Forest Certification

INTRODUCTION

The geographic and climatic diversity of British Columbia has led to a wonderful variety of wildlife. In B.C. there are thousands of species of plants, fungi, algae, invertebrates and vertebrates (animals with backbones). Including:

Many of these species live within forested ecosystems. These same forest ecosystems are important to people for products, recreation, water and cultural heritage. Balancing human and wildlife needs with the ecosystem is what forest management planning is all about. In this article, we will explore the provincial strategy for wildlife conservation or biodiversity, how forest mangers plan for biodiversity on a broad landscape level and what actions are taken at the stand level to ensure that this diversity is maintained within the working forest.

CONSERVATION STRATEGY

The impact of forest management practices on wildlife species varies. For example: the early stages after clearcut logging may benefit deer, bear, moose and rabbits as it creates more forage. However, this type of logging may be a problem for certain species of owls and voles that require cover or wildlife trees for nesting. To add to this complexity, different animal species thrive in different stages of forest succession, with many animals using several stages. In fact, the impact of forestry practices on numerous species is unknown. How then can we manage the forest to ensure a rich, healthy array of wildlife species?

The Forest Practices Code (the rules and regulations for forestry in British Columbia) has set biodiversity and wildlife goals to ensure the conservation of B.C.'s natural diversity in managed forests.

• Biodiversity is the variety of plants, animals and other living organisms across a landscape.
• This includes the diversity of genes, species and ecosystems, as well processes that link them.

The fact that British Columbia has such diversity of wildlife makes conservation very complex. There are two parts to the strategy.

Part 1: Broad habitat management

Forests created by natural distrubance processes such as fire, insects, disease, wind, have specific vegetation patterns and structure. Using this ecological information as a basis for forest management will produce managed forests that have similar patterns. By maintaining these broad patterns and structures across the landscape, most species and ecological processes are likely to be maintained. In other words, follow nature!

Part 2: Special efforts to protect the habitat of threatened, endangered or vulnerable.

Some wildlife species, such as the Vancouver Island Marmot, Spotted Owl and the Queen Charlotte Goshawk, are at risk and will need special protection and help.

Canfor's two wildlife biologists are working on a number of research projects regarding these threatened species and others such as Marbled Murrelets and Grizzly Bear.

Conservation of biodiversity requires both the specific approach of protecting the habitat of each endangered species, and the broad approach of managing the forest ecosystem to follow natural disturbance patterns at both at the landscape and stand levels.

It's impossible to manage the needs of all animals on every hectare However, by maintaining a variety of opening sizes, forest types and forest ages across the landscape, and by providing specific structure at the stand level, the habitat needs of most wildlife will be met.

Planning for Biodiversity

The first level of planning is at the landscape level. "Landscape level" looks at the whole forest, as if from an airplane. There are a number of concepts or ideas at this broad scale that forest managers have to be aware of when managing for wildlife habitat or biodiversity.

NATURAL DISTURBANCE:

Landscape patterns have evolved under the influence of natural disturbances such as wildfire, wind, insects and disease. To maintain these natural patterns, the effects of forest management activities must resemble those of the natural disturbances in that area.

SUCCESSIONAL STAGE:

The series of plant communities that replace each other over time after a disturbance: grass and herb stage, shrub stage, sun-loving forest stage, shade-loving forest stage. In each ecosystem, there will be a pattern of these stages across the landscape. Various species of animals use different stages for food and shelter.

EDGE EFFECT:

This is the change in light, microclimate and vegetation at the boundary between an older forest and a newly disturbed area. Edge effects can change the processes of predation, competition and parasitism. It is important to provide sufficiently large forested areas to prevent excessive edge habitat and provide the forest interior habitat that some species require. Some animals, like Steller's Jay, thrive in edge habitats while others, like Marbled Murrelet or Queen Charlotte Goshawk, do not. Edge effect is dynamic and shifts with succession. Where this interior habitat actually begins will vary as the forest changes over time.

FRAGMENTATION:

This is when landslides, wind throw, insect damage or logging create "islands" of forest. Rate of cut, cut block size, timber values, accessibility and harvesting system all influence fragmentation. Fragmentation can reduce biodiversity due to isolation and excessive edge effects.

CONNECTIVITY:

Animals need to be able to move from area to area to utilize a variety of habitats and to avoid genetic isolation. To get there, they need forested corridors. Forest ecosystem networks (FEN) are forested linkages between older forest patches and reserves.

When planning for biodiversity, the planning team must consider the specific forest ecosystem being looked at, all of the habitat concepts mentioned above, as well as the special needs of any endangered or threatened species. Wildlife biologists play an important role on the planning team.

Wildlife biologists work with the forestry planning teams in their logging operation and act as a resource for other operations to call upon. They are involved in data collection, gathering information on wildlife populations and habitat, which provide an important foundation for landscape-level planning. Projects such as Wildlife Habitat Inventory and Multi Species Inventory are also the basis for the development of computer models. These models will be able to identify habitat for vulnerable or threatened wildlife species such as Caribou and the Black-throated Green Warbler. These models would sort through the inventory data and assist in identifying critical habitat areas.

The forestry planning team will use the resulting inventory data, maps and computers to study the landscape for wildlife use, vegetation patterns and natural disturbance history. They will also consider patch size, edge effect and connections. The planning team will then develop a management plan that covers a very large area and looks ahead several years. Sound complicated? It is!

Once the planning for the large forest area is complete the foresters will plan at the "stand level." Now instead of looking at the whole landscape, the focus is on one stand of trees. They now determine what specific forestry activities will be used in a particular forest stand to enhance wildlife habitat.

At the stand level foresters look at the "structure" required for habitat needs. Things like the canopy layer, wildlife trees, coarse woody debris and understory vegetation are examples of "structure". Wildlife biologists do research on habitat requirements and how to create habitat structure through forest management practices. The following are examples of key stand level practices used to create habitat structure.

Wildlife Trees

A wildlife tree is a standing dead or dying tree that provides valuable habitat for wildlife. Some live trees with broken tops, deformations, or of special size can also provide special habitat and be considered a wildlife trees. Salamanders, bats, bear, eagles and woodpeckers are just a few of the species that make use of these trees. Animals use wildlife trees for denning, shelter, roosting and foraging.

In the past, wildlife trees within or near logging blocks were cut down for safety reasons. These dead trees can fall unpredictably, making them dangerous for forest workers. Today we know more about the habitat value of these trees and are working to retain wildlife trees and keep workers safe.

Plans for wildlife trees may include:

• estimating the natural density of wildlife trees in a particular landscape type.
• keeping existing wildlife trees as scattered individuals both within logged blocks and around the edges
• keeping patches of trees within logged blocks
• creating new wildlife trees e.g. planting logs or by clipping, clipping the tops off living trees
• planning for "recruits" to be future wildlife trees
• training workers to identify wildlife trees and work safely in the area.

Wildlife trees will fall over in time and become a source of coarse woody debris.

Coarse Woody Debris

Any usable wood of a minimum size left behind in the forest is considered wasteful and companies have to pay for it. However, this coarse woody debris has many ecological uses and some people say there should be more wood left behind! As the wood rots, valuable nutrients return to the soil. Coarse woody debris can also provide some habitat for small animals and effect soil moisture.

Concerns over potential fire hazard and wasting wood are conflicting with concerns over nutrient cycling and leaving more wood. New regulation changes the Forest Practices Code in 1999 will allow more wood to be left behind.

Wildlife Tree Patches

Wildlife tree patches, group reserves, group retention, wildlife habitat areas (WHA), riparian management areas (RMA) ungulate winter ranges and reserves are all terms for groups of trees left standing. These areas are key habitat components. The wildlife that requires interior forest conditions will need to have large areas reserved (600m x 600m minimum on the coast). Smaller patches provide the structure and shelter for wildlife species not impacted by edge effect. These patches also reduce the safety concerns associated with working near individual wildlife trees and are easier from an operational standpoint. The challenge for the forester is to ensure the patches left behind don't blow down!

Stand Composition

Any forestry action that encourages structural diversity in the vegetation can have value to wildlife. The key is variety - a range of forestry actions will produce a range of habitat. The following forestry activities can be used to enhance structural diversity:

• variable planting densities
• spacing and thinning actions
• brushing (or not brushing) activities
• patches or strips left unthinned
• patches of advanced regeneration left to provide structure
• irregularly shaped openings
• encourage diversity of understory plants
• keep some deciduous trees, especially if in clumps
• mixture of species planted

Riparian Areas

Riparian (streamside) ecosystems contain the highest numbers of plants and animal species of any forest area. For wildlife, these areas provide wildlife trees, large trees, hiding and resting cover, nesting sites, structural diversity, coarse woody debris and food sources. Riparian areas also act as travel corridors for wildlife and form natural links throughout the forest landscape.

The high values for fish, water and wildlife habitat in Riparian areas indicate the need for special management. There is a separate Forest Practices Code guidebook just for riparian areas.

SUMMARY

Wildlife is an essential component of forest management planning. The government plan to maintain wildlife/biodiversity in working forests is new and the details are still developing. The key is habitat management; using forestry skills to achieve timber goals while still maintaining the natural diversity of habitat, important for wildlife conservation.

Intensive planning at both the landscape and the stand level is critical. Using a range of techniques, foresters try to use their timber harvesting sequence to keep the natural pattern of forest types and structures required by the wildlife. The plan is to maintain a variety of patch sizes, successional stages and reserved forested areas large enough to maintain forest interior habitat conditions. Corridors linking habitats are a part of the design, as are special programs to enhance threatened species.

All of this biodiversity planning is in addition to considerations for recreation, water, cultural heritage and other values. Don't forget that the forest company still has to produce the forest products that people want, while creating value to their shareholders.

Discussions about sizes and widths of reserves and corridors are ongoing. The data, skills and abilities to be successful at maintaining or enhancing biodiversity are still evolving. However, the effort and commitment towards integrating the management of forest products with the conservation of wildlife is intense

Although the landscape or ecosystem management we have been discussing is new, the concerns over wildlife/forestry interactions are not. Canfor was the first forest company in B.C. to have a wildlife biologist on staff and that was over 25 years ago!

Photos:

courtesy of John Deal Habitat Forester, Englewood

References:

Biodiversity Guidebook Ministry of Forests Riparian Management Areas Guidebook Ministry of Forests The Wildlife Home Page Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks Extension Note 7: Management Concepts for Landscape Ecology Ministry of Forests Research Branch Extension Note 10 : Landscape Ecology Ministry of Forests Research Branch Extension Note 17: Riparian Areas Ministry of Forests Research Branch Extension Note 14: Spatial Patterns and Landscape Ecology Ministry of Forests Research Branch Extension Note 15: Landscape Ecology and Connectivity Ministry of Forests