Spatially explicit simulation of long-term boreal forest landscape dynamics: incorporating quantitative stand attributes

2004 ◽  
Vol 180 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juho Pennanen ◽  
David F. Greene ◽  
Marie-Josée Fortin ◽  
Christian Messier
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Landscape Dynamics ◽  
Spatially Explicit ◽  
Forest Landscape ◽  
Explicit Simulation ◽  
Stand Attributes ◽  
Forest Landscape Dynamics

scholarly journals Utikuma Region Study Area (URSA) – Part 1: Hydrogeological and ecohydrological studies (HEAD)

2016 ◽  
Vol 92 (01) ◽  
pp. 57-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin J. Devito ◽  
Carl Mendoza ◽  
Richard M. Petrone ◽  
Nick Kettridge ◽  
James M. Waddington
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Conceptual Understanding ◽  
Natural Disturbance ◽  
Spatially Explicit ◽  
Forest Research ◽  
Boreal Plains ◽  
Process Studies ◽  
Hydrogeological Studies ◽  
Western Boreal Forest

The Utikuma Region Study Area (URSA) was initiated to develop spatially explicit modelling tools to predict the cumulative impacts of land use and natural disturbance on the Boreal Plains (BP) ecozone of the Western Boreal Forest. Research comprised several multi-year projects, spanning wet and dry climate periods that combined intensive detailed process studies at seven watersheds with extensive long-term ecohydrological and hydrogeological studies conducted across a 60-km transect representing the range of glaciated landforms characteristic of the sub-humid boreal forest in Alberta. These studies have improved our conceptual understanding and capacity to numerically model how climate and geology influence water and energy flow, and the hydrologic linkages and natural variability of the key processes influencing BP ecosystems. Eco-hydrogeological frameworks have been developed for designing, conducting, interpreting, and extrapolating research results for watershed management and construction across the Boreal Plain ecozone.

scholarly journals Herbaceous Understorey: An Overlooked Player in Forest Landscape Dynamics?

Ecosystems ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 1240-1254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Thrippleton ◽  
Harald Bugmann ◽  
Kathrin Kramer-Priewasser ◽  
Rebecca S. Snell
Keyword(s):  
Landscape Dynamics ◽  
Forest Landscape ◽  
Forest Landscape Dynamics

Long-term impact of fire on high-altitude balsam fir (Abies balsamea) forests in south-central Quebec deduced from soil charcoal

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre-Luc Couillard ◽  
Serge Payette ◽  
Pierre Grondin
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
High Altitude ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Abies Balsamea ◽  
Balsam Fir ◽  
Forest Landscape ◽  
White Birch ◽  
Soil Charcoal ◽  
Fire Activity

Extensive balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) stands across the southern boreal forest are ecosystems likely more influenced by insect outbreaks and windthrows than by fire. To what degree the dominance of balsam fir stands reflects past and present disturbance dynamics associated with fire is not well documented. To answer this question, we focused on the reconstruction of the long-term fire history of high-altitude balsam fir forests of southern Quebec. The reconstruction was based on botanically identified and radiocarbon-dated soil charcoal particles in 19 sites covering successional stages from white birch (Betula payrifera Marsh.) to mixed white birch – balsam fir stands. Fire activity commenced early after deglaciation, about 9600 calibrated years before present when the first boreal tree species were established. Fire occurred recurrently during the following 5000 years with a forest landscape composed of the principal tree species common to the boreal forest, including jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.). Fire activity ceased more or less abruptly about 4500 years ago due to less fire-conducive, more humid conditions. Then, the forest landscape progressively changed towards a larger representation of white birch – balsam fir forests and the disappearance of jack pine. Whereas several balsam fir stands have not burned over the last 4500 years, scattered fires occurred in particular over the last 250 years when 1815 and 1878 fires, probably man-made, burned 50% of the forest, thus causing a major change in the composition of the forest landscape. It is concluded that the high-altitude forest landscape of southern Quebec changed profoundly over the Holocene in close association with a time-transgressive dry-to-wet climatic gradient.

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