Canada's Forest Inventory 2001 - Publications du gouvernement du ...

3.10 Volume
Volume information in CanFI2001 is generally derived from volume tables developed from field samples
for provincial forest management inventories. It is stored as cubic metres per hectare for each of 87
species. The number of species is so large because different species grow in different parts of Canada,
and because source inventories vary in the detail to which their volume tables were created: some include
what might be considered minor species, and some group species (e.g., maple, instead of red maple or
sugar maple). In order to maintain as much detail as possible, CanFI2001 does not aggregate species to
the lowest common denominator.
Table 15 lists volumes for species, grouped for the purpose of this report, in cubic metres, rather than
in the millions of cubic metres usually used, in order to show contributions of minor species to the total.
Spruces make up more than one-third (10 billion m 3 ) of the more than 29 billion m 3 of total wood volume
in Canada. Pines and the poplar/aspen group contribute 5 billion m 3 and 4 billion m 3 , respectively. Figure
34 shows percentage by volume of grouped species. Unlike Figure 32, which shows percentage based on
area and species is the one listed first in a forest stand description, Figure 34 is based on volume tables.
Because volume tables are developed from field samples, volumes are rarely calculated for unspecified
conifers: thus, Figure 34 does not list unspecified conifers as the highest percentage.
Figure 35 maps genera with the most volume in each mapping unit. A mapping unit may have
the most volume represented by firs, but the majority of the total volume in the mapping unit may be
represented by broadleaved genera. In Figure 35, this mapping unit would be classed as fir, whereas, when
figures 37 and 38 are compared, the mapping unit may indicate more broadleaved volume than coniferous
volume. The larch, cedar and other conifer species group is shown to be predominant in northern Quebec,
because volume information from areas with similar characteristics was extrapolated to areas for which
original data sources lacked volume information.
Figure 36 shows total wood volume in Canada. The highest volume is found in coastal British
Columbia, with the rest of the province also having high volumes. Ontario is the province with the second
highest volumes per mapping unit.
Figure 37 maps coniferous volume. British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Alberta have high
concentrations of coniferous volumes. The map of broadleaved volume (Figure 38) indicates that southern
Ontario, the southern edge of forest in Saskatchewan, and the region from central Alberta to northeastern
British Columbia have higher concentrations of broadleaved volumes than other areas of the country.
Percent
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Spruces
Pines
Poplar
Firs
Hemlocks
Birches
34
Cedars
Douglas-fir
Figure 34. Volume percent by species, grouped by genus
Maples
Softwood
Hardwood
Larches
All others