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In the Canadian Western Boreal Plain (WBP), wetlands (ponds and peatlands) comprise up to 50% of the landscape and represent unique habitat where summer precipitation is often outpaced by evapotranspiration and hillslope groundwater position does not follow topography. In this sub-humid location, groundwater fluxes and stores in riparian peatlands influence pond water levels and root zone moisture sources for forested uplands. To accurately describe the transport and retention of water in peat, it is important to consider peat subsidence. This paper quantifies the amount and effect of seasonal subsidence in a riparian peatland in the Utikuma Lake region in north-central Alberta, Canada. Results demonstrate that the deep and poorly decomposed peat deposits are resistant to compression, and that thick (and persistent) ground frost hinders pore collapse (shrinkage) above the water table until late summer when the ground has thawed. Even then, subsidence is still limited to the top 50 cm and is not closely related to changes in peatland water table or pond water level. Thus the water balance of these ponds and riparian areas appears to be less sensitive to peat volume changes than it is to the persistence of a substantial frost layer well into the snow-free period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corresponding with the increasing global resource demand, harvesting now affects millions of hectares of boreal forest each year, and yet our understanding of harvesting impacts on boreal carbon (C) dynamics relative to wildfire remains unclear. We provide a direct comparison of C stocks following clearcut harvesting and fire over a 27-year chronosequence in the boreal forest of central Canada. Whereas many past studies have lacked measurement of all major C pools, we attempt to provide complete C pool coverage, including live biomass, deadwood, forest floor, and mineral soil C pools. The relative contribution of each C pool to total ecosystem C varied considerably between disturbance types. Live biomass C was significantly higher following harvesting compared with fire because of residual live trees and advanced regeneration. Conversely, most live biomass was killed following fire, and thus post-fire stands contained higher stocks of deadwood C. Snag and stump C mass peaked immediately following fire, but dramatically decreased 8 years after fire as dead trees began to fall over, contributing to the downed woody debris C pool. Forest floor C mass was substantially lower shortly after fire than harvesting, but this pool converged 8 years after fire and harvesting. When total ecosystem C stocks were examined, we found no significant difference during early stand development between harvesting and fire. Maximum total ecosystem C occurred at age 27 years, 185.1 ± 18.2 and 163.6 ± 8.0 Mg C ha for harvesting and fire, respectively. Our results indicate strong differences in individual C pools, but similar total ecosystem C after fire and clearcutting in boreal forests, and shall help improve modeling terrestrial C flux after stand-replacing disturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Environmental Reviews is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

1. The stage-specific responses of eruptive populations to ecosystem alterations have received little attention, despite the relevance of the issue for conservation biology and pest management. This study examined the hypothesis that forest thinning treatments affect the outbreak cycles of Neodiprion abietis, a sawfly defoliator. 2. The densities of eggs, early instar larvae, late-instar larvae, cocoons and adults of N. abietis were monitored during an outbreak in a thinned and an adjacent untreated stand at each of three sites in western Newfoundland, Canada. 3. The amplitude of population fluctuations was greater in thinned than in adjacent untreated stands at certain points in the increasing or peaking stages of N. abietis outbreaks for all life stages sampled. However, the timing and magnitude of differences in fluctuations attributed to thinning varied among the life stages of N. abietis. 4. The largest difference between stand types occurred in the generation preceding peak egg density, when adult densities were three times higher in thinned than untreated stands. Conversely, only moderate differences in egg density between stand types were observed in the following generation. Combined with the observation that the modes of population fluctuations occurred earlier in thinned stands, this suggests that adult dispersal resulted in a redistribution of eggs between thinned and untreated stands. 5. Synthesis and applications. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that silvicultural practices involving a reduction in forest stand density may alter the outbreak cycles of an eruptive population, potentially increasing the severity of outbreaks in treated, as well as in adjacent untreated, stands. Hence, this study emphasizes the need to consider proactively the potential impact of silvicultural practices on species such as N. abietis, which are most abundant in low-density stands. This field study also demonstrates that the response to ecosystem alteration of an outbreak population can vary with the different life stages of the studied organism, indicating that the detection of the impact of ecosystem alterations on a population can depend on the life stage sampled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mosses and hepatics (bryophytes) are the most diverse and abundant understorey vegetation within the Coastal Western Hemlock (CWH) and Interior Cedar–Hemlock (ICH) zones of British Columbia. This study intensively sampled bryophytes in 287 young- and old-growth stands in the CWH and ICH zones. Two major variables strongly influence the patterning of bryophyte diversity in these zones: stand age and habitat heterogeneity. Canonical correspondence analyses (CCA) identified these as the most important variables explaining stand–environment interactions. Alpha diversity is much greater in old-growth forests and beta diversity is high between young and old forests. Old-growth cedar–hemlock forests have between 60 (ICH) and 100% (CWH) more species than younger forests disturbed by wildfire in the ICH zones or logging in the CWH zones. Furthermore, a stand classification built on species composition partitioned species into stands of different ages and mesohabitat heterogeneity. Beta diversity was also partitioned between stands of different ages and habitat heterogeneity. This indicates that both young and old forests have a unique assemblage of species. Indicator analysis was used to choose a partial lists of species that are indicators of "old growthness". These old forests support a rich flora of hepatics and rare western North American endemics. High environmental continuity is associated with the most humid watersheds and cedar–hemlock forests within these watersheds have the highest bryophyte diversity. The establishment of rich communities of bryophytes in the moist cedar–hemlock forest has been occurring over the last 2000–7000 years, with the coastal rainforest much older than the inland rainforest. Large-scale disturbance, such as forestry, threatens the existence of these highly diverse communities. A better understanding of the patterning of bryophyte diversity will provide an opportunity to minimize the impact of forest operations on biodiversity. Bryophyte diversity in British Columbia cedar–hemlock forests will be sustained through ecosystem management of old-growth legacies (i.e., landscapes, stands, and their components) and preservation of areas of high diversity. Temporal and habitat variables are influential in the patterning of bryophyte diversity. Management plans that consider these variables will be better equipped to manage cedar–hemlock forests for maintaining biodiversity. Key words: biodiversity, bryophytes, cedar–hemlock, CWH, disturbance, ecosystem management, floristic habitat sampling, forest conservation, ICH, old growth, patterning of diversity, rare species, species richness.Les mousses et les hépatiques (bryophytes) représentent la végétation de sous-étage la plus diversifiée et abondante dans la zone côtière de la pruche de l'Ouest (CWH) et la zone à thuya et à pruche de l'Intérieur (ICH) en Colombie-Britannique. Cette étude a comporté un échantillonnage intensif des bryophytes dans 287 peuplements jeunes et anciens de ces deux zones. Deux variables y exercent une influence majeure sur le patron de répartition de la diversité des bryophytes : l'âge des peuplements et l'hétérogénéité des habitats. Des analyses canoniques des correspondances (ACC) ont indiqué qu'il s'agissait des plus importantes variables pour expliquer les interactions peuplement–environnement. La diversité alpha est beaucoup plus grande dans les forêts anciennes, et la diversité bêta est élevée entre les forêts jeunes et les forêts vieilles. Les forêts anciennes de thuya et de pruche comptent entre 60 % (ICH) et 100 % (CWH) plus d'espèces que les forêts plus jeunes perturbées par un incendie dans la zone ICH ou une récolte dans CWH. De plus, une classification des peuplements reposant sur la composition en espèces a fourni une répartition de la richesse en espèces entre peuplements ayant différentes caractéristiques d'âge et d'hétérogénéité des mesohabitats. La diversité bêta a aussi été répartie entre peuplements ayant différentes caractéristiques. Il ressort que la jeune forêt et la vieille forêt ont toutes deux un assemblage unique d'espèces. Une analyse a été effectuée pour établir une liste partielle d'espèces indicatrices d' « ancienneté ». Les vieilles forêts étudiées abritent une flore riche en hépatiques et en espèces endémiques rares de l'Ouest de l'Amérique du Nord. Une grande continuité de l'environnement est associée aux bassins versants les plus humides, et les forêts de thuya et de pruche de ces bassins renferment la plus forte diversité en bryophytes. L'établissement de riches communautés de bryophytes dans la forêt humide de thuya et de pruche se poursuit depuis des milliers d'années, de 2000 à 7000 ans, la forêt ombrophile côtière étant beaucoup plus âgée que la forêt ombrophile intérieure. Les perturbations de grande échelle, comme l'exploitation forestière, menacent l'existence de ces communautés de grande diversité. Une meilleure compréhension du patron de répartition de la diversité des bryophytes aidera à limiter l'impact des opérations forestières sur la biodiversité. La diversité des bryophytes dans les forêts de thuya et de pruche de la Colombie-Britannique pourra être maintenue en aménageant à l'échelle de l'écosystème les vestiges des forêts anciennes (c.-à-d. paysages, peuplements et leurs composantes) et en préservant des zones à forte diversité. Des variables temporelles et des variables de l'habitat influent sur le patron de répartition de la diversité des bryophytes. Les plans d'aménagement prenant en considération ces variables seront mieux en mesure d'assurer le maintien de la biodiversité des forêts de thuya et de pruche. Mots clés : aménagement écosystémique, biodiversité, bryophytes, conservation de la forêt, CWH, échantillonnage floristique de l'habitat, espèces rares, forêt ancienne, ICH, patron de répartition de la diversité, perturbation, pruche, richesse en espèces, thuya.[Traduit par la rédaction] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has developed guidelines to standardize the international reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals by signatory nations of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. With regard to forest sector carbon fluxes, the IPCC guidelines require only that those fluxes directly associated with human activities (i.e., harvesting and land-use change) be reported. In Canada, the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector (CBM-CFS2) has been used to assess carbon fluxes from the entireforest sector. This model accounts for carbon fluxes associated withboth anthropogenic and natural disturbances, such as wild fires and insects. We combined model results for the period 1985 to 1989 with additional data to compile seven different national carbon flux inventories for the forest sector. These inventories incorporate different system components under a variety of seemingly plausible assumptions,some of which are encouraged refinements to the default flux inventory described in the IPCC guidelines. The resulting estimated net carbon fluxes varied from a net removal of 185,000 kt carbon per year of the inventory period to a net emission of 89,000 kt carbon per year. Following the default procedures in the IPCC guidelines, while using the best available national data, produced an inventory with a net removal of atmospheric carbon. Adding the effect of natural disturbances to that inventory reversed the sign of the net flux resulting in a substantial emission. Including the carbon fluxes associated with root biomass in the first inventory increased the magnitude of the estimated net removal. The variability of these results emphasizes the need for a systems approach in constructing a flux inventory. We argue that the choice of which fluxes to include in the inventory should be based on the importance of these fluxes to the overall carbon budget and not on the perceived ease with which flux estimates can be obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]