scholarly journals Projections of future forest age class structure under the influence of fire and harvesting: implications for forest management in the boreal forest of eastern Canada

2017 ◽  
Vol 90 (4) ◽  
pp. 485-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yves Bergeron ◽  
Dinesh Babu Irulappa Pillai Vijayakumar ◽  
Hakim Ouzennou ◽  
Frédéric Raulier ◽  
Alain Leduc ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Class Structure ◽  
Forest Age ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Age Class

Forest age class structures as indicators of sustainability in boreal forest: Are we measuring them correctly?

2012 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 202-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérome Garet ◽  
Frédéric Raulier ◽  
David Pothier ◽  
Steve G. Cumming
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Forest Age ◽  
Age Class

Using salvage logging and tolerance to risk to reduce the impact of forest fires on timber supply calculations

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 480-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Leduc ◽  
P.Y. Bernier ◽  
N. Mansuy ◽  
F. Raulier ◽  
S. Gauthier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Timber Harvest ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Class Structure ◽  
Forest Age ◽  
Timber Supply ◽  
Salvage Logging ◽  
Age Class ◽  
Burn Rate ◽  
The Impact

It is acknowledged that natural forest fires cannot and even should not be eliminated from the North American boreal forest. Forest fires produce immediate losses of wood volume, disrupt the conversion of the actual forest age structure into a target structure, and prevent planned timber supply (PTS) levels from being achieved. In this paper, we explore the extent to which periodic shortfalls in available timber under various burn rates can be mitigated through salvage logging and the tolerance of forest managers to a given level of shortfall, both as a function of forest age class structure. Simulations are done using both a deterministic and a stochastic representation of burn rate over time. Results show that the frequency of shortfall events can be reduced by salvage logging and by the introduction of measures that generate a tolerance to shortfall and that this mitigation potential is influenced by initial forest age class structure and burn rate. Results also show that even a 100% rate of salvage logging cannot fully compensate for timber losses to fire and eliminate fire-induced timber shortfalls. Furthermore, interannual burn rate variability reduces the efficiency of both mitigation measures. As the PTS is never realized under fire risk, the real cost of opting for different PTS scenarios should be estimated not from the difference in PTS but rather from the more realistic difference in realized timber harvest.

Consequences of various landscape-scale ecosystem management strategies and fire cycles on age-class structure and harvest in boreal forests

2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 310-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Fall ◽  
Marie-Josée Fortin ◽  
Daniel D Kneeshaw ◽  
Stephen H Yamasaki ◽  
Christian Messier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Ecosystem Management ◽  
Scale Effects ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Landscape Scale ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Class Structure ◽  
Fire Cycle ◽  
Class Distribution ◽  
Age Class

At the landscape scale, one of the key indicators of sustainable forest management is the age-class distribution of stands, since it provides a coarse synopsis of habitat potential, structural complexity, and stand volume, and it is directly modified by timber extraction and wildfire. To explore the consequences of several landscape-scale boreal forest management strategies on age-class structure in the Mauricie region of Quebec, we used spatially explicit simulation modelling. Our study investigated three different harvesting strategies (the one currently practiced and two different strategies to maintain late seral stands) and interactions between fire and harvesting on stand age-class distribution. We found that the legacy of initial forested age structure and its spatial configuration can pose short- (<50 years) to medium-term (150–300 years) challenges to balancing wood supply and ecological objectives. Also, ongoing disturbance by fire, even at relatively long cycles in relation to historic levels, can further constrain the achievement of both timber and biodiversity goals. For example, when fire was combined with management, harvest shortfalls occurred in all scenarios with a fire cycle of 100 years and most scenarios with a fire cycle of 150 years. Even a fire cycle of 500 years led to a reduction in older forest when its maintenance was not a primary constraint. Our results highlight the need to consider the broad-scale effects of natural disturbance when developing ecosystem management policies and the importance of prioritizing objectives when planning for multiple resource use.

A stochastic characterisation of the natural disturbance regime of the boreal mixedwood forest with implications for sustainable forest management

1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 424-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glen W Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Monte Carlo ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Natural Disturbance ◽  
Class Structure ◽  
Distribution Models ◽  
Age Class ◽  
Boreal Mixedwood Forest ◽  
Random Draw ◽  
Negative Exponential ◽  
Burn Rate

The annual area burned on an 8.6 × 106 ha study area in the boreal mixedwood forest of northeastern Alberta, Canada, was characterised as a serially independent random draw from a lognormal distribution. This characterisation was applied in Monte Carlo simulations, which showed that estimates of the mean annual burn rates, even with long sample periods, are highly imprecise. Monte Carlo simulation was also used to simulate the development of a forest subject to lognormally distributed annual burn rate in an attempt to characterise the equilibrium age-class structure. No equilibrium age-class structure could be identified from the simulation results. The validity of equilibrium age-class distribution models (e.g., the negative exponential and Weibull) and analysis that relies on these models is questioned for forests where the annual burn rate is highly variable.

scholarly journals Emulating boreal forest disturbance dynamics: Can we maintain timber supply, aboriginal land use, and woodland caribou habitat?

2013 ◽  
Vol 89 (01) ◽  
pp. 54-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Narayan Dhital ◽  
Frédéric Raulier ◽  
Hugo Asselin ◽  
Louis Imbeau ◽  
Osvaldo Valeria ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Age Structure ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Natural Disturbance ◽  
Forest Age ◽  
Woodland Caribou ◽  
Timber Supply ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Potential Interest ◽  
Forest Age Structure

The effects on timber supply incurred by implementing an ecosystem-based management strategy were evaluated in an eastern Canadian boreal forest management unit. Standard linear programming was used to test the effects of four key policy issues: (1) aim for a targeted forest age structure inspired by natural fire regime and forest dynamics (multi-cohort approach), (2) agglomerate harvest blocks in operating areas to reproduce natural disturbance patterns at the landscape scale, (3) maintain cumulated clearcutting and natural disturbance rates inside the historical range of variability, and (4) exclude from harvest areas of potential interest to aboriginal people. The targeted forest age structure was achieved with a minimum reduction of periodic timber supply, but only after 50 years. Compared to a “business-as-usual” scenario, inclusion of the first three policy issues resulted in a 3% to 11% reduction in planned timber supply and a restoration period requiring that 43% to 67% of the productive area be excluded from clearcutting activities for the next 50 years. Such results require that partial cutting not be confined to operating areas eligible for clearcutting. Further exclusion of forest areas of potential interest to aboriginal people resulted in an additional 4% to 10% decrease in planned timber supply. Validation of the coarse filters used in this study (first three policy issues) was done using habitat requirements of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou). Almost all scenarios induced a disturbance rate likely to allow a self-sustaining woodland caribou population within 25 years.

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

2012 ◽  
Vol 88 (03) ◽  
pp. 298-305 ◽  
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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