):

Yves Bergeron ◽

Sylvie Gauthier ◽

Victor Kafka ◽

Patrick Lefort ◽

Daniel Lesieur

Keyword(s):

Boreal Forest ◽

Forest Fires ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Fire Frequency ◽

Ice Age ◽

Eastern Canada ◽

Entire Area ◽

Fire Cycle ◽

Clear Cutting ◽

In Fire

Given that fire is the most important disturbance of the boreal forest, climatically induced changes in fire frequency (i.e., area burnt per year) can have important consequences on the resulting forest mosaic age-class distribution and composition. Using archives and dendroecological data we reconstructed the fire frequency in four large sectors along a transect from eastern Ontario to central Quebec. Results showed a dramatic decrease in fire frequency that began in the mid-19th century and has been accentuated during the 20th century. Although all areas showed a similar temporal decrease in area burned, we observed a gradual increase in fire frequency from the west to Abitibi east, followed by a slight decrease in central Quebec. The global warming that has been occurring since the end of the Little Ice Age (~1850) may have created a climate less prone to large forest fires in the eastern boreal forest of North America. This interpretation is corroborated by predictions of a decrease in forest fires for that region of the boreal forest in the future. A longer fire cycle (i.e., the time needed to burn an area equivalent to the study area) has important consequences for sustainable forest management of the boreal forest of eastern Canada. When considering the important proportion of overmature and old-growth stands in the landscape resulting from the elongation of the fire cycles, it becomes difficult to justify clear-cutting practices over all the entire area as well as short rotations as a means to emulate natural disturbances. Alternative practices involving the uses of variable proportion of clear, partial, and selective cutting are discussed.

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Resilience of the boreal forest in response to Holocene fire-frequency changes assessed by pollen diversity and population dynamics

International Journal of Wildland Fire ◽

10.1071/wf09097 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 19 (8) ◽

pp. 1026 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

Christopher Carcaillet ◽

Pierre J. H. Richard ◽

Yves Bergeron ◽

Bianca Fréchette ◽

Adam A. Ali

Keyword(s):

Boreal Forest ◽

Boreal Forests ◽

Frequency Control ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Fire Regimes ◽

Fire Frequency ◽

Frequency Changes ◽

Fire Intervals ◽

In Fire

The hypothesis that changes in fire frequency control the long-term dynamics of boreal forests is tested on the basis of paleodata. Sites with different wildfire histories at the regional scale should exhibit different vegetation trajectories. Mean fire intervals and vegetation reconstructions are based respectively on sedimentary charcoal and pollen from two small lakes, one in the Mixedwood boreal forests and the second in the Coniferous boreal forests. The pollen-inferred vegetation exhibits different trajectories of boreal forest dynamics after afforestation, whereas mean fire intervals have no significant or a delayed impact on the pollen data, either in terms of diversity or trajectories. These boreal forests appear resilient to changes in fire regimes, although subtle modifications can be highlighted. Vegetation compositions have converged during the last 1200 years with the decrease in mean fire intervals, owing to an increasing abundance of boreal species at the southern site (Mixedwood), whereas changes are less pronounced at the northern site (Coniferous). Although wildfire is a natural property of boreal ecosystems, this study does not support the hypothesis that changes in mean fire intervals are the key process controlling long-term vegetation transformation. Fluctuations in mean fire intervals alone do not explain the historical and current distribution of vegetation, but they may have accelerated the climatic process of borealisation, likely resulting from orbital forcing.

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Stakeholder identification and analysis for adaptive governance in the Kovdozersky Model Forest, Russian Federation

The Forestry Chronicle ◽

10.5558/tfc2012-057 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 88 (03) ◽

pp. 298-305 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Marine Elbakidze ◽

Per Angelstam ◽

Robert Axelsson

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Boreal Forest ◽

Russian Federation ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Local Communities ◽

Adaptive Governance ◽

Stakeholder Identification ◽

Opportunities For Learning ◽

New Ideas ◽

Forest Biome

The Model Forest is a concept developed to facilitate implementation of sustainable forest management (SFM). The key functions of a Model Forest are to develop innovations and test new ideas related to SFM, driven by the needs, interests and challenges of Model Forest stakeholders and local communities. Russia is an important global actor when it comes to the boreal forest biome and forestry, but also has several challenges related to development of adaptive governance and the introduction of SFM. The purpose of this study is to identify landscape stakeholders—their values, needs and interests— in order to develop and adapt the governance of forest landscapes in the Kovdozersky Model Forest. The location of the Kovdozersky Model Forest in the Barents region presents opportunities for learning between Nordic countries and Russia.

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Relationships between change in fire frequency and mortality due to spruce budworm outbreak in the southeastern Canadian boreal forest

Journal of Vegetation Science ◽

10.2307/3237264 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 492-500 ◽

Cited By ~ 54

Author(s):

Yves Bergeron ◽

Alain Leduc

Keyword(s):

Boreal Forest ◽

Spruce Budworm ◽

Fire Frequency ◽

Canadian Boreal Forest ◽

In Fire

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How do Alberta's, Ontario's and Quebec's forest operation laws respect ecological sustainable forest management criteria in the boreal forest?

The Forestry Chronicle ◽

10.5558/tfc83061-1 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 83 (1) ◽

pp. 61-71 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Laurence Bourgeois ◽

Daniel Kneeshaw ◽

Louis Imbeau ◽

Nicolas Bélanger ◽

Stephen Yamasaki ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Boreal Forest ◽

Aquatic Environment ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Forest Certification ◽

Forest Operations ◽

Ecological Criteria ◽

Canadian Boreal Forest ◽

Forest Operation ◽

To Receive

In order to receive forest certification and to respond to societal desires, many forest companies are attempting to demonstrate that their forest activities are «sustainable». The main objective of this paper is to qualitatively evaluate the ways in which forestry-related provincial regulations in the three provinces (Alberta, Ontario and Quebec) that contain most of the Canadian boreal forest help forest companies achieve certification with respect to ecological criteria. In the process of continually evolving towards sustainable forest management, we evaluate how these provincial regulations governing forest operations can be helpful in maintaining three criteria: biodiversity, the aquatic environment and soils. This study shows that the regulations evaluated have varied in their approach and thus have different strengths that must be underlined: (1) Ontario's approach is the strongest in terms of biodiversity, (2) Alberta and Ontario provide measures to abandon roads after harvesting, (3) Quebec provides the greatest specific measures for protecting waterways and aquatic species, (4) Alberta shows the greatest consideration for maintaining the most soil properties and functions. Better links between different regulations are necessary in all jurisdictions. The continual improvement of Canadian forest rules is often slow and advances at a different pace depending on regulators but it should be supported in all provinces. Key words: sustainable forest management, biodiversity, aquatic environment, soils, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec

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Assessing the implications of a carbon market for boreal forest management

The Forestry Chronicle ◽

10.5558/tfc2011-027 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 87 (03) ◽

pp. 367-381

Author(s):

Stewart Elgie ◽

Geoffrey R. Mccarney ◽

Wiktor L. Adamowicz

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Boreal Forest ◽

Management Practices ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Carbon Price ◽

Integrated Modelling ◽

Harvest Scheduling ◽

Boreal Plains ◽

Management Changes ◽

Modelling Approach

Canada's forests —particularly the boreal—are a major storehouse of carbon. How they are managed could significantly affect Canada's greenhouse gas emissions while also presenting a new revenue source for forest managers. This study attempts to assess how a carbon price could affect forest management, particularly in Canada's boreal plains region. An integrated modelling approach is developed to incorporate both forest carbon and timber supply considerations within an optimal management framework. This modelling approach allows for consideration of alternative market and regula tory scenarios, along with a range of possible management intensity and harvest scheduling options over the landscape. The overall conclusion is that carbon incentives will increase the value of the boreal forest—potentially quite signifi cantly— and will generally encourage management changes consistent with sustainable forest management practices.

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Is regulated even-aged management the right strategy for the Canadian boreal forest?

The Forestry Chronicle ◽

10.5558/tfc80458-4 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 80 (4) ◽

pp. 458-462 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Yves Bergeron

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Boreal Forest ◽

Biological Diversity ◽

Fire Regime ◽

Age Distribution ◽

Fire Frequency ◽

Stand Age ◽

Old Growth ◽

Old Growth Forests ◽

Canadian Boreal Forest

Over the past decade, there has been an increasing interest in the development of forest management approaches that are based on an understanding of historical natural disturbance dynamics. The rationale for such an approach is that management to favour landscape compositions and stand structures similar to those of natural ecosystems should also maintain biological diversity and essential ecological functions. In fire-dominated landscapes, this approach is possible only if current and future fire frequencies are sufficiently low, in comparison to pre-industrial fire frequency, that we can substitute fire with forest management. I address this question by comparing current and future fire frequency to historical reconstruction of fire frequency from studies in the Canadian boreal forest. Current and simulated future fire frequencies using 2× and 3×CO2 scenarios are lower than the historical fire frequency for most sites, suggesting that forest management could potentially be used to recreate the forest age structure of fire-controlled pre-industrial landscapes. Current even-aged management, however, tends to reduce forest variability: for example, fully regulated, even-aged management will tend to truncate the natural forest stand age distribution and eliminate overmature and old-growth forests from the landscape. The development of silvicultural techniques that maintain a spectrum of forest compositions and structures at different scales in the landscape is one avenue to maintain this variability. Key words: boreal forest, even aged management, fire regime, old-growth forests, climate change, partial cutting

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