Thinking and acting differently for sustainable management of the boreal forest

Sustainable forest management has replaced sustained yield as the new management strategy for most countries and forest companies. This concept has generated a lot of interest and discussion, and a great deal of effort is being made to modify current forestry practices to be sustainable. In this paper, we argue that the still somewhat vague concept of sustainable forest management calls for a substantial modification in our way of thinking about and practicing forestry. To move toward that goal, we recognize important social and economic challenges to sustainable management and suggest nine essential notions: 1) manage the forest ecosystem as a whole and not in parts nor only for the crop species; 2) conserve a significant proportion of the boreal forest (i.e., at least 12%); 3) practice intensive forestry on a small portion of the land to recover the fibre lost from notions 1 and 2; 4) strive for innovation in thinking and acting; 5) foster research and development to support notion 4; 6) balance regional needs with that of the global community; 7) encourage public participation; 8) consider the impact of substantial change in climate over the next 100 years (or next rotation); and 9) substitute regulations that are adaptive for those that are restrictive. An example of the kind of silviculture that could be used in ecosystem management for the black spruce forest is also discussed.

[1]  Y. Bergeron,et al.  CANOPY GAP CHARACTERISTICS AND TREE REPLACEMENT IN THE SOUTHEASTERN BOREAL FOREST , 1998 .

[2]  F. Woodward.  Ecophysiological Controls of Conifer Distributions , 1995 .

[3]  Herman H. Shugart,et al.  A Systems Analysis of the Global Boreal Forest: Contents , 1992 .

[4]  E. Miller.  Boreal Forests and Global Change , 1997 .

[5]  R. K. Dixon,et al.  Sequestering Carbon in Natural Forests , 1997, Economics of Carbon Sequestration in Forestry.

[6]  J. Rowe,et al.  Forest regions of Canada. , 1972 .

[7]  H. Shugart.  A Theory of Forest Dynamics , 1984 .

[8]  D. F. Berg,et al.  Alternative silviclutural approaches to timber harvesting : variable retention harvest systems , 1997 .

[9]  S. Payette,et al.  A Systems Analysis of the Global Boreal Forest: Fire as a controlling process in the North American boreal forest , 1992 .

[10]  C. Messier,et al.  Silviculture adapted for intolerant deciduous stands on mixedwood sites of the south-eastern boreal forest , 1998 .

[11]  C. Messier,et al.  Development of integrated ecological standards of sustainable forest management at an operational scale , 2000 .

[12]  Victor J. Lieffers,et al.  Semi-natural and intensive silvicultural systems for the boreal mixedwood forest , 1996 .

[13]  D. Greene,et al.  A review of the regeneration dynamics of North American boreal forest tree species , 1999 .

[14]  P. Richard,et al.  Variability in Fire Frequency and Forest Composition in Canada'sSoutheastern Boreal Forest: A Challenge for Sustainable ForestManagement , 1998 .

[15]  Wade K. Smith,et al.  The Ecophysiology of Coniferous Forests , 1995 .

[16]  Pekka E. Kauppi,et al.  Biomass and Carbon Budget of European Forests, 1971 to 1990 , 1992, Science.

[17]  J. Hagan,et al.  COARSE WOODY DEBRIS , 1999 .

[18]  Paul A. Keddy,et al.  Ecological Properties for the Evaluation, Management, and Restoration of Temperate Deciduous Forest Ecosystems , 1996 .

[19]  Alain Leduc,et al.  FOREST DYNAMICS MODELLING UNDER NATURAL FIRE CYCLES : A TOOL TO DEFINE NATURAL MOSAIC DIVERSITY FOR FOREST MANAGEMENT , 2004 .

[20]  L. Gustafsson,et al.  Threat Levels and Threats to Red-Listed Species in Swedish Forests , 1995 .

[21]  Alain Leduc,et al.  Forest management guidelines based on natural disturbance dynamics: Stand- and forest-level considerations , 1999 .

[22]  F. Chapin,et al.  Sustainable Development of the Boreal Forest: Interaction of Ecological, Social, and Business Feedbacks , 1998 .

[23]  E. Johnson,et al.  Fire Frequency Models, Methods and Interpretations* , 1994 .

[24]  T. Erdle.  Progress toward sustainable forest management: insight from the New Brunswick experience , 1998 .

[25]  C. Slaughter,et al.  Ecological Considerations for the Sustainable Management of the North American Boreal Forests , 1997 .

[26]  Werner A. Kurz,et al.  Carbon budget implications of the transition from natural to manged disturbance regimes in forest landscapes , 1997 .

[27]  C. Oliver.  The future of the forest management industry: Highly mechanized plantations and reserves or a knowledge-intensive integrated approach? , 1999 .

[28]  Emery Roe,et al.  Why ecosystem management can't work without Social science: An example from the California northern spotted owl controversy , 1996, Environmental management.

[29]  H. Gholz.  Applications of Physiological Ecology to Forest Management , 1997 .

[30]  Harvey Alexander,et al.  Creating a forestry for the 21st century the science of ecosystem management , 1998 .

[31]  Conserving the boreal forest by shifting the emphasis of management action from vegetation to the atmosphere , 1995 .

[32]  Philip J. Burton,et al.  A gap-based approach for development of silvicultural systems to address ecosystem management objectives , 1997 .

[33]  Steward T. A. Pickett,et al.  Patch dynamics and the design of nature reserves , 1978 .

[34]  L. F. Riley,et al.  Criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management in Canada , 1995 .

[35]  S. Daniels,et al.  Collaborative learning: Improving public deliberation in ecosystem-based management , 1996 .

[36]  W. Kurz,et al.  Comprehensive assessment of carbon stocks and fluxes in a Boreal-Cordilleran forest management unit , 1997 .

[37]  P. Vitousek.  Beyond Global Warming: Ecology and Global Change , 1994 .

[38]  G. H. Brundtland.  World Commission on environment and development , 1985 .

[39]  C. Binkley.  Preserving nature through intensive plantation forestry: The case for forestland allocation with illustrations from British Columbia , 1997 .

[40]  D. Pollard.  A Forestry Perspective on the Carbon Dioxide Issue , 1985 .

[41]  P. Burton,et al.  Managing forest harvesting to maintain old growth in boreal and sub-boreal forests , 1999 .

[42]  D. Wilcove,et al.  Forest Island Dynamics in Man-Dominated Landscapes , 1981 .

[43]  S. Gower,et al.  Applications of physiological ecology to forest management , 1996 .

[44]  F. Bunnell,et al.  Ecosystem management: Implications and opportunities of a new paradigm , 1995 .

[45]  Werner A. Kurz,et al.  Estimation of root biomass and dynamics for the carbon budget model of the Canadian forest sector , 1996 .

[46]  D. L. Booth,et al.  Natural forest landscape management: A strategy for Canada , 1993 .

[47]  Eugene P. Odum,et al.  GREAT IDEAS IN ECOLOGY FOR THE 1990S , 1992 .

[48]  T. J. Carleton,et al.  Woody vegetation responses to fire versus clear-cutting logging: A comparative survey in the central Canadian boreal forest , 1994 .

[49]  R. Taylor,et al.  Optimization of Moose Harvest in Southwestern Quebec , 1981 .

[50]  G. Brundtland,et al.  Our common future , 1987 .

[51]  P. Burton,et al.  The value of managing for biodiversity , 1992 .

[52]  D. C. West,et al.  Long-term dynamics of forest ecosystems , 1981 .

[53]  W. Kurz,et al.  Carbon Budget Implications of the Transition from Natural to Managed Disturbance Regimes in Forest Landscapes , 1998 .

[54]  J. Franklin.  Scientists in WonderlandExperiences in development of forest policy , 1995 .

[55]  B. Harvey.  The Lake Duparquet Research and Teaching Forest: Building a foundation for ecosystem management , 1999 .

[56]  Christer Nilsson,et al.  Protected Areas in Sweden: Is Natural Variety Adequately Represented? , 1992 .

[57]  M. Harmon,et al.  Ecology of Coarse Woody Debris in Temperate Ecosystems , 1986 .

[58]  John E. Walsh,et al.  Recent Variations of Sea Ice and Air Temperature in High Latitudes , 1993 .

[59]  D. Sprugel,et al.  Disturbance, equilibrium, and environmental variability: What is ‘Natural’ vegetation in a changing environment? , 1991 .

[60]  T. Erdle,et al.  Balancing Act: Environmental Issues in Forestry , 1998 .

[61]  M. Hunter,et al.  MP716: New Forestry in Eastern Spruce-Fir Forests: Principles and Applications to Maine , 1992 .

[62]  J. Franklin.  Preserving Biodiversity: Species, Ecosystems, or Landscapes? , 1993, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[63]  T. Kuuluvainen.  Gap disturbance, ground microtopography, and the regeneration dynamics of boreal coniferous forests in Filand: a review , 1994 .

[64]  Philip J. Burton,et al.  Boreal mixedwood forests may have no representative areas : some implications for reserve design , 1996 .

[65]  Robert K. Wayne,et al.  The preservation of process: the missing element of conservation programs , 1993 .

[66]  Carl J. Walters,et al.  Large‐Scale Management Experiments and Learning by Doing , 1990 .

[67]  M. Nowak,et al.  Habitat destruction and the extinction debt , 1994, Nature.

[68]  J. Franklin,et al.  New Forestry Principles from Ecosystem Analysis of Pacific Northwest Forests. , 1992, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[69]  Yves Bergeron,et al.  Basing silviculture on natural ecosystem dynamics: an approach applied to the southern boreal mixedwood forest of Quebec , 1997 .

[70]  Werner A. Kurz,et al.  Carbon budget of the Canadian forest product sector , 1999 .

[71]  P. Attiwill.  The disturbance of forest ecosystems: the ecological basis for conservative management , 1994 .

[72]  W. Kurz,et al.  An analysis of future carbon budgets of Canadian boreal forests , 1995 .