Pub Date : 2023-11-06DOI: 10.22230/jem.2023v23n1a615
John Parminter
The Indigenous peoples of British Columbia (BC) have a long and deep tradition of cultural burning. It was an important component of many of BC’s ecosystems until colonial authorities systematically discouraged the practice from the 1870s onwards. Eventually the beneficial role of fire was recognized, particularly in dry interior (NDT 4) ecosystems. To help validate those traditional practices, this article draws on settler and Indigenous accounts of First Nations cultural burning in BC.
{"title":"First Nations' Prescribed Burning in British Columbia","authors":"John Parminter","doi":"10.22230/jem.2023v23n1a615","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22230/jem.2023v23n1a615","url":null,"abstract":"The Indigenous peoples of British Columbia (BC) have a long and deep tradition of cultural burning. It was an important component of many of BC’s ecosystems until colonial authorities systematically discouraged the practice from the 1870s onwards. Eventually the beneficial role of fire was recognized, particularly in dry interior (NDT 4) ecosystems. To help validate those traditional practices, this article draws on settler and Indigenous accounts of First Nations cultural burning in BC.","PeriodicalId":129797,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ecosystems and Management","volume":"22 3","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135684231","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-11-03DOI: 10.22230/jem.2022v22n2a617
Carolyn B. Brochez, Sonja Leverkus
Wildland fire has long been recognized as an important disturbance to consider in natural resource management in British Columbia (BC), Canada. Fuel reduction treatments are conducted to achieve designated fuel load targets, measured as the weight of the remaining fuel per unit area (tonnes/hectare [t/ha]). Multiple methods are available to professionals for measuring hazard abatement, but this prevents standardization of data for comparison across the province. To promote a study based in science but through an operational lens, the authors used freely available BC Government documents and guidebooks to perform the fuel measures and fuel load tallies. Thirty-two fuel plots were established in the summer of 2021 within the Burns Lake Community Forest. Field measurements were carried out following mechanical raking treatments to determine if units within the ‘severe’ fuel hazard threshold (FHT) met the target fuel load of 1–5 t/ha. Less than one-third of the plots had a fuel load within the target range. Implications of results are discussed, and several recommendations are proposed to improve the feasibility of post-harvest fuel mitigation practices, including a streamlined fuel measurement methodology and more flexible fuel load targets that would enable better comparisons of treatment feasibility across different fuel types and ecosystems within the province.
{"title":"Assessing the Feasibility of Meeting Target Fuel Loadings for Wildfire Reduction in North-Central British Columbia","authors":"Carolyn B. Brochez, Sonja Leverkus","doi":"10.22230/jem.2022v22n2a617","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22230/jem.2022v22n2a617","url":null,"abstract":"Wildland fire has long been recognized as an important disturbance to consider in natural resource management in British Columbia (BC), Canada. Fuel reduction treatments are conducted to achieve designated fuel load targets, measured as the weight of the remaining fuel per unit area (tonnes/hectare [t/ha]). Multiple methods are available to professionals for measuring hazard abatement, but this prevents standardization of data for comparison across the province. To promote a study based in science but through an operational lens, the authors used freely available BC Government documents and guidebooks to perform the fuel measures and fuel load tallies. Thirty-two fuel plots were established in the summer of 2021 within the Burns Lake Community Forest. Field measurements were carried out following mechanical raking treatments to determine if units within the ‘severe’ fuel hazard threshold (FHT) met the target fuel load of 1–5 t/ha. Less than one-third of the plots had a fuel load within the target range. Implications of results are discussed, and several recommendations are proposed to improve the feasibility of post-harvest fuel mitigation practices, including a streamlined fuel measurement methodology and more flexible fuel load targets that would enable better comparisons of treatment feasibility across different fuel types and ecosystems within the province.","PeriodicalId":129797,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ecosystems and Management","volume":"86 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116973897","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-16DOI: 10.22230/jem.2022v22n1a619
L. Maclauchlan, J. E. Brooks
Not all pests kill trees or compromise final tree form; however, the cumulative effect of one or more damage agents over time can significantly limit final expectations at harvest, severely reducing or compromising wood quality and timber supply expectations going forward. This study highlights the effects of damage agents on young lodgepole pine insouthern British Columbia during the formative years of stand development. Over 4,300ntrees were monitored for up to three decades with over 40 damage agents recorded, causing significant repercussions on stocking, health, and form of potential crop trees. By the final assessment, density of potential crop trees had declined dramatically, with 84% affectedby one or more pests, and 63% of natural ingress dead. Most natural ingress was severely suppressed; thus, it is unlikely to fill in stand gaps caused by mortality and damage agents affecting larger potential crop trees. Lodgepole pine terminal weevil and western gall rust were the predominant damage agents influencing form and quality of potential crop trees. Lodgepole pine terminal weevil attacked up to 73% of pine and over 24% suffered multiple attacks. Results from this study emphasize the need for more short- and long-term monitoring of young stands to inform the development of forest policy and promote healthy, resilient new forests. KEYWORDS: lodgepole pine, damage agents, lodgepole pine terminal weevil, western gall rust, Southern British Columbia
{"title":"Cumulative Impact of Biotic and Abiotic Damage Agents on Lodgepole Pine Tree Form and Stand Structure in Southern British Columbia","authors":"L. Maclauchlan, J. E. Brooks","doi":"10.22230/jem.2022v22n1a619","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22230/jem.2022v22n1a619","url":null,"abstract":"Not all pests kill trees or compromise final tree form; however, the cumulative effect of one or more damage agents over time can significantly limit final expectations at harvest, severely reducing or compromising wood quality and timber supply expectations going forward. This study highlights the effects of damage agents on young lodgepole pine insouthern British Columbia during the formative years of stand development. Over 4,300ntrees were monitored for up to three decades with over 40 damage agents recorded, causing significant repercussions on stocking, health, and form of potential crop trees. By the final assessment, density of potential crop trees had declined dramatically, with 84% affectedby one or more pests, and 63% of natural ingress dead. Most natural ingress was severely suppressed; thus, it is unlikely to fill in stand gaps caused by mortality and damage agents affecting larger potential crop trees. Lodgepole pine terminal weevil and western gall rust were the predominant damage agents influencing form and quality of potential crop trees. Lodgepole pine terminal weevil attacked up to 73% of pine and over 24% suffered multiple attacks. Results from this study emphasize the need for more short- and long-term monitoring of young stands to inform the development of forest policy and promote healthy, resilient new forests.\u0000KEYWORDS: lodgepole pine, damage agents, lodgepole pine terminal weevil, western gall rust, Southern British Columbia","PeriodicalId":129797,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ecosystems and Management","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130661989","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-11-05DOI: 10.22230/jem.2021v21n1a611
L. Maclauchlan, J. E. Brooks
The efficacy of pheromone-baited, standing subalpine fir Abies lasiocarpa (Hook) Nutt. and felled green trap trees was tested in southern British Columbia as potential manage- ment techniques for containing western balsam bark beetle Dryocoetes confusus Swaine populations prior to logging. In the year treatments were deployed, standing trees in close proximity to baited trees had significantly higher levels of current attack than those near felled trap trees or in control blocks. The control blocks had the lowest level of current at- tack. Diameters of attacked trees were significantly greater than unattacked trees in all treatments. Naturally attacked, standing subalpine fir had high levels of occupation (number of nuptial galleries) along the full length of the bole. Baited trees had similar levels of occupancy up to six metres in height. Felled green trees had lower occupancy than the baited or naturally attacked trees. Although baited trees concentrated attack into a discrete area, they did not artificially trigger an outbreak or further population expansion in the year following treatment. Felled trap trees appeared less attractive to western balsam bark beetle than natural, susceptible, standing subalpine fir; they are more difficult to de- ploy and therefore not recommended as a means of containing western balsam bark beetle prior to logging.
{"title":"Comparison of Two Treatment Regimes for Managing Western Balsam Bark Beetle","authors":"L. Maclauchlan, J. E. Brooks","doi":"10.22230/jem.2021v21n1a611","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22230/jem.2021v21n1a611","url":null,"abstract":"The efficacy of pheromone-baited, standing subalpine fir Abies lasiocarpa (Hook) Nutt. and felled green trap trees was tested in southern British Columbia as potential manage- ment techniques for containing western balsam bark beetle Dryocoetes confusus Swaine populations prior to logging. In the year treatments were deployed, standing trees in close proximity to baited trees had significantly higher levels of current attack than those near felled trap trees or in control blocks. The control blocks had the lowest level of current at- tack. Diameters of attacked trees were significantly greater than unattacked trees in all treatments. Naturally attacked, standing subalpine fir had high levels of occupation (number of nuptial galleries) along the full length of the bole. Baited trees had similar levels of occupancy up to six metres in height. Felled green trees had lower occupancy than the baited or naturally attacked trees. Although baited trees concentrated attack into a discrete area, they did not artificially trigger an outbreak or further population expansion in the year following treatment. Felled trap trees appeared less attractive to western balsam bark beetle than natural, susceptible, standing subalpine fir; they are more difficult to de- ploy and therefore not recommended as a means of containing western balsam bark beetle prior to logging.","PeriodicalId":129797,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ecosystems and Management","volume":"10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122288971","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-18DOI: 10.22230/jem.2021v21n1a609
M. Murray, W. Strong
Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) is a high-mountain keystone and foundation species that is declining throughout most of its range in Western Canada. An introduced pathogen (Cronartium ribicola) causing white pine blister rust has led to the tree being listed as a federal species at risk. A disease screening program relies on carefully selecting potentially resistant parent trees, followed by testing their respective progenies. Beginning in 2011, trees were selected for controlled inoculations and field trials of seedling families. The performance of each seedling family indicates the level of disease susceptibility, implying genetic resistance in the parents. To date, we are screening hundreds of wild-collected parents. Based on post-inoculation assessments, almost one-third of our carefully selected parents have produced seedlings showing low susceptibility to disease. Numerous stakeholders are now beginning to plant disease resistant seedlings while also supporting the establishment of seed orchards and clone banks. Due to everchanging pathosystems, long-term diseasem screening will remain a critical contribution to the recovery of this valuable species.
{"title":"Disease Screening for Endangered Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Recovery","authors":"M. Murray, W. Strong","doi":"10.22230/jem.2021v21n1a609","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22230/jem.2021v21n1a609","url":null,"abstract":"Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) is a high-mountain keystone and foundation species that is declining throughout most of its range in Western Canada. An introduced pathogen (Cronartium ribicola) causing white pine blister rust has led to the tree being listed as a federal species at risk. A disease screening program relies on carefully selecting potentially resistant parent trees, followed by testing their respective progenies. Beginning in 2011, trees were selected for controlled inoculations and field trials of seedling families. The performance of each seedling family indicates the level of disease susceptibility, implying genetic resistance in the parents. To date, we are screening hundreds of wild-collected parents. Based on post-inoculation assessments, almost one-third of our carefully selected parents have produced seedlings showing low susceptibility to disease. Numerous stakeholders are now beginning to plant disease resistant seedlings while also supporting the establishment of seed orchards and clone banks. Due to everchanging pathosystems, long-term diseasem screening will remain a critical contribution to the recovery of this valuable species.","PeriodicalId":129797,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ecosystems and Management","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-05-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121868888","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-11-24DOI: 10.22230/jem.2020v20n1a601
L. Maclauchlan, J. E. Brooks
This study describes the impacts of 25 damaging agents recorded on young lodgepole pine trees over a 30-year period in a study plot in southern British Columbia. During the study, density fluctuated due to infill and mortality. Of the 1,295 stems per hectare present at the outset of the study, 37% of lodgepole pine died and only 24% of the trees remained pest-free by the final assessment. Pest-free trees were predominantly small and suppressed infill, leaving just over 1,000 stems per hectare of crop trees. Lodgepole pine terminal weevil affected over 38% of pine, with up to six attacks per tree. Fifty percent of lodgepole pine in the study was infected or killed by one or more hard pine stem rusts, with comandra blister rust and western gall rust being the predominant diseases, affecting 32% and 19% of the pine, respectively. Until age 20, 70% of weevil attacks caused major defects. From age 20–40 years, 50% of attacks caused major defects, often forks or multiple tops (stagheads). Defects were more severe when trees were attacked early in stand development. There was a strong correlation between the number of weevil attacks per tree and tree form, and the number of pests recorded per tree and tree form. Two or more pests per tree caused tree form to shift from good to moderate or poor.
{"title":"Long-Term Effects of Lodgepole Pine Terminal Weevil and Other Pests on Tree Form and Stand Structure in a Young Lodgepole Pine Stand in Southern British Columbia","authors":"L. Maclauchlan, J. E. Brooks","doi":"10.22230/jem.2020v20n1a601","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22230/jem.2020v20n1a601","url":null,"abstract":"This study describes the impacts of 25 damaging agents recorded on young lodgepole pine trees over a 30-year period in a study plot in southern British Columbia. During the study, density fluctuated due to infill and mortality. Of the 1,295 stems per hectare present at the outset of the study, 37% of lodgepole pine died and only 24% of the trees remained pest-free by the final assessment. Pest-free trees were predominantly small and suppressed infill, leaving just over 1,000 stems per hectare of crop trees. Lodgepole pine terminal weevil affected over 38% of pine, with up to six attacks per tree. Fifty percent of lodgepole pine in the study was infected or killed by one or more hard pine stem rusts, with comandra blister rust and western gall rust being the predominant diseases, affecting 32% and 19% of the pine, respectively. Until age 20, 70% of weevil attacks caused major defects. From age 20–40 years, 50% of attacks caused major defects, often forks or multiple tops (stagheads). Defects were more severe when trees were attacked early in stand development. There was a strong correlation between the number of weevil attacks per tree and tree form, and the number of pests recorded per tree and tree form. Two or more pests per tree caused tree form to shift from good to moderate or poor.","PeriodicalId":129797,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ecosystems and Management","volume":"34 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116059363","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-08-27DOI: 10.22230/jem.2020v19n1a599
L. Harding
In reviewing the genetic, morphological, behavioural, and ecological distinctiveness of caribou throughout Canada, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) (2011) divided “Southern Mountain caribou” (c.f. COSEWIC 2002) into three designatable units (DU) for conservation purposes: Northern Mountain (DU7), Central Mountain (DU8), and Southern Mountain (DU9) populations of woodland caribou. These new designations mean that each is considered a “wildlife species” according to the Species at Risk Act. Recent federal and provincial government reports refer to “Southern Mountain caribou,” conflating Southern Mountain, Central Mountain, and nine of the 45 subpopulations of Northern Mountain caribou into one pseudo-population, with clear conservation consequences. For example, in 2018, a federal decision on an emergency order required the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) to ascertain whether there were immediate threats to the survival or recovery of the Southern Mountain population of woodland caribou. By conflating two ecotypes and part of another into “Southern Mountain caribou”—an obsolete, geographical grouping not used since2002—ECCC’s assessment falsely informed the Minister that there were 3,764 “Southern Mountain caribou,” when in fact there were only 1,240 in the Southern Mountain (DU9)mpopulation. Other errors arising from the first distorted the number and trajectories of extant subpopulations. Instead of issuing the emergency order, the Minister entered into protracted negotiations with the province on recovery planning that continue at this writing. The nomenclatural ambiguity can be resolved by 1) using the currently accepted taxonomy naming Osborn’s caribou a valid subspecies, R. t. osborni, instead of Northern Mountain population of woodland caribou, 2) using original English names for Mountain caribou and Rocky Mountain caribou, and 3) basing conservation actions on these distinct phylogenetic units as per COSEWIC (2011, 2014).
{"title":"Which Caribou? Misnaming Caribou Population Units Leads to Conservation Errors","authors":"L. Harding","doi":"10.22230/jem.2020v19n1a599","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22230/jem.2020v19n1a599","url":null,"abstract":"In reviewing the genetic, morphological, behavioural, and ecological distinctiveness of caribou throughout Canada, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) (2011) divided “Southern Mountain caribou” (c.f. COSEWIC 2002) into three designatable units (DU) for conservation purposes: Northern Mountain (DU7), Central Mountain (DU8), and Southern Mountain (DU9) populations of woodland caribou. These new designations mean that each is considered a “wildlife species” according to the Species at Risk Act. Recent federal and provincial government reports refer to “Southern Mountain caribou,” conflating Southern Mountain, Central Mountain, and nine of the 45 subpopulations of Northern Mountain caribou into one pseudo-population, with clear conservation consequences. For example, in 2018, a federal decision on an emergency order required the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) to ascertain whether there were immediate threats to the survival or recovery of the Southern Mountain population of woodland caribou. By conflating two ecotypes and part of another into “Southern Mountain caribou”—an obsolete, geographical grouping not used since2002—ECCC’s assessment falsely informed the Minister that there were 3,764 “Southern Mountain caribou,” when in fact there were only 1,240 in the Southern Mountain (DU9)mpopulation. Other errors arising from the first distorted the number and trajectories of extant subpopulations. Instead of issuing the emergency order, the Minister entered into protracted negotiations with the province on recovery planning that continue at this writing. The nomenclatural ambiguity can be resolved by 1) using the currently accepted taxonomy naming Osborn’s caribou a valid subspecies, R. t. osborni, instead of Northern Mountain population of woodland caribou, 2) using original English names for Mountain caribou and Rocky Mountain caribou, and 3) basing conservation actions on these distinct phylogenetic units as per COSEWIC (2011, 2014).","PeriodicalId":129797,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ecosystems and Management","volume":"3 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121594642","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-08-24DOI: 10.22230/jem.2018v18n1a593
A. Burger, F. Waterhouse, J. Deal, D. Lank, D. Donald
Identifying and mapping suitable nesting habitat within coastal forests is a key element in the recovery and management of the Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus), which is listed as Threatened in Canada. This article reviews the reliability and application of three primary methods used to assess habitat suitability: the BC Model, a GIS-based algorithm using Vegetation Resources Inventory (VRI); air photo interpretation (API), direct assessments from air photos based on forest structure; and low-level aerial surveys (LLAS), helicopter surveys assessing forest canopy structure and the presence of potential nest platforms. In general, LLAS provides the most reliable identification and is the only method of the three that estimates the occurrence of potential nest platforms in the forest canopy. The other two methods, API and the BC Model, are substantially less reliable in identifying habitat actually used by nesting murrelets. Spatial scale and survey intensity affect habitat classification using all three methods. Generally, fine-scale (~3 ha), high-intensity classifications with LLAS and API are more likely to detect suitable habitat at known nest sites than those using medium-scale (10s or 100s ha) and/or low-intensity classifications. Even with fine-scale high-intensity application, 15% and 25% of known nest sites were still classified as “unsuitable” habitat with LLAS and API, respectively. All three methods applied at the medium scale for mapping appeared to miss fine-scale nesting habitat (i.e., small numbers of suitable trees occurring in otherwise unsuitable habitat). Areas of mapped suitable habitat can therefore be adjusted to take this discrepancy into account, and methods to do this are discussed.
{"title":"The Reliability and Application of Methods Used to Predict Suitable Nesting Habitat for Marbled Murrelets","authors":"A. Burger, F. Waterhouse, J. Deal, D. Lank, D. Donald","doi":"10.22230/jem.2018v18n1a593","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22230/jem.2018v18n1a593","url":null,"abstract":"Identifying and mapping suitable nesting habitat within coastal forests is a key element in the recovery and management of the Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus), which is listed as Threatened in Canada. This article reviews the reliability and application of three primary methods used to assess habitat suitability: the BC Model, a GIS-based algorithm using Vegetation Resources Inventory (VRI); air photo interpretation (API), direct assessments from air photos based on forest structure; and low-level aerial surveys (LLAS), helicopter surveys assessing forest canopy structure and the presence of potential nest platforms. In general, LLAS provides the most reliable identification and is the only method of the three that estimates the occurrence of potential nest platforms in the forest canopy. The other two methods, API and the BC Model, are substantially less reliable in identifying habitat actually used by nesting murrelets. Spatial scale and survey intensity affect habitat classification using all three methods. Generally, fine-scale (~3 ha), high-intensity classifications with LLAS and API are more likely to detect suitable habitat at known nest sites than those using medium-scale (10s or 100s ha) and/or low-intensity classifications. Even with fine-scale high-intensity application, 15% and 25% of known nest sites were still classified as “unsuitable” habitat with LLAS and API, respectively. All three methods applied at the medium scale for mapping appeared to miss fine-scale nesting habitat (i.e., small numbers of suitable trees occurring in otherwise unsuitable habitat). Areas of mapped suitable habitat can therefore be adjusted to take this discrepancy into account, and methods to do this are discussed.","PeriodicalId":129797,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ecosystems and Management","volume":"4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122981371","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-09-25DOI: 10.22230/jem.2017v17n1a592
Doris Hausleitner, J. Dulisse, I. A. Manley, A. Waterhouse
The interior Western Screech-Owl (Megascops kennicottii macfarlanei) has been assessed as a species at risk. Regionally, survival rates are low, particularly during nesting. This study uses forward stepwise logistic regression to assess habitat selection at the tree, patch (150m2), and stand scales for twelve nests (the largest sample in any one region). At the patch scale, nest sites had more coniferous cover (33% versus 16%) than random. At the stand level, owls selected medium-age forests within an agricultural landscape, highlighting the need to conserve these habitats. While black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) and trembling aspen (P. tremuloides) are important nest tree species, riparian forests with coniferous cover, particularly western redcedar (Thuja plicata), may be more important for nesting in regional populations than previously realized.
{"title":"Nest Habitat Selection of Western Screech-Owls (Megascops kennicottii macfarlanei) at Multiple Spatial Scales in Southeast British Columbia","authors":"Doris Hausleitner, J. Dulisse, I. A. Manley, A. Waterhouse","doi":"10.22230/jem.2017v17n1a592","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22230/jem.2017v17n1a592","url":null,"abstract":"The interior Western Screech-Owl (Megascops kennicottii macfarlanei) has been assessed as a species at risk. Regionally, survival rates are low, particularly during nesting. This study uses forward stepwise logistic regression to assess habitat selection at the tree, patch (150m2), and stand scales for twelve nests (the largest sample in any one region). At the patch scale, nest sites had more coniferous cover (33% versus 16%) than random. At the stand level, owls selected medium-age forests within an agricultural landscape, highlighting the need to conserve these habitats. While black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) and trembling aspen (P. tremuloides) are important nest tree species, riparian forests with coniferous cover, particularly western redcedar (Thuja plicata), may be more important for nesting in regional populations than previously realized.","PeriodicalId":129797,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ecosystems and Management","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128932832","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-05-01DOI: 10.22230/jem.2017v17n1a591
Sonia Leverkus, S. Fuhlendorf, M. Geertsema, R. D. Elmore, D. Engle, K. Baum
No single disturbance regime is suitable for maintaining ecological patterns and processes across an entire landscape when viewed broadly from an ecological perspective. Some species may require high-frequency and high-intensity disturbance, while others may require low-frequency and low-intensity disturbance. Across a large landscape, specific sites with certain features, slopes, and topography also provide important elements for the structure and function of the landscape. These sites, coupled with varying time since disturbance, provide diverse spatial mosaics across landscapes and are essential for biodiversity. Traditional land management has employed a simplistic view of natural processes. The result on large landscapes is that patterns derived from these processes are not comprehensively understood, accepted, or applied. In most landscapes, traditional management has not promoted heterogeneity so that all possible conditions are represented. However, based on all available evidence, creating heterogeneity and a shifting mosaic across the landscape should be a primary objective if conservation of biodiversity is the goal. This article introduces the concept of the landscape disturbance matrix (LDM) as a framework for strategic landscape planning that encompasses time since disturbance at multiple sites. This concept keys in on the needs of priority wildlife species, which have varying responses to time since disturbance. In this article, a large management area in northeastern British Columbia is used to demonstrate that managing change in the landscape for multiple times since disturbance on multiple sites will promote multi-functionality and biodiversity, thereby providing an objective basis for land management planning. A forward planning approach such as the LDM also provides a foundation for ecological resilience and disturbance-absorbent landscapes, thereby allowing land managers to plan for the future based on the past and current disturbance regimes.
{"title":"A Landscape Disturbance Matrix for Conserving Biodiversity","authors":"Sonia Leverkus, S. Fuhlendorf, M. Geertsema, R. D. Elmore, D. Engle, K. Baum","doi":"10.22230/jem.2017v17n1a591","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22230/jem.2017v17n1a591","url":null,"abstract":"No single disturbance regime is suitable for maintaining ecological patterns and processes across an entire landscape when viewed broadly from an ecological perspective. Some species may require high-frequency and high-intensity disturbance, while others may require low-frequency and low-intensity disturbance. Across a large landscape, specific sites with certain features, slopes, and topography also provide important elements for the structure and function of the landscape. These sites, coupled with varying time since disturbance, provide diverse spatial mosaics across landscapes and are essential for biodiversity. Traditional land management has employed a simplistic view of natural processes. The result on large landscapes is that patterns derived from these processes are not comprehensively understood, accepted, or applied. In most landscapes, traditional management has not promoted heterogeneity so that all possible conditions are represented. However, based on all available evidence, creating heterogeneity and a shifting mosaic across the landscape should be a primary objective if conservation of biodiversity is the goal. This article introduces the concept of the landscape disturbance matrix (LDM) as a framework for strategic landscape planning that encompasses time since disturbance at multiple sites. This concept keys in on the needs of priority wildlife species, which have varying responses to time since disturbance. In this article, a large management area in northeastern British Columbia is used to demonstrate that managing change in the landscape for multiple times since disturbance on multiple sites will promote multi-functionality and biodiversity, thereby providing an objective basis for land management planning. A forward planning approach such as the LDM also provides a foundation for ecological resilience and disturbance-absorbent landscapes, thereby allowing land managers to plan for the future based on the past and current disturbance regimes.","PeriodicalId":129797,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ecosystems and Management","volume":"84 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126217177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：