The world's forests and forestry sector are facing unprecedented biological, political, social, and climatic challenges. The development of appropriate, novel forest management and restoration approaches that adequately consider uncertainty and adaptability are hampered by a continuing focus on production of a few goods or objectives, strong control of forest structure and composition, and most importantly the absence of a global scientific framework and long-term vision. Ecosystem-based approaches represent a step in the right direction, but are limited in their ability to deal with the rapid pace of social, climatic, and environmental changes. We argue here that viewing forest ecosystems as complex adaptive system provides a better alternative for both production-and conservation-oriented forests and forestry. We propose a set of broad principles and changes to increase the adaptive capacity of forests in the face of future uncertainties. These span from expanding the sustainedyield, single-good paradigm to developing policy incentives and interventions that promote self-organization and integrated social-ecological adaptation.

Dispersal distances determine the scales over which many population processes occur. Knowledge of these distances may therefore be crucial in determining the appropriate spatial scales for research and management. However, dispersal distances are difficult to measure, especially for vagile organisms like songbirds. For these species, the use of traditional mark–recapture and radio‐telemetry methods is problematic. We used positive one‐year time‐lagged correlations in abundance to estimate natal dispersal distances. Using the North American Breeding Bird Survey database, we examined one‐year time‐lagged correlations between pairs of North American songbird samples separated by 10–100 km. We submit that consistent positive one‐year time‐lagged correlations reflect the exchange of individuals through dispersal. We found positive one‐year time‐lagged correlations between pairs of samples from 25 different songbird species. The median distances of these correlations ranged from 15 to 95 km, depending on the species. These distances were positively correlated with body size and wing length. Dispersal appears to be the most parsimonious explanation for the time‐lagged correlations we observed in these species. The putative dispersal distances we measured are generally an order of magnitude longer than those reported in the literature.

Source-sink dynamics are commonly thought to occur among Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) and other songbird populations, allowing for the persistence of populations with negative growth rates ("sinks") through immigration from populations with positive growth rates ("sources"). Knowledge of source-sink dynamics is important for management and conservation because the removal of source habitat should result in the extinction of dependent sinks. However, since research has focused on identifying individual sources/sink populations, not source-sink pairs, we cannot predict these effects or the scale over which they occur. We posit that, when dispersal occurs from a source to a sink year after year, there will be a one-year time-lagged correlation in abundance between the two populations. This should occur for populations separated by distances over which juveniles disperse. Using the North American Breeding Bird Survey data, we tested for such time-lagged correlations between paired Wood Thrush populations from 10 to 200 km apart. Populations were linked with a one-year time lag over distances from 60 to 80 km, indicating that dispersal and source-sink dynamics may occur over these long distances. There was also a declining trend in forest cover from sources to sinks. Conservation and management strategies should therefore be designed at large scales, with consideration for source-sink dynamics and forest cover.

The TRIAD approach to forest management involves dividing the forest into 3 zones, each with its own management objectives, but with the overall goal of increasing the ecological and economic sustainability of the forest. For the past 5 years, we have been experimenting with TRIAD zoning in central Quebec, incorporating social interests into the original concept of TRIAD management. Results generally indicate that this approach is economically viable, socially acceptable, and preferable ecologically in this area. Although much remains to be done, thus far the consensus among the various project participants is that this approach may be a good fit for the public forest of Canada.Key words: TRIAD, functional zoning, sustainable forest management, ecosystem management, natural disturbance based management, intensive forestry, mixed plantations, partial cuts, eco-efficiency, conservation, new forestry, green accounting RÉSUMÉDans le cadre d'un aménagement forestier TRIADE, la forêt est divisée en trois zones ayant chacune ses propres objectifs d'aménagement. L' objectif global est cependant toujours l'atteinte d'une gestion durable au niveau écologique et économique. Depuis 5 ans, nous expérimentons avec le concept de zonage TRIADE au centre du Québec, incorporant les intérêts sociaux dans le concept original de la TRIADE. Nos résultats indiquent que cette approche est viable au niveau économique, acceptable au niveau social et préférable au niveau écologique. Il nous reste beaucoup à faire, mais le consensus général des nombreux participants est que cette approche pourrait nous aider à mieux gérer les forêts publiques du Canada.

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