Conference Proceedings - Sustainable Forest Management Network ...

1.4 Canadian boreal forest biodiversity
research: A synthesis and gap analysis
Carolyn Whittaker, BorNet Coordinator
Authors: John Innes and Carolyn Whittaker, BorNet Canada,
University of British Columbia, Canada
ABSTRACT: The BorNet Canada project was initiated with a grant from the Sustainable Forest Management
Network in 2001. The objective was to assess the current context for boreal biodiversity research
across Canada and identify gaps in our knowledge. Another task for BorNet Canada was to develop an
international network of boreal researchers, resource managers and NGOs focused on biodiversity conservation.
Compiling information from across Canada has been challenging. We have developed an annotated
bibliography and draft synthesis paper based on peer-reviewed publications and regional workshops. Proceedings
from regional workshops include summaries of discussions; these are available from the BorNet
website or the Sustainable Forest Management Network at the University of Alberta. These regional workshops
have led us to conclude that there are knowledge gaps in habitat requirements of individual species
and taxa, as well as gaps in our understanding of habitat requirements over different spatial scales.
Within the regional workshops, many of our discussions revolved around selecting indicator species and
focusing on habitat specialists. Literature illustrates that habitat specialists are not necessarily negatively
impacted by forestry; some open-habitat bird and mammal species benefit from early post-harvest habitat.
To develop indicator species sensitive to loss of habitat, it would be most useful to identify the types of
habitats that are being lost or converted and then focus on the species associated with those habitats.
Indicator species must indicate changes in the quality of the habitat, and those species selected should be
sensitive to forest harvesting.
Discussions in Canada revealed that we often do not test the assumptions made in assessing biodiversity
impacts. Results of many studies on individual species have limited applicability due to regional, biological
and ecological variation in habitat needs. The assessment of the
biodiversity implications of forest management need to be assessed
across a range of spatio-temporal scales, but we must first test our
assumptions and combine information regarding generalists with
that regarding specialists. Small-scale studies, including those on
invertebrates, need to be balanced with large-scale studies of habitat.
Finally, we must be aware of the confounding aspect of the
temporal scale, as trends in recent years must be placed within the
continuum of large timeframes with an emphasis on the rate of
change. The spatial scale of conversion may not be as significant
as the rate at which the boreal is being harvested. Although there
have been few documented species extinctions due to forest harvesting,
it is important to remember that we may be building an
“extinction debt” in the boreal. We have not adequately assessed
how the current rate of access and conversion of intact forest to
managed forest may affect species extinctions in the future.
WHITTAKER: KEY MESSAGES
• We must identify the habitat types at
risk from forest harvesting and then
identify indicator species that are
dependent on these habitat types
and sensitive to change.
• We must assess our current forestry
practices in the boreal within the
context of the potential extinction
debt we are incurring.
• We must be prepared to test the
many assumptions that we have
about biodiversity in boreal forests.
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS • BorNet International • Uppsala, Sweden • May 27 – 28, 2002 13