Smartforests Canada: A Network of Monitoring Plots for Forest Management Under Environmental Change

Pappas, Christoforos; Bélanger, Nicolas; Bergeron, Yves; Blarquez, Olivier; Chen, Han Y. H.; Comeau, Philip G.; Grandpré, Louis De; Delagrange, Sylvain; DesRochers, Annie; Diochon, Amanda; D’Orangeville, Loïc; Drapeau, Pierre; Duchesne, Louis; Filotas, Élise; Gennaretti, Fabio; Houle, Daniel; Lafleur, Benoît; Langor, David W.; Desrosiers, Simon Lebel; Lorenzetti, François; Man, Rongzhou; Messier, Christian; Girona, Miguel Montoro; Nock, Charles A.; Thomas, Barb R.; Work, Timothy T.; Kneeshaw, Daniel

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-80767-2_16

Cited by 15 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 98 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Temperature and soil water availability is the important influencing factors for tree growth in mountain forests [21,32], but high temperatures and drought events will continue to increase in the future [1], which may further affect mountain forests [47,48]. Qinghai spruce is an important tree species for soil and water conservation in the Qilian Mountains.…”

Section: Implications For Forest Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Divergent Seasonal Patterns of Qinghai Spruce Growth with Elevation in Northwestern China

Wan

et al. 2022

Forests

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Dryland montane forests are important agents for soil and water resource conservation. The growth of these forests under climate warming is strongly affected by local environmental factors. However, how environmental factors impact intra-annual stem growth dynamics across environmental gradients in these regions remains unclear. This work focused on assessing seasonal patterns of stem growth across different elevations and how environmental factors impact stem growth in the Qilian Mountains, northwestern China. The stem growth of 50 Qinghai spruce trees was monitored for two years across an elevation gradient from 2500 m to 3300 m above sea level (a.s.l.). We found that growth initiation occurred later as the elevation increased, and growth commenced when elevation-specific temperature thresholds were reached. However, growth cessation presented large elevational differences: cessation occurred much earlier at low elevations (2500 m and 2700 m a.s.l.). Exceptionally early growth cessation occurred predominantly at 2700 m a.s.l., which was correlated with seasonal drought/insufficient rainfall and low soil moisture occurring since mid-July 2015. Temperature and soil moisture were the key factors governing the daily rate of stem growth in the beginning, rapid growth, and end stages. Overall, due to effects of seasonal drought and low temperature on growth cessation and growth rate, the annual growth of Qinghai spruce was rather low at both low (2500–2700 m a.s.l.) and high (3100–3300 m a.s.l.) elevations; middle elevations (approximately 2900 m a.s.l.) might be the most favorable Qinghai spruce growth. Our results implied that tree growth will likely decline at low elevations and that the optimal elevation for Qinghai spruce growth in northwestern China is expected to shift upward under future climate warming.

show abstract

Section: Implications For Forest Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Divergent Seasonal Patterns of Qinghai Spruce Growth with Elevation in Northwestern China

Wan

et al. 2022

Forests

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We express our sincere gratitude to the MFFP, from whom we acquired information related to defoliation severity. Additional thanks are given for the use of SmartForest equipment from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) (Pappas et al, 2022b).…”

Section: Acknowledgmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the impact of climate change on the black spruce defoliation by spruce budworm

Subedi¹,

Girona²,

Marchand³

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Current ecological models predict profound climate change-related effects on the natural disturbance regimes of forests. Spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana) (SBW) is the principal insect defoliator in eastern North America, and SBW outbreaks have a major impact on the structure and function of the Canadian boreal forest, as defoliation leads to decreased tree growth, increased mortality, and lower forest productivity. SBW outbreaks have become more severe over the last century with the changing climate; however, little is known about how the integrated effect of climate and SBW alters the growth of host species. Here we evaluate how climate and outbreak severity combined to affect black spruce (Picea mariana) growth during the SBW outbreak that occurred between 1968-1988 and 2006-2017. We compiled dendrochronological series (2271 trees), outbreak severity (estimated by observed aerial defoliation), and climate data for 164 sites in Québec, Canada. We used a linear mixed effect model to determine the impacts of climatic parameters, cumulative defoliation (of the previous five years), and their interaction effect on basal area growth. At maximum outbreak severity, basal area growth of black spruce was reduced by 14%–18% over five years due to SBW effect. This outbreak growth response was affected by climate: warmer previous summer minimum temperatures and a higher previous summer climate moisture index (CMI) further decreased growth by 11% and 4%, respectively. In contrast, the negative effect of defoliation was attenuated by 9% for a warmer minimum temperature in the previous spring and 7% for a warmer maximum temperature in the previous summer. This study improves our understanding of combined insect–climate effects on growth and helps in the predictions of future SBW-related damage to forest stands to bolster sustainable forest management. We also recommend that projections of boreal forest ecosystems include several classes of SBW defoliation severity coupled with multiple climatic scenarios.

show abstract

“…Benefits and challenges of remote sensing for monitoring forest ecosystems are presented in Chaps. 11 and 16 of this book (respectively, Pappas et al 2021).…”

Section: Process-based Growth Modelsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The science-policy partnerships may advance communication on CSF at the continental to global scale, across countries, weighing the cobenefits and side effects between climate regulation and other ecosystem services (see Chaps. 15, 16, 17: Vizzarri et al 2021;Pappas et al 2021;Giongo Alves et al 2021). Examples of climate-smart measures include managing forest disturbances and extreme events, selecting resilient trees, implementing forest reserves (high-nature value, HNV), combining carbon storage, sequestration, and substitution, using forest bioenergy and wood in the construction sector, and valuing ecosystems and their services with the objective that help halt land degradation.…”

Section: Fig 17mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Climate-Smart Forestry in Mountain Regions

Climate Change and Law Collection

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This book is dedicated to the memory of Professor Giustino Tonon: our friend, colleague, and a co-author of many of these chapters. Giustino conveyed great passion and commitment for forests and conservation; it showed in his words, his actions, and the intensity of his listening. Yet his calm and steadfast manner allowed him to work with everyone. His work brought a rigorous scientific approach to understanding the challenges faced by humans and nature in a time of rapid change. He was unfailingly caring and considerate of others, and his positive outlook on life invariably lifted the mood of those in his company. When he passed away on 7 July 2021, he was in a place he loved, the mountain forests of the Dolomites.vii PrefaceThis book is one of the outputs of the COST Action CA15226, Climate-Smart Forestry in Mountain Regions (CLIMO). Funded by the EU's Horizon 2020 COST Action programme, CLIMO has been developing in the last few years as a new concept, which is central to the changes in the way forestry resources are used by the European community. While climate change is increasingly filling the policy agenda at global level, mountain regions are extremely vulnerable to its effects. Because climate change increases the frequency and intensity of ecosystem imbalances, the economic value and adaptive capacity of these regions is jeopardised, which has led to a call for changes in forestry polices and management.Initiated in October of 2016 and finished in April of 2021, CLIMO addressed the complex issue of forest management, which plans for the long term, while dealing with uncertainties related to the productivity and health of forest ecosystems, and their adaptation to short-term environmental changes. The establishment of this network, which mobilized more than two hundred researchers from 28 countries, focused on mountain environments, considered as a climate change hotspot. Given the growing pressure on mountain regions by climate change, there is a need to emphasise forest production systems that are resilient to climate-driven disturbances. These climate targets can be mainstreamed through multidisciplinary Climate-Smart Forestry, paying attention to regional circumstances, opportunities and challenges. This multidisciplinary approach, from tree to landscape and with a variety of tools, was made possible through networking and stakeholders' engagement.A three-dimensional approach was presented to enhance adaptation and resilience to climate change within forest ecosystems, optimising the provision of ecosystem services. A new definition of Climate-Smart Forestry advocated by this COST Action, supported by the development of indicators, allowed a balanced understanding of adaptation and mitigation potentials of mountain forests facing climate change. CLIMO also contributed to the debate concerning the resilience of forest and the provision of ecosystem services. This way, the seeds of progress in forest practices were sown, which hopefully will germinate into results that will allow for a more sustainable ...

show abstract

Smartforests Canada: A Network of Monitoring Plots for Forest Management Under Environmental Change

Cited by 15 publications

References 98 publications

Divergent Seasonal Patterns of Qinghai Spruce Growth with Elevation in Northwestern China

Divergent Seasonal Patterns of Qinghai Spruce Growth with Elevation in Northwestern China

Evaluating the impact of climate change on the black spruce defoliation by spruce budworm

Climate-Smart Forestry in Mountain Regions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About