The Canadian forest industries are based on the extensive harvesting and management of forests, with attendant effects on biodiversity at all levels of organization. In large part, conflicts between forestry and biodiversity occur because lands that are harvested and managed are mostly natural and seminatural ecosystems. Prior to being affected by forestry, such lands provided habitat for native species of wild life and their communities. Some of these elements of biodiversity may not find silvicultural habitats, especially plantations, to be suitable to their needs. In addition, the longer term integrity of some natural ecosystems, for example old-growth forests, is not compatible with any but the softest types of exploitation and management. This report discusses interactions of forestry and biodiversity at three levels of organization: (i) genetic variation within populations and species; (ii) the richness of species within communities; and (iii) the richness of community types on the landscape. A broader conclusion of our report is the following: If forestry systems of harvesting and management are to be practised in an ecologically sustainable fashion, then all elements of biodiversity must be accommodated within a landscape comprised of an integration of working lands and ecological reserves. The spatial scale of this integration could be various, ranging from large watersheds, to the "woodsheds" of particular industrial facilities, to provincial and national areas. Therefore, resolution of the substantial conflicts between biodiversity and forestry requires the design of ecologically sustainable landscapes that can provide a flow of timber and other valuated forest products, while still sustaining natural biodiversity resources.Key words: forest management, biodiversity, ecological reserves, eastern Canada, harvesting practices, old growth.
Scarcity of scale-free topology is universal across biochemical networks
