Assessing forest management scenarios on an Aboriginal territory through simulation modeling

2015 ◽  
Vol 91 (04) ◽  
pp. 426-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo Asselin ◽  
Mario Larouche ◽  
Daniel Kneeshaw
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Age Structure ◽  
Road Network ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Scale Effects ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Network Density ◽  
Forest Age ◽  
Forest Age Structure

The dominant management strategy in boreal forests—aggregated clearcuts (AC)—faces increased criticism by various stakeholders, including Aboriginal people. Two alternative strategies have been proposed: dispersed clearcuts (DC) and ecosystem-based management (EM). We modelled the long-term and landscape-scale effects of AC, DC, and EM on a set of indicators of sustainable forest management relevant to an Aboriginal community's values: (1) forest age structure; (2) spatial configuration of forest stands; (3) road network density; and, (4) forest habitat loss to clearcuts. EM created a forest age structure closer to what would result from a natural disturbance regime, compared to AC and DC. Cut blocks were more evenly distributed with EM and DC. The road network density was lower and increased slower with EM, thus reducing the potential for conflicts between forest users. Under EM, a higher forest cover was maintained (and thus potential wildlife habitat) than in AC or DC. The EM scenario provided the best outcome based on the four measured indicators, partly because the constraints imposed on the modeling exercise led it to harvest less than the other scenarios. Annual allowable cut should thus be a key factor to consider to ensuring better compliance with Aboriginal criteria of sustainable forest management.

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.

Potential indicators of the impacts of forest management on wildlife habitat in northeastern Ontario: A multivariate application of wildlife habitat suitability matrices

2004 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay R Malcolm ◽  
Brian D Campbell ◽  
Ben G Kuttner ◽  
Alissa Sugar
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Habitat Suitability ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Forest Type ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Forest Monitoring ◽  
Forest Age ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Hardwood Species ◽  
Clearcut Logging

Protocols to select ecological indicators of sustainable forest management will benefit from a proactive approach that identifies species likely to be most seriously impacted by management. Here, we use an objective approach that couples forest resource inventory information from logged and unlogged landscapes in northeastern Ontario with information from the provincial vertebrate habitat suitability matrix to assess habitat suitability (the amount of used and preferred habitats) in the landscapes and to identify potential indicators of the impacts of forest management activities. Because they may be most representative of potential future logged landscapes in the region, we contrasted the oldest post-clearcut landscapes in the region (1950s and 1960s era, n = 27) with unlogged landscapes (n = 16). Each landscape was a 2-km radius circle (12.6 km2). In light of reported invasions of hardwood species into logged conifer sites, we considered two regeneration scenarios for very young post-harvest stands: full and partial regeneration control. Logged landscapes differed markedly from unlogged landscapes with respect to forest age and forest type. These differences resulted in strong distinctions between logged and unlogged forests for bird and mammal communities, but relatively weak separation for herpetofauna. Redundancy analysis indicated that the percent variation in habitat suitability attributable to logging was 27% for birds, 17–18% for mammals, and 8–12% for herpetofauna. More than 40% of bird and mammal species showed highly significant differences in habitat suitability between the two landscape types (P<0.01), with more species having higher suitability in unlogged than logged forests. This higher habitat suitability in unlogged forests was associated with a greater amount of older forests and a higher richness of forest types in unlogged compared to logged forests. The effect of the two regeneration scenarios was discernible for all communities, but had a relatively weak effect, with the possible exception of higher snowshoe hare (Lepus americana) densities under partial compared to full regeneration control. Various lines of evidence are presented suggesting that these differences between logged and unlogged landscapes may be maintained into the future unless actions are taken to ameliorate these effects of clearcut logging. The technique presented here may prove useful in forest monitoring and adaptive management planning because it is objective, can simultaneously consider a large number of forest taxa, focuses on real rather than projected landscapes, and outlines, in a succinct way, the main habitat-related gradients in habitat suitability matrices. Key words: wildlife habitat supply, clearcut logging, boreal forest, indicator species, forest age, forest regeneration, multivariate analysis

Dominance of a Rhizopogon sister species corresponds to forest age structure

Mycorrhiza ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie H. Van Dorp ◽  
Kevin J. Beiler ◽  
Daniel M. Durall
Keyword(s):  
Age Structure ◽  
Sister Species ◽  
Forest Age ◽  
Forest Age Structure

scholarly journals Personal and group forest values and perceptions of groups' forest values in northwestern Ontario

2006 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 512-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Lee ◽  
Shashi Kant
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Cognitive Mapping ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Management Planning ◽  
Forest Management Planning ◽  
Government Organizations ◽  
Northwestern Ontario ◽  
Forest Values

With the recent involvement of a greater diversity of groups working in forest management planning, the identification and understanding of people's forest values and their perceptions of one another's values may be a promising approach to sustainable forest management. This study identifies and analyzes the forest values and perceptions of the members of four groups, Aboriginal People, Environmental Non-Government Organizations (ENGOs), the forest industry, and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), in northwestern Ontario. Conceptual Content Cognitive Mapping (3CM) was used to identify people's forest values and perceptions and dominant forest value themes were created using hierarchical clustering. Inter-group and intra-group similarities and differences among the rankings of participants' forest values and their perceptions were determined through various non-parametric statistical tests. Participants' perceptions about each group were generally similar, which included the two most prominent themes to be similar across all participants' perceptions of each group. Although the perceptions for a particular group were similar across the participant groups, they differed substantially with that participant group's personal ranking of the forest value themes. Key words: forest values, perceptions, stakeholders, cognitive mapping, sustainable forest management, collaborative decision-making

Indigenous knowledge in sustainable forest management: Community-based approaches achieve greater success

2002 ◽  
Vol 78 (6) ◽  
pp. 833-836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah McGregor
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Positive Development ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Consultation Process ◽  
Forest Management Planning

Forests continue to play a critical part in the spiritual and cultural life of Aboriginal people. In turn, Aboriginal people are striving to revitalize their role in maintaining a healthy relationship with these ecosystems. In Canada, the past two centuries have seen Aboriginal people largely excluded from forest management activities. This has begun to gradually change due to ongoing Aboriginal efforts in the courts as well as to national and international recognition of the potential contribution of Indigenous Knowledge to sustainable forest management. Such change is bringing about new opportunities for the meaningful involvement of Aboriginal people and Indigenous Knowledge in sustainable forest management activities. The increasing participation of Aboriginal people in sustainable forest management is both called for and reflected in various forest policies, practices and programs in Canada. While this represents a positive development, the degree and type of Aboriginal involvement called for have thus far generally been unsatisfactory from an Aboriginal perspective. Interviews conducted with both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal participants in Ontario's new forest management planning process indicate that this recently developed process has nonetheless yielded some hopeful results in terms of Aboriginal involvement in certain instances. It was found that both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal interview respondents most often described the Aboriginal consultation process to be a success where control over the nature and methods of sharing of information was relinquished to the participating Aboriginal communities. Contexts and implications of these findings are briefly discussed. Key words: Traditional ecological knowledge, native values mapping, Aboriginal forestry, sustainable communities

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