Project Details

A sustainably managed forested landscape requires planning of the spatial configuration of cutover areas, including the location and form of cutblock edges (boundaries between cutover and uncut forest). Under natural disturbance-based management, we should create cutblock edges similar to those resulting from natural disturbance, in terms of structure, function, and landscape pattern. In this research, we will determine how the structure, composition, and function of fire edges compare to edges arising from harvesting, at both the stand and landscape levels. Subsequently, we will develop strategies and guidelines for creating edges that mimic those arising from natural disturbance.

Our key research objectives are to:

1. Document structure and plant species composition of fire and cut edges, at the stand level;
2. Document the distribution and shape of fire edges on the landscape;
3. Compare fire and clearcut edges, in terms of key belowground processes: decomposition, nutrient availability, and mycorrhizal colonization; and
4. Examine the role of partial cutting, in creating edges that emulate fire edges.

We will examine broadleaf-dominated forests in Alberta and mixedwood forests in Québec, so that our results will be applicable throughout the Canadian boreal forest. By comparing across ecosystems and regions, we can identify the nature of differences in edge influence, and predict edge width, in a variety of forest management areas of the Canadian boreal forest. Our results will also be applicable to efforts to quantify the amount of interior forest in a region, as compared to that under natural disturbance, as part of efforts to develop criteria and indicators (C&I). Finally, we will provide the scientific basis for design of harvest plans to create a new type of cut edge, for use in natural disturbance-based management.