Canadian Forest Service

About: Canadian Forest Service is a government organization based out in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Taiga. The organization has 794 authors who have published 1259 publications receiving 63889 citations. The organization is also known as: CFS.

Investment Attractiveness of Afforestation in Canada Inclusive of Carbon Sequestration Benefits

Abstract: Afforestation is one of several possible mechanisms available to sequester carbon and help reduce greenhouse gas concentrations We have developed a spatial Monte Carlo-based simulation model, Canadian Forest Service—Afforestation Feasibility Model (CFS-AFM) to help assess the financial attractiveness of afforestation as a means of carbon storage in Canada The model tracks five carbon pools and simulates costs and benefits of plantation investments In this paper we simulate three afforestation scenarios that could be used in Canada; plantations using hybrid poplar, hardwoods, and softwoods with average growth rates of 14 and 6–7 m3/ha/year, respectively The attractiveness of afforestation is driven by regional cost and plantation productivity variation and carbon price expectations The results indicate that afforestation would be an attractive investment in many areas of the country at carbon prices of $10 per metric ton of CO2 or higher However, with a zero carbon price, very little afforestation would be financially viable Thus, with low carbon price expectations, other co-benefits may be required to make afforestation more attractive to Canadian investors Le boisement constitue l'un des nombreux moyens qui permettent de capturer le dioxyde de carbone et de diminuer les concentrations de gaz a effet de serre (GES) Nous avons elabore un modele spatial de simulation fonde sur la methode de Monte Carlo, soit le modele de faisabilite du boisement—Service canadien des forets, afin d'evaluer l'attrait financier du boisement comme moyen de stockage du carbone au Canada Le modele analyse cinq bassins de carbone et calcule les couts et les avantages d'investir dans des plantations Dans la presente etude, nous avons elabore trois scenarios de boisement qui pourraient etre utilises au Canada: des plantations de peupliers hybrides, de feuillus, de resineux ayant des taux de croissance moyens respectifs de 14, 6 et 7 m3/ha/an L'attrait du boisement est gouverne par la variation du cout et de la productivite d'une plantation selon la region et par les prix attendus du carbone Les resultats ont montre que le boisement constituerait un investissement attrayant dans bien des regions du pays si le prix du CO2 avoisinait les 10 $ ou plus la tonne metrique Par contre, si le prix du carbone est nul, tres peu de boisements seraient financierement viables Par consequent, en raison des faibles prix attendus du carbone, il faudra obtenir des avantages accessoires pour rendre le boisement attrayant

Evaluation of carabid beetles as indicators of forest change in Canada

Abstract: Our objective was to assess the potential of carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) as effective bioindicators of the effects of forest management at a Canadian national scale. We present a comparison of carabid beetle assemblages reported from large-scale studies across Can- ada. Based on the initial response following disturbance treatment, we found that carabid assem- blages consistently responded to disturbance, but responses of individual species and changes in species composition were nested within the context of regional geography and finer scale differ- ences among forest ecosystems. We also explored the relationship between rare and dominant taxa and species characteristics as they relate to dispersal capacity and use of within-stand habitat features such as coarse woody debris. We found no relationship between life-history characteris- tics (such as body size, wing morphology, or reported associations with downed wood) and the relative abundance or frequency of occurrence of species. Our results suggest that carabids are better suited to finer scale evaluations of the effects of forest management than to regional or na- tional monitoring programs. We also discuss several knowledge gaps that currently limit the full potential of using carabids as bioindicators.

Landscape-Level Wolf Space Use is Correlated With Prey Abundance, Ease of Mobility and the Distribution of Prey Habitat

Abstract: Predator space use influences ecosystem dynamics, and a fundamental goal assumed for a foraging predator is to maximize encounter rate with prey. This can be achieved by disproportionately utilizing areas of high prey density or, where prey are mobile and therefore spatially unpredictable, utilizing patches of their prey's preferred resources. A third, potentially complementary strategy is to increase mobility by using linear features like roads and/or frozen waterways. Here, we used novel population-level predator utilization distributions (termed “localized density distributions”) in a single-predator (wolf), two-prey (moose and caribou) system to evaluate these space-use hypotheses. The study was conducted in contrasting sections of a large boreal forest area in northern Ontario, Canada, with a spatial gradient of human disturbances and predator and prey densities. Our results indicated that wolves consistently used forest stands preferred by moose, their main prey species in this part of Ontario. Direct use of prey-rich areas was also significant but restricted to where there was a high local density of moose, whereas use of linear features was pronounced where local moose density was lower. These behaviors suggest that wolf foraging decisions, while consistently influenced by spatially anchored patches of prey forage resources, were also determined by local ecological conditions, specifically prey density. Wolves appeared to utilize prey-rich areas when regional preferred prey density exceeded a threshold that made this profitable, whereas they disproportionately used linear features that promoted mobility when low prey density made directly tracking prey distribution unprofitable.

Retrospective assessment of carbon flows in Canadian boreal forests

Abstract: The Canadian boreal forest is comprised largely of even-aged stands that for millennia have undergone cycles of disturbance (i.e., fires or insect-induced stand mortality) and regrowth. Previous studies of regional-scale carbon (C) budgets have assumed that, when averaged over a large area, forests not directly affected by human disturbance or land-use change are in steady state with regard to their net C exchange with the atmosphere (e.g., Houghton et al. 1983; Houghton et al. 1987). Underlying this assumption is the notion that, integrated over a large area, C uptake in forests regrowing after disturbance is balanced by C release from disturbances. The area of Canadian forests affected by disturbances varies between years and decades (Kurz et al. 1995) and therefore the assumption of a zero net balance between C uptake and release can, at best, be correct for some long-term average. Recent interest in the global C balance and the role of terrestrial ecosystems focuses on year-to-year variation and the record of the past decades (Sarmiento et al. 1992; Chapter 10, Houghton; Chapter 3, Townsend et al. ). Analyses of forest C budgets that do not rely on a priori assumptions of steady-state conditions are thus required.