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Type: Journal Article
Author(s): Andrew Fall; Marie Josee Fortin; Daniel D. Kneeshaw; S. H. Yamasaki; Christian Messier; L. Bouthillier; Clint R. Smyth
Publication Date: 2004

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.

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Citation: Fall, A.; Fortin, M. J.; Kneeshaw, Daniel D.; Yamasaki, S. H.; Messier, Christian; Bouthillier, L; Smyth, Clint R. 2004. Consequences of various landscape-scale ecosystem management strategies and fire cycles on age-class structure and harvest in boreal forests. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 34(2):310-322.

Cataloging Information

Topics:
Economics    Fire Behavior    Fire Ecology    Fire Effects    Fire History    Fire Occurrence    Fuels    Mapping    Models    Weather
Regions:
Keywords:
  • Abies balsamea
  • age classes
  • Betula papyrifera
  • biodiversity
  • boreal forest
  • Canada
  • distribution
  • disturbance
  • economic analysis
  • ecosystem dynamics
  • fire
  • fire frequency
  • fire intensity
  • fire management
  • fire models
  • fire size
  • fire weather
  • forest management
  • GIS - geographic information system
  • logging
  • logging
  • mortality
  • Picea mariana
  • population density
  • Populus tremuloides
  • Quebec
  • soil moisture
  • stand structure
  • wildfires
  • windthrow
Tall Timbers Record Number: 15973Location Status: In-fileCall Number: Journals-CAbstract Status: Okay, Fair use, Reproduced by permission
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 3982

This bibliographic record was either created or modified by Tall Timbers and is provided without charge to promote research and education in Fire Ecology. The E.V. Komarek Fire Ecology Database is the intellectual property of Tall Timbers.