0956-C1
S.H. Yamasaki[1], A.D. Munson, D.D. Kneeshaw, M. Darveau, J. Girard, L. Bélanger, L. Bouthillier, F. Dorion, P. Drapeau, A. Fall, M.-J. Fortin, A. Leduc, C. Messier, A. Plamondon and J.-C. Ruel
For the past three years, two Sustainable Forestry Management projects have been undertaken in the Mauricie region of central Quebec, in collaboration with Abitibi-Consolidated (ACI) and the Ministère des Resources naturelles du Québec (MRNQ). The C&I Mauricie (CIM) project is developing local-level indicators, as well as associated baselines and thresholds, for biodiversity, forest productivity, soils, water quality and multiple resource use. Meanwhile, the Quebec Integration Project (QIP) is developing the tools necessary to facilitate decision-making in the context of public participation for sustainable forest management, among them a landscape-level model of forest dynamics. A stakeholder focus group, with participants from the CIM and QIP projects, will adopt a set of criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management and study the projected outcome of various management scenarios in terms of these indicators. The goal of the industry partner, ACI, was to develop and integrate the knowledge necessary for their Sustainable Forest Management system. They are providing data on forest cover and other attributes, as well as an understanding of the management planning and implementation constraints for the region. The goal of the collaboration is to develop an operational system of sustainable and adaptive forest management that can respond to multiple stakeholder values and allow decision-making over long time-horizons at the landscape scale.
As initiatives for sustainable forest management develop, the need to translate research results into concrete objectives for management grows. Researchers, forestry practitioners, and other stakeholders must collaborate to determine appropriate targets and identify the indicators that will inform on the achievement of goals. This paper presents the work of two research groups funded by the Sustainable Forest Management Network and their partners, Abitibi-Consolidated (ACI) and the Ministère des Resources naturelles du Quebec (MRNQ). The groups are working in the Mauricie Region of central Quebec, specifically in the 43-02 Forest Management Area (FMA). Guided by the six criteria of the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers (CCFM), ACI identified their needs at the onset of their ISO 14001 and Sustainable Forest Management initiatives. The two research groups, the Quebec Integration Project (QIP) group and the C&I Mauricie (CIM) group have undertaken complementary work. The QIP group is developing tools to facilitate public participation, among them a facilitated public participation process and a landscape model (Yamasaki et al. 2001). Meanwhile, the CIM group is developing and validating indicators of SFM. The objectives were to assess the alteration of the 43-02 FMA by comparing previous and current states of the FMA, and to identify and test local-level indicators that would be pertinent in the context of ISO-14001 certification.
Using historical and current data, the CIM project assessed the state of the forest and pertinent management issues. Team members worked on local indicators under each of the six criteria defined by the CCFM (2000). Based on the outcome of a public participation process currently underway, we are revising and refining the indicators and management objectives. The next major step will be to simulate the implementation of forestry practices using these indicators and objectives as guidelines.
Indicators of Biodiversity
Timber harvesting may affect biodiversity through changes in the structure, composition, and spatial distribution of stands of different ages. An indicator of the diversity of forest ecosystems using age and composition of the natural forest is currently being developed. Archive maps and forest inventories have been analyzed to determine the historical range of natural variability of forest composition in our study area. Results show that the study area had a highly variable proportion of burned (0-80%) and mature (26-76%) forested area. This suggests that the area of unharvested forest maintained within harvested forest blocks should be variable.
We reviewed the wildlife species present in the study area using data from federal and provincial ministries responsible for wildlife planning, non-profit wildlife organizations, and forest companies (Hétu et al. 2002). The current data for wildlife are insufficient to select representative wildlife indicators or to propose a list of species at risk. The only usable information concerns bird communities: the Quebec Breeding Bird Atlas documented the presence of 115 bird species, including the threatened or vulnerable red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) and Bicknell's thrush (Catharus bicknelli).
Habitat indicators (for moose, marten, cavity nesters) using species’ home range and dispersal abilities have also been developed for use within SELES-Mauricie (e.g., Fig. 3) (Farley et al. 2002). Results are discussed below.
Indicators of ecosystem productivity
Some provinces have adopted regeneration standards to ensure the renewal of productive stands; however, their scientific basis has been questioned. The relationship assumed between stocking and yield is not necessarily linear and can vary with species. The validity of standards used may affect the evolution of stand composition and yield but this effect will likely be seen only in the long term. The dynamics of juvenile (<40 years) stands in the 43-02 FMA have been studied, by comparing pre-harvest vs. 38-year post harvest vegetation composition. Results show that is it difficult to predict how vegetation will return after cutting in most forest types (Dubois et al. 2002). As well, the coefficient of distribution of seedlings in 10-yr-old stands was a poor predictor of basal area at age 40.
Indicators of soil and water conservation
The indicator of soil productivity developed by Paré and Munson (2000) is being refined and validated in order to help managers assess the impacts of whole-tree and stem-only harvesting. Data has been collected in forest stands of the 43-02 FMA, over a range of stand and soil types that were harvested using these two methods. A soil indicator, based on the work of Paré and Munson (2000) has been implemented and is currently operational within SELES (Spatially Explicit Landscape Event Simulator, see below). A predictive modelling exercise using PROFILE is also in progress to project impacts of harvest method over one or several rotations.
One of the major impacts of forest harvesting on water regimes is the effect on peak flow. Clearcutting a watershed increases peak flow because it decreases rainfall interception and transpiration; increases soil moisture storage, snow accumulation and melt rate; and reduces infiltration rates on road surfaces, skid trails and landings (Plamondon et al. 1998). Watersheds disturbed over 25 years ago in the Mauricie region were re-visited and water courses re-sampled for quality, to understand recovery of water regimes with the development of forest cover after harvest (undergraduate student M. Seto).
Indicators of global ecological cycles
Work is being carried out on the effects of disturbance regime on carbon budgets for the Abitibi and Mauricie regions. Data is being collected from the two regions and the CENTURY model is being adapted to predict and compare the effect of three different disturbance regimes on carbon sequestration in black spruce forests: natural disturbance, ‘business as usual’, and ecosystem management.
Indicators of multiple benefits
Non-timber values such as game hunting and wildlife viewing are important for the local economy. Reconciling these activities with timber harvesting is a major challenge for forest management. As for wildlife diversity indicators, we have researched historical information on game harvesting (Hétu et al. 2002). Based on data from the Société de la Faune et des Parcs du Québec, we observed that in the 43-02 FMA, the annual official harvest of moose has remained around 80 animals over the last 30 years. Moose harvest data, combined with hunting-effort data, provide a functional indicator for this non-timber value.
Societal responsibility
The group is using a modified green accounting system (Beaulieu, 2002) to inform stakeholders of the impacts of management on timber and non-timber values. Questions about the effectiveness of this system as a tool to enhance public involvement are the focus of a second project. The potential of integrating indigenous values into this environmental accounting system is also being pursued.
A number of planning indicators have already been developed and an evaluation of the public participation processes carried out, and these are being used as a baseline for further development of this project (Kneeshaw et al 2000, Yamasaki et al. 2001, Coté and Bouthillier 2002). Different management options are being investigated, and their potential impacts on forest values are being identified through spatially explicit landscape modelling. From the experience gained in public participation and landscape modelling of natural and anthropogenic processes, changes to forest management practices and policy are being formulated.
Public participation
Both certification processes and pending Quebec government guidelines require public participation for decision-making in matters of forest management. A group of stakeholders is being assembled in the Mauricie region to discuss aspects of the forest that are valued and to weigh the pros and cons of various management scenarios. Stakeholders should include members from the community, First Nations, outfitters, ENGO’s, provincial government, scientists, and industry. Output from the landscape model will be presented to the stakeholders in terms of resource accounts, as well as with a GIS visualization tool. The process will be studied and guidelines for public participation processes will be proposed.
Landscape model
In order to model interactions among previous landscape states and natural and anthropogenic processes, the SELES-Mauricie landscape model has been developed (Fig. 1). The model uses the SELES landscape modelling environment (Fall and Fall 2001, Fall et al. 2001). The landscape model uses rasterized GIS data at a resolution of 0.25 ha covering an area of approximately 350 000 ha. The input GIS data, made available by the Quebec government and ACI-Mauricie, provides information on forest cover (age class, and species), soil type (parent material and drainage), roads, and water bodies. Sub-models for succession, road building, wood volume, fire, and harvesting have been developed.
Fig. 1. Model structure in SELES.
The simulation engine of SELES processes sub-models and intital states (as GIS rasters) to produce the consequent states. In the following time step, the previous time step’s condition is used as the initial conditions, allowing for dynamic modelling and feed-backs.
The SELES-Mauricie model will evaluate SFM indicators over time. Currently we have implemented biodiversity and soil indicators. Scenarios developed to date include the annual fixed area, the Burton et al. (1999) extended rotation, the Bergeron et al. (1999) cohort approach, and a reduced harvest approach. Scenarios are also being prepared for the TRIAD (extensive, intensive, and conservation zones) and the Quebec government’s proposed two-pass system. In all these scenarios we test whether annual allowable cut and biodiversity and soil indicators can me maintained over time. All scenarios were run with and without the presence of wildfires.
Results to date
Currently in Quebec and in many other jurisdictions, fire is not considered when calculating allowable cut. Results indicate that harvesting the theoretical maximum area (1% per year for rotation periods of 100 years) leads to shortages when fire is added to the equation. Among the scenarios tested, only those running at area-based harvest rates of 0.65% per year maintained old forests and constant harvest levels (Didion et al. 2002) (Fig. 2). Habitat modelling for mature and old forest species has demonstrated that the current level of harvest leads to reduced habitat availability (Fig. 3), as well as a fragmentation of the remaining habitat (Farley 2002; Farley et al. 2002). Results also indicate that scale is crucial in determining the effect of a given management strategy on the state of future forest landscapes. Preliminary results from the TRIAD scenarios suggest that zoning the landscape into conservation (12%), extensively managed (67%), and intensively managed (20%) areas can maintain the 1% harvest rate while maintaining mature and old forests throughout the landscape. Results also indicate that the intensified zones, because of the shorter rotation periods, are less affected by fire than the conservation or extensive zones (Fig. 4). From work to date, it is becoming clear that landscape management legacies, legacies that could not have been foreseen given the exclusive use of aspatial forest management tools in the province, impose considerable constraints on the set of viable alternatives available to forest managers.
Fig. 2. Age class distribution of the simulated forest under 1% and 0.65% annual harvest rates, in the presence of fire (from Didion et al. 2002).
Fig. 3. The availability of potential habitat for the southern Red-backed vole, as modelled in the landscape model over the 500 year simulation time-horizon, according to 3 harvest rates: no harvest, 1% harvested and 0.65% harvested annually (Farley, 2002).
Fig. 4. Age class distribution of the forest under the TRIAD scenario over the 500 year simulation time-horizon, in the extensive zones (left) and intensive zones (right), without (above) and with (below) fire.
without fire
extensive
intensive
with fire
extensive
intensive
Next steps
Many questions remain to be answered. For example, in the context of the TRIAD, what percentage of area should be attributed to each zone (conservation and extensive and intensive management)? Where should the zones be located? What level of resource-use will maintain socially acceptable forest landscapes for the future? Indicators will continue to be integrated into model and improved upon in order to begin answer such questions. We will be studying the way in which stakeholders assimilate information from various visualization tools. A project is also being developed to evaluate the potential impact of disturbances on soil chemistry and water quality at the landscape level.
Within the vision of forest management set out by certifying agencies and the provincial government, ACI seeks to fulfill its commitments to SFM while remaining competitive. ACI is seeking to develop an operational approach to sustainable forest management and a process for continuous improvement that will drive evolution and efficiency. Tools for the attainment of these new objectives must be science-based, fiscally viable, relatively simple to apply, and acceptable to the communities that share a common interest in the areas where we operate.
Collaboration with the SFMN projects assists ACI in many different ways. With fundamental knowledge on ecosystem process transmitted through partner presentations, extension documents, and exchanges with researchers, ACI has been able to integrate the available knowledge in the development of their Sustainable Forest Management system. Management plans are being modified to ensure the maintenance of a wide variety of forest values for future generations. Through the development of indicators and monitoring protocols adapted to the operational reality of the FMA, adaptive management is being established. Also, by being involved in the public participation process undertaken by the projects, ACI may develop a better understanding of key forest attributes and priorities among stakeholders.
It has become clear that many tools still need to be developed and refined in order to facilitate decision-making for SFM. The social and operational realities must be part of research in order to find solutions; collaboration among the partners has been a crucial part of this process. Through this collaboration, researchers have incorporated social and operational constraints into their work. ACI has also helped to identify knowledge gaps and urgent research needs. Research work and the public participation process should lead to directions that will help shape the management plan to be implemented as of 2005. Meanwhile, the real measure of success for SFM will be in the evolution and implementation of practices and policies that lead to sustainability.
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| [1] Département des
Sciences biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal,
P.O. Box 8888, Station Centre-Ville, Montréal, Québec H3C
3P8, Canada. Tel: (514) 987-3000, ext. 2357; Email: [email protected] |