An indicator system to assess ecological integrity of managed forests

Rempel, Robert S.; Naylor, Brian J.; Elkie, Phil C.; Baker, Jim; Churcher, Joe; Gluck, M.

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2015.08.033

Cited by 34 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…No species were found exclusively in postfire or postharvest forests. Similarly, Rempel et al (2016) found that although several forest condition indicators, e.g., conifer/deciduous ratios or edge density, differed between naturally and anthropogenically disturbed sites, occupancy rates of most (11/14) species were similar between disturbance types.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Forestry research would benefit from quantification of how widely managed forests can diverge from natural habitats without severely compromising biodiversity and sustainability (Delong and Tanner 1996, Perry 1998, Drever et al 2006, Rempel et al 2016, with the objective of planning harvest to replicate natural disturbance events as closely as possible. Boreal forest inhabitants require a complex landscape matrix of diverse habitat features, including trees of various ages and structures as affirmed by our results.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Understanding the underlying reasons for differences between postharvest and postfire communities could help improve management techniques to more closely emulate natural disturbance (Rempel et al 2016). For instance, snag density is an important structural feature that differs between postharvest and postfire forests (Zimmerling, unpublished data).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies suggest that some bird species found in naturally disturbed forest stands are significantly less abundant in postharvest stands of similar types and ages, especially in the earliest successional stages but also several decades after harvest (e.g., Schulte and Niemi 1998, Hannon 1999, Imbeau et al 1999, Simon et al 2002. However, others find little difference for most species (e.g., Lemelin et al 2007, Börger and Nudds 2014, Rempel et al 2016. Lewis et al (2016) found that waterfowl were relatively unaffected even by natural disturbance in the boreal forest.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…If birds do differ between naturally and anthropogenically disturbed boreal habitats, identifying the species most affected and the time frame of these effects might reveal mitigation strategies to reduce overall impacts on avian communities (Rempel et al , 2016. The primary objective of our study was therefore to evaluate the extent to which harvest management practices have emulated natural fire disturbances from the perspective of bird communities and individual bird Avian Conservation and Ecology 12(2): 10 http://www.ace-eco.org/vol12/iss2/art10/ species across a large region of Ontario boreal forest.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How well does forestry in Ontario’s boreal forest emulate natural disturbances from the perspective of birds?

Zimmerling¹,

Francis²,

Roy³

et al. 2017

ACE

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ABSTRACT. Emulating natural disturbance has become a paradigm for biodiversity retention in forest management. This study evaluates the extent to which harvest management practices have created stands that emulate natural fire disturbance from the perspective of bird communities in Ontario, Canada. We compared the relative abundance of forest landbirds at the stand level in mature forest (> 80 years old) with that in early-regenerating (0-20 years) and midregenerating (21-80 years) forests originating from fire or timber harvest across the boreal forest of Ontario using over 7000 point counts. Our results indicate that forest harvest management practices in Ontario have created stands that only partially emulate natural fire disturbances in terms of the bird community composition. Total bird abundance and species richness were significantly lower postharvest than postfire in midregenerating forests, although they did not differ in early-regenerating stands. Species-level comparisons revealed several differences between postharvest and postfire stands, as well as among age classes. Although no species was completely missing from any stand type, 8% of species in early-and 34% in midregenerating stands were detected significantly less often in postharvest than postfire forests. Some other species were found significantly more often in postharvest stands, while the majority of species detected (84% and 71% in early-and midregenerating stands, respectively) showed no significant difference between disturbance types. Collectively, these results suggest that widespread replacement of fire with logging as the dominant disturbance type will shift the relative abundance of species within Ontario's boreal forest bird community. Quantifying the population-level implications of these shifts requires extrapolating these stand level effects to the landscape level, while considering the actual or anticipated abundance and distribution of forest age classes across the province under different forest management regimes.La foresterie en forêt boréale ontarienne réussit-elle à reproduire les perturbations naturelles telles que perçues par les oiseaux?RÉSUMÉ. La reproduction des perturbations naturelles est devenue un paradigme pour la rétention de la biodiversité en aménagement forestier. La présente étude cherchait à évaluer à quel point les pratiques d'aménagement forestier ont généré des peuplements qui reproduisent les perturbations naturelles provenant de feux pour les communautés aviaires en Ontario, Canada. Nous avons comparé l'abondance relative des oiseaux terrestres forestiers à l'échelle du peuplement dans les forêts mûres (> 80 ans) avec celle observée dans de jeunes forêts en régénération (0-20 ans) ou des forêts d'âge moyen en régénération (21-80 ans) issus de feux ou de récolte forestière dans la forêt boréale de l'Ontario, au moyen de plus de 7000 points d'écoute. Nos résultats indiquent que les pratiques d'aménagement forestier en Ontario ont généré des peuplements qui reproduisent seulement partiellement les pertu...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

How well does forestry in Ontario’s boreal forest emulate natural disturbances from the perspective of birds?

Zimmerling¹,

Francis²,

Roy³

et al. 2017

ACE

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Abundance of a cryptic generalist parasite reflects degradation of an ecosystem

et al. 2020

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Ecosystem degradation due to anthropogenic activities is the primary issue of our times. Theoretical analyses as well as efforts to restore and manage ecosystems depend on comprehensive metrics of ecosystem function. In the case of complex ecosystems such as tropical coral reefs-especially where monitoring, management, and restoration are important-multiple metrics reflecting key functional groups are required to accurately reflect ecosystem function and when necessary, diagnose degree and kind of ecosystem degradation. We propose inclusion of the generalist ectoparasite functional group as a measure of ecosystem function of coral reefs. This functional group is adaptable to loss of other community members and may experience an increase in abundance as ecosystem function declines. Fish-parasitic gnathiid isopods are a member of this group, resident though inconspicuous in coral-reef communities. On Caribbean coral reefs, based on 938 light-trap samples, we observed a negative correlation between abundance of smallersized gnathiids and abundance of live coral, a natural predator of gnathiids. Plots grouped by coral cover-a measure of success of the ecosystem engineer-and ectoparasite abundance varied significantly in community composition including abundance of macroalgae, turf algae, and farming Stegastes spp. damselfish reflecting shifts in community structure. Changes in gnathiid abundance with respect to the abundance of organisms participating in each of the core functional processes driving coral-reef ecosystems reflect broad connectivity of gnathiid parasites across the ecosystem. We conclude that the hyperabundance of a small, cryptic, generalist parasite, when used in combination with a metric of abundance of the primary ecosystem engineer, can provide one nuanced measure of the ecosystem vulnerability to collapse.

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Selecting indicator species for biodiversity management

Bal

Tulloch

Addison

et al. 2018

Frontiers in Ecol & Environ

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Indicator species are frequently used for biodiversity management but whether indicator species selection is explicit about their ability to improve management decisions remains unclear. We reviewed the scientific literature to assess whether existing methods for selecting indicator species account for the following five monitoring and management “decision factors”: objectives, constraints, actions, uncertainties, and biodiversity outcomes. Of the selected studies, most focused only on improving monitoring efficiency rather than on management effectiveness, potentially leading to ineffective indicators for decision making; only 21% of the studies explicitly accounted for management objectives and actions. Crucially, 94% of the reviewed studies and one‐half of all indicator selection methods overlooked constraints (eg budgets), as well as uncertainties in indicator responses to management. To improve selection of indicator species, we suggest a systematic approach using key concepts from structured decision making. This approach facilitates explicitly evaluating management outcomes as part of the indicator species selection process and allows for the review of indicator choices over time to improve future monitoring and management decisions.

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An indicator system to assess ecological integrity of managed forests

Cited by 34 publications

References 30 publications

How well does forestry in Ontario’s boreal forest emulate natural disturbances from the perspective of birds?

How well does forestry in Ontario’s boreal forest emulate natural disturbances from the perspective of birds?

Abundance of a cryptic generalist parasite reflects degradation of an ecosystem

Selecting indicator species for biodiversity management

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An indicator system to assess ecological integrity of managed forests

Cited by 34 publications

References 30 publications

How well does forestry in Ontario&#8217;s boreal forest emulate natural disturbances from the perspective of birds?

How well does forestry in Ontario&#8217;s boreal forest emulate natural disturbances from the perspective of birds?

Abundance of a cryptic generalist parasite reflects degradation of an ecosystem

Selecting indicator species for biodiversity management

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

How well does forestry in Ontario’s boreal forest emulate natural disturbances from the perspective of birds?

How well does forestry in Ontario’s boreal forest emulate natural disturbances from the perspective of birds?