Assessing the Cumulative Impacts of Forest Management on Forest Age Structure Development and Woodland Caribou Habitat in Boreal Landscapes: A Case Study from Two Canadian Provinces

Brendan Mackey (), Carly Campbell, Patrick Norman, Sonia Hugh, Dominick A. DellaSala, Jay R. Malcolm, Mélanie Desrochers and Pierre Drapeau
Additional contact information
Brendan Mackey: Climate Action Beacon, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia
Carly Campbell: Climate Action Beacon, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia
Patrick Norman: Climate Action Beacon, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia
Sonia Hugh: Climate Action Beacon, Griffith University, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia
Dominick A. DellaSala: Wild Heritage, A Project of Earth Island Institute, 2150 Allston Way Ste 460, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA
Jay R. Malcolm: Institute of Forestry and Conservation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3E4, Canada
Mélanie Desrochers: Centre for Forest Research, Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, QC H2X 3Y7, Canada
Pierre Drapeau: Centre for Forest Research, Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, QC H2X 3Y7, Canada

Land, 2023, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: The Canadian boreal forest biome has been subjected to a long history of management for wood production. Here, we examined the cumulative impacts of logging on older forests in terms of area, distribution and patch configuration in the managed forest zones of the Eastern Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. We also examined the consequences of these cumulative impacts on a once widely distributed and now threatened species, the woodland caribou ( Rangifer tarandus caribou ). The cumulative area of recently logged forest (since ~1976) was 14,024,619 ha, with 8,210,617 ha in Quebec and 5,814,002 ha in Ontario. The total area of older forests was 21,249,341 ha, with 11,840,474 ha in Quebec and 9,408,867 ha in Ontario. Patch statistics revealed that there were 1,085,822 older forests with core patches < 0.25 ha and an additional 603,052 < 1.0 ha. There were 52 > 10,00–50,000 ha and 8 < 50,000 ha. Older forest patches (critical caribou habitat) in the 21 local population ranges totalled 6,103,534 ha, distributed among ~387,102 patches with 362,933 < 10 ha and 14 > 50,000 ha. The median percentage of local population ranges that was disturbed was 53.5%, with Charlevoix having the maximum (90.3%) and Basse Côte-Nord the least (34.9%). Woodland caribou local population ranges with disturbed suitable habitats >35% are considered unable to support self-sustaining populations. We found that for the 21 caribou local population ranges examined, 3 were at very high risk (>75% area disturbed), 16 at high risk (>45 ≤ 75% area disturbed), and 2 at low risk (≤35% area disturbed). Major changes are needed in boreal forest management in Ontario and Quebec for it to be ecologically sustainable, including a greater emphasis on protection and restoration for older forests, and to lower the risks for caribou populations.

Keywords: boreal forest; cumulative impacts; forest age structure; older forest; primary forest; woodland caribou; suitable habitat; forest management; logging; clearcuts (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/1/6/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/1/6/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:13:y:2023:i:1:p:6-:d:1303040

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().