State of the Environment Reporting/ Indicators

'Judy Coo Harry Hirvonen RewerUm ml InMe&tetp MeeltmuffUj m Feowticmy- S^imum x$u FcrefteA Seder

Introduction he forests of North America are diverse, covering the spectrum of forested landscapes from the northern taiga of Canada and Alaska to the tropical humid forests of Mexico. The Commission for Envi­ Tronmental Cooperation has identified 15 broad ecosystems of North America (including Canada, USA, and Mexico) (NAEWG 1997). Twelve of these macro-ecosystems have a substantial forest cover. Canada, for example, includes all or portions of seven of these North American forested ecosystems covering a total forest area of 418 million hectares, or nearly half of the Canadian landscape. Although this chapter concentrates on the forests of Canada, there is an implicit understanding that the forests of one nation cannot be isolated from those of its neighbours. Equally, forests cannot be thought of in isolation of the continental and global cycles operating in the rest of the world community. Table 1 provides a comparison of forest land among Canada, United States and Mexico (Cantin et al. 1998).

Table 1. Area of forest within Canada, United States and Mexico

Country Forested % of Total % of North % of Global Area Land Area of American Forest (million Country Forests ha) Canada 417.6 45 55 10 USA 298.1 33 39 7 Mexico 49.6 26 6 1

The national ecological classifica­ 1997). Nine of these ecozones are tion of Canada (ESWG 1996; Wiken considered as having a substantial et al. 1996) stratifies Canada into 15 forested component. The following ecozones which meld with the North section, extracted from the publica­ American ecosystem units (NAEWG tion Forest Health in Canada: An

64 The George Wright FORUM State of the Environment Reporting/ Indicators

Overview (Forest Health Network white pine, and lodgepole pine. The 1999), provides a descriptive eco­ major historical agent of disturbance logical and demographic synopsis of has been fire. Insects and diseases, each of these forested ecozones. such as the western hemlock looper, mountain pine beetle, and Armillaria The Forested Ecozones of Canada root rot, have also been primary The Pacific maritime ecozone agents of ecological change. occupies an area of 21.9 million ha The boreal cordillera ecozone (10.6 million ha of forest) and has a occupies an area of 46.5 million ha mostly urban population of 3 million (28.8 million ha of forest) spanning people. Canada's most productive northern British Columbia and the forests and its biggest and oldest southern Yukon. The population of trees, some attaining ages of 500 31,000 people is mostly rural. There years and older and heights to 70 m is less diversity in tree species than in and more, are found here. The forest the more southern ecozones, with ecosystems vary with elevation and subalpine fir, lodgepole pine, white precipitation. Major species include spruce, and trembling aspen being western hemlock, western red cedar, dominant. The valley and lower- Douglas-fir, Sitka spruce and subal- slope ecosystems historically have pine fir. The ecozone is dominated been fire-dominated. Within the eco­ by a coastal temperate rainforest. zone, the tree line is reached at ele­ Globally, these rainforests are scarce, vations of 1,000 to 1,400 m. with a worldwide distribution of only The taiga plains ecozone occu­ 40 million ha (Kellogg 1994). Over­ pies an area of 64.7 million ha (50 all, the forests have low endemic million ha of forest) and has a popu­ populations of tree-damaging insects lation of 22,000 people spread and diseases. There is an infrequent among several settlements. The eco­ fire history, although large burns zone is characterized by poor soils have occurred in the past. Harvesting and frequent fires. It comprises a is the major human disturbance. transition forest between mixed for­ The montane cordillera ecozone est-tundra and dense coniferous for­ occupies an area of 49.2 million ha est. Black spruce is predominant. (34.9 million ha of forest) and has a Within the ecozone, it generally mostly urban population of one mil­ grows slowly under open forest con­ lion people. It is the most diverse of ditions. A vigorous forest, however, all of the ecozones, consisting of al­ characterizes the Mackenzie River pine, forest, and grassland ecosys­ valley and its tributary valleys, con­ tems. Major tree species include taining some of Canada's largest Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, subal- white spruce and balsam poplar pine fir, Engelmann spruce, western trees.

Volume 16 • Number 2 1999 65 State of the Environment Reporting/ Indicators

The taiga shield ecozone occu­ fir are common. The forests are typi­ pies 136.6 million ha (52.7 million cally mixed with wetlands, lakes, and ha of forest), covering much of the major rivers that contribute to the Canadian Shield from Labrador to as landscape diversity of the ecozone. far west and north as Great Bear Major natural ecological influences Lake in the Northwest Territories. It are fire, insects, and diseases. has a population of 34,000 people. The mixedwood plains ecozone This ecozone is an ecological cross­ covers the lower Great Lakes-St. roads where climates, soils, plants, Lawrence River Valley, occupying birds, and mammals from two bi- 24.4 million ha (3.7 million ha of omes—the boreal and the Arc­ forest). This industrial and urban tic—meet. Permafrost is prevalent. heartland of Canada has a population The open, stunted forests are domi­ over 14 million people and the nated by a few highly adaptable tree smallest forest land area of all the for­ species, such as black spruce and ested ecozones. Before the arrival of tamarack. These forests are charac­ Europeans, this ecozone was forested terized by innumerable surface wa­ and supported a greater diversity of ters, wetlands, and lichen rock out­ trees and plants than any other part crops. of Canada. Today, only small pock­ The boreal plains ecozone occu­ ets of the Carolinian forest, the bass- pies an area of 73.8 million ha (49.8 wood-sugar maple forest, and the million ha of forest) and has a popu­ hickory-sugar maple forest remain. lation of 710,000 people. The Peace Most of these forests have been River area is predominantly agricul­ cleared for farms, orchards, high­ tural with ongoing forest clearing. ways, and cities. White and black spruce, balsam fir, The Atlantic maritime ecozone lodgepole, and jack pine and trem­ covers an area of 20.4 million ha (16 bling aspen are the dominant tree million ha of forest). The largely ru­ species. Much of the forest area is ral population exceeds 2.6 million dissected by seismic lines associated people. Centuries of forestry and ag­ with oil and gas exploration. riculture have left few pockets of old- The boreal shield is the largest growth forest. The typical Acadian ecozone in Canada, covering 194.6 forest is characterized by a mix of million ha (151.1 million ha of forest) softwood and hardwood species, and stretching from Newfoundland including red spruce, sugar maple, to northeastern Alberta. The largely beech, yellow birch, balsam fir, and urban population numbers 3 million white pine. Fire suppression has re­ people. Balsam fir predominates in duced the role of fire in ecosystem the east; elsewhere, black spruce, development. Insects and diseases, white spruce, jack pine, and balsam particularly the spruce budworm,

66 The George Wright FORUM State of the Environment Reporting/ Indicators remain a major ecological influence. tion of protection. The problem is Introduced insects and diseases pose that all these notions tend to confuse an increasing threat to native plant the definition of protected area rather species. than clarify it. For example, most of Most of the country's forests are the Canadian national parks can be publicly owned, with 71% controlled equated, with confidence, to IUCN by the provinces. Twenty-three per­ Category II (IUCN 1994). Provincial cent are federally owned; some are parks cannot; some allow resource managed by, or in cooperation with, extraction and some are not intended the territorial governments; and the to be there for purposes of ecosystem balance is in private hands. Export representation. What of protection products from Canada's forest sector forest? In commercial forests, not all contribute over $31 billion to the of the areas can be freely harvested as country's net balance of trade— they may have importance as win­ almost as much as energy, fishing, tering grounds for certain wildlife or mining, and agriculture combined. as erosion control zones. These sen­ These forests also support industries sitive ecosystems are as important to providing billions of dollars in sales, identify and protect as is the sustain- including tourism, recreation, wild ability of the timber surrounding foods, fur trade, Christmas trees, and these areas. However, having a pol­ maple products (CCFM 1998). icy rather than regulatory basis, these "protected areas" are not considered Protected Forests versus as protected by many. Indeed, in at Commercial Forests least one province, such areas are Of the forest land base, 23 million simply given longer rotation lengths ha are recognized as heritage forests or harvesting must be conducted as and, as such, are by law to be left in partial cuts rather than the usual their natural state. Another 28 mil­ clearcuts. lion ha are considered protection The problem is amplified when forest, where timber harvesting is comparisons of protected areas are excluded or modified by policy. In made among countries. IUCN Cate­ total, of the 418 million ha, some 235 gories V and VI are particularly open million ha are considered capable of to interpretation among countries, to producing timber. Currently, 119 such a degree that one may not be million ha are managed primarily for able to readily compare these areas. timber production. Canada has a strong environmental Terms such as "heritage forest," and protected area lobby. As such, in "protection forest," "national parks," most cases, when provinces report "provincial parks," "wildlife sanctu­ areas under protection, they tend to aries," etc., all conjure up some no­ equate protected lands to those that

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meet the requirements of IUCN ronmentally and economically, if categories I and II—those that are possible, to the surrounding area. legislated to prohibit resource ex­ There is also recognition that static traction. preservation of protected areas is impossible. Ecosystems, by nature, Reporting and Indicator Initiatives are dynamic and constantly changing Canada has emphasized the need due to a myriad of ecological factors. for criteria and indicators of sustain­ The term "islandization" is being able forest management over the past used to describe existing protected several years. Two similar processes areas that have become isolated from have resulted in comparable sets of their surroundings, to a degree that criteria and indicators: the interna­ their own viability is questioned. For tional Montreal Process and the do­ example, in several regions, logging mestic Canadian Council of Forest has occurred up to the boundaries of Ministers (CCFM) process. The national parks. These parks have be­ CCFM set has been adopted nation­ come refugia of landscapes that were ally for reporting on an array of eco­ once much larger, and may be too logical, economic, and social indi­ small and isolated to maintain eco­ cators of forest sustainability (CCFM logical functions and processes es­ 1997). One of the ecological indica­ sential to sustain desirable ecosys­ tors tracks the representativeness of tems. Several initiatives, both pro­ forest types in protected areas. Oth­ vincial and federal, are under way ers are intended to track various as­ looking at options and opportunities pects of ecosystem, species, and ge­ to enhance this integration. One such netic diversity trends in forest land­ initiative is embodied by Canada's scapes, including commercial and Model Forest Program. protected forest. In the United Model forests were initiated in States, researchers have indicated Canada in 1991, as part of the federal similar needs for scientifically sound "Green Plan" program. The inten­ and defensible indicators and as­ tion was to establish examples of sessments (Gillespie 1996). sustainable forest management in a Canada recognizes the need to "working-sized" forest with multiple integrate protected areas with the stakeholders. The examples were working forest, meaning that the intended to represent each forest re­ biodiversity values that government gion in the country, as defined by agencies and other organizations Rowe (1959). Model forests are ad­ seek to protect cannot be maintained ministered differently in different without consideration of surround­ parts of the country depending on ing landscapes. Likewise, the pro­ their membership and the important tected areas should contribute envi­ issues in the area. All were expected

68 The George Wright FORUM State of the Environment Reporting/ Indicators to address biodiversity and other the forest; in maintaining the natural environmental issues. Most model mix of community types across the forests contain protected areas within landscape, and developing and dem­ their boundaries, commonly provin­ onstrating management practices that cial parks or ecological reserves, and, aim to sustain all native biodiversity. in one case, a national park. This Protected areas are generally recog­ provided an opportunity for devel­ nized as an important component of opment of management approaches a larger strategy in the model forests, that would treat protected areas as aimed at maintaining sustainable for­ part of an integrated landscape. The est ecosystems into the future. work conducted by the Greater The Canadian Model Forest Pro­ Fundy Ecosystem Research Group, gram has spawned interest from for example, culminated in a set of other countries. Today, as part of the management guidelines to protect international model forest network, native biodiversity in the Fundy these working forests have been es­ Model Forest, in the context of tablished in Mexico (two such forests maintaining and enhancing the pro­ exist and a third one is being consid­ tective role of Fundy National Park ered) and Russia. The United States (Woodley and Forbes 1997). has integrated three adaptive man­ In addition to the protected areas agement areas along the Pacific coast contained within the boundaries of as part of the international network. the model forests at the beginning of Discussions are under way to include the program, researchers conducted Malaysia as part of the network gap analyses in several of the model (Natural Resources Canada 1996). forests to identify and fill gaps in rep­ resentation of ecological diversity. Forest Ecosystem Classification The purpose was two-fold: to de­ Another Canadian initiative ad­ velop and promote methods to be dresses the need for a unified system applied in the rest of the forest re­ for ecosystem classification across gion, and to take advantage of model the country. The existing national forest objectives to achieve increased ecological land classification (ESWG protection of elements within the 1996) is most useful at relatively model forests. Gap analyses were coarse scales, but the scale of infor­ conducted at different scales, and mation required for reporting and resulted in a number of initiatives to planning purposes is often finer. For protect or develop stewardship ap­ example, in the absence of a national proaches to maintain ecologically forest type nomenclature, it is diffi­ significant features. cult to answer basic questions such The Model Forest Program fo­ as that posed by the CCFM indicator cuses most attention on the rest of on "Area, percentage and represen-

Volume 16 • Number 2 1999 69 State of the Environment Reporting/ Indicators tativeness of forest types in protected loss of biodiversity. A protected ar­ areas." In contrast to the USA, Can­ eas strategy was released in 1993, ada does not have a national forest with a stated goal to protect 12% of type classification system. The Ca­ the province by the year 2000 (Mor­ nadian Forest Service is developing rison and Turner 1994). Between such a classification system in col­ 1992 and 1996, the provincial pro­ laboration with the provinces and tected area percentage grew from 6% territories. Its approach is to build on to just over 9%, and it continues to work that has been done by prov­ increase. inces using vegetation and site attrib­ The strategy encompasses steps utes to develop a hierarchical system. all the way from identifying study Wherever possible, structural or areas through the eventual manage­ taxonomic conventions from existing ment of areas that are designated. A provincial or territorial ecosystem comprehensive set of criteria was classification systems will be used. developed to identify and evaluate This work has been given high pri­ the study areas, including: represen­ ority nationally, in part to facilitate tativeness, naturalness, viability, di­ reporting on national criteria and versity, and vulnerability. From the indicators of sustainable forest man­ socio-economic perspective, two ad­ agement. Several CCFM indicators, ditional criteria were added: oppor­ in addition to the one cited above, tunity for public use and apprecia­ require reporting at the level of forest tion, and opportunity for scientific type. In the absence of a recognized research. After areas were recom­ classification system for forest eco­ mended, the strategy called for Cabi­ systems, such reporting is difficult net approval before going to a land- and imprecise, at best. use planning exercise which involved consultation with all interests at the British Columbia regional and sub-regional levels, with Protected Areas Strategy assurances of that principles of plan­ In Canada, responsibility for land ning and public participation be fol­ management lies at the provincial lowed. The decision to designate government level, so responses to particular protected areas is taken by calls for expanding systems of pro­ Cabinet. tected areas have been inconsistent across Canada. British Columbia is Threatened Major Forest an example of a province that made a Ecosystems within Canada substantial commitment and has Several of the forested ecozones been steadily working toward that have forests that are under continu­ goal. There, protected areas are seen ing threat from land-use activities. as an important means of preventing The following table describes the

70 The George Wright FORUM State of the Environment Reporting/ Indicators

Table 2. Threatened forest ecosystems by ecozone

Ecozone Forest Ecosystem Concern

Pacific maritime Coastal temperate rain forest Old-growth component from Garry oak-Arbutus forest harvesting Entire ecosystem from Coastal Douglas-fir forest urbanization and land conversion Conversion to urban and agricultural uses

Montane Ponderosa pine forest Fire suppression, non- cordillera forest land use activities

Boreal plains Southern aspen forest Conversion to agricultural use

Boreal shield White pine forest Old-growth component from Red pine forest harvesting

Mixedwood Carolinian forest Urbanization and plains conversion to Hickory-sugar maple forest agriculture Urbanization and Basswood-sugar maple forest conversion to agriculture Urbanization and conversion to agriculture

Atlantic maritime Wet cedar forest Over-harvest with Rich, tolerant hardwood forest poor regeneration Old-growth component to harvesting and conversion to agriculture

Volume 16 • Number 2 1999 71 State of the Environment Reporting/ Indicators major threatened forest ecosystems netic diversity of most forest species by ecozone. may be adequately maintained under All these forest ecosystems, ex­ commercial forest management con­ cept for the aspen forests of the ditions. However, opportunities for southern portion of the boreal plains genetic processes to occur under ecozone, extend into the USA. All conditions that are as natural as pos­ have a key role to play as habitat, sible, are important to avoid modi­ source of food and shelter for various fying species by imposing inadver­ North American migratory wildlife tent selection pressures. species. Each represents a unique Any forest-harvesting regime has assemblage of gene pools, critical for potential effects on species occupy­ the survival of North American forest ing the site. For example, it is clear to ecosystems as environmental condi­ all forest managers that the forest can tions change. be changed in commercially detri­ In response to concerns about the mental ways by harvesting only the old-growth pine forests in Ontario, a best trees of a particular species over conservation strategy has been de­ a wide area and a long time. But re­ veloped for red and white pine eco­ moving only the (commercially) systems. The goal is "to ensure that worst can result in changes as well, red and white pine forest ecosystems, that are good in the short term from a including old growth stands are pre­ commercial perspective, but may not sent on the landscape of Ontario now be so beneficial in the long run. To and into the future, while permitting maximize the probability of our for­ a sustainable harvest of red and white est species surviving ecosystem pine" (Ontario Ministry of Natural change, large diverse populations Resources 1998). The strategy will must be maintained. include protected areas and sensitive Butternut provides an example of forest management. the importance of maintaining large One function of protected areas is diverse populations. A devastating to protect genetic diversity of natural new disease has swept the range of populations. Genetic diversity is that the species and left many trees dead portion of biodiversity that is proba­ in its wake (Ostry et al. 1994). The bly the least easily measured and disease is efficient, rapidly spreading most often ignored. Global change through entire stands and killing the renders genetic diversity especially trees. If genes are not available in important today. Maintaining genetic existing populations, which are al­ diversity means maintaining the po­ ready adapted to survive the disease, tential for evolutionary change, thus the species is doomed. There is no ensuring the potential of a species to particular reason for such pre- adapt to environmental change. Ge­ adapted variants to exist before the

72 The George Wright FORUM State of the Environment Reporting/ Indicators disease struck, but, given large and are responsible for land management. diverse enough populations, experi­ There remains a very high degree of ence has demonstrated that there is a interest in protecting and reporting reasonable possibility of the exis­ on forests at the international level. tence of such resistant variants. The Canada has been called upon by the butternut is just one example of a G8 Action Programme on Forests species experiencing catastrophic (May 1998) to identify key forest impacts of introduced pathogens. types that are insufficiently repre­ The best safeguard against losses sented within the existing network of due to ecological change, regardless protected areas. Canada also faces of the cause, is maintenance of large significant challenges in defining for­ populations of native species that are est types, identifying those that are free to evolve under conditions that insufficiently represented in pro­ are as natural as possible. This is an tected areas, and then filling the important function of representative gaps. At present, government agen­ protected areas. cies lack the tools to accomplish these things. Continuing initiatives to Conclusion co-ordinate efforts among the levels Protection of forest biodiversity is of government, First Nations groups, especially challenging in Canada, non-governmental organizations, and where the federal government makes industry are crucial to meeting the international commitments but the challenges. provincial or territorial governments

References CCFM [Canadian Council of Forest Ministers]. 1997. Criteria and Indicators of Sustainable Forest Management in Canada. Ottawa: Natural Resources Canada. . 1998. National Forest Strategy (1998-2003): Sustainable Forests, A Canadian Commitment. Ottawa: CCFM. Cantin, D., P. Hall, K. Percy, and P. Nantel. 1998. Case Study: The Impact of Air Pollution on Forest Ecosystems. Final report to the Secretariat of the Commission on Environmental Cooperation. Montreal: CEC. ESWG [Ecological Stratification Working Group]. 1996. A National Ecological Framework for Can­ ada. Ottawa: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Centre for Land and Biological Resources Re­ search, Research Branch and Environment Canada, Environmental Conservation Service, State of the Environment Directorate. Forest Health Network. 1999. Forest Health in Canada: An Overview 1998. Fredericton, N.B.: Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service. (In press.) Gillespie, A.J. 1996. Research and development needs for forest ecosystem monitoring. Pp. 241-246 in Proceedings of North American Workshop for Ecological Assessment of Terrestrial and Aquatic Eco­ systems. General Technical Report RM-GTR-284. Fort Collins, Colo.: U.S. Department of Agri­ culture-Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. IUCN. 1994. Guidelines for Protected Area Management Categories. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. Kellogg, E. F. (ed.) 1994. The Rainforests of Home: An Atlas of People and Place. Part 1—Natural For­ ests and Native Languages of the Coastal Temperate Rain Forest. Portland, Ore., and Washington, D.C.: Ecotrust, Pacific GIS, and Conservation International.

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Morrison, K. E., and A. M. Turner. 1994. Protected areas in British Columbia: Maintaining natural diversity. Pp. 355-374 in Biodiversity in British Columbia: Our Changing Environment, L. E. Harding and E. McCullum, eds. Ottawa: Environment Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service. NAEWG [North American Ecosystem Working Group]. 1997. Ecological Regions of North America: Towards a Common Perspective. Montreal: Commission for Environmental Cooperation. Natural Resources Canada 1996. The State of Canada's Forests 1995-1996: Sustaining Forests at Home and Abroad. Ottawa: Canadian Forest Service. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. 1998. Conservation Strategy for Old Growth Red and White Pine Forest Ecosystems in Ontario. Toronto: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Ostry, M. E., M. E. Meilke, and D. D. Skilling. 1994. Butternut—Strategies for Managing a Threatened Tree. General Technical Report NC-165. St. Paul, Minn., and Radnor, Pa.: U.S. Department of Agriculture-Forest Service, North Central Forest Experiment Station and Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry. Rowe, J. S. 1959. Forest Regiotis of Canada. Bulletin no. 123. Ottawa: Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources, Forestry Branch. Wiken, E. B., D. Gauthier, I. Marshall, K. Lawton, and H. Hirvonen. 1996. A Perspective on Canada's Ecosystems: An Overview of the Terrestrial and Marine Ecozones. Canadian Council on Ecological Areas Occasional Paper no. 14. Ottawa: CCEA. Woodley, S., and G. Forbes. 1997. Forest Management Guidelines to Protect Native Biodiversity in the Fundy Model Forest. Fredericton, N.B.: Greater Fundy Ecosystem Research Group, New Bruns­ wick Co-operative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of New Brunswick.

Judy Loo, Canadian Forest Service, P.O. Box 4000, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5P7 Canada; [email protected] Harry Hirvonen, Canadian Forest Service, Ottawa, Ontario KIA 0E4 Can­ ada; [email protected]

74 The George Wright FORUM