Emulating Succession of Boreal Mixedwood Forests in Alberta Using Understory Protection Harvesting

Ecosystem Responses to Partial Harvesting in Eastern Boreal Mixedwood Stands

Partial harvesting has been proposed as a key aspect to implementing ecosystem management in the Canadian boreal forest. We report on a replicated experiment located in boreal mixedwoods of Northwestern Quebec. In the winter of 2000–2001, two partial harvesting treatments, one using a dispersed pattern, and a second, which created a (400 m) gap pattern, were applied to a 90-year-old aspen-domin...

Response of female beetles to LIDAR derived topographic variables in Eastern boreal mixedwood forests (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

Biodiversity monitoring is increasingly being bolstered with high resolution data derived from remote sensing such as LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging). We derived a series of topographical variables, including slope, azimuth, ground curvature and flow accumulation from LIDAR images and compared these to captures of female carabids in pitfall traps in Eastern boreal mixedwood forests. We deve...

Burning Potential of Fire Refuges in the Boreal Mixedwood Forest

In boreal ecosystems, wildfire severity (i.e., the extent of fire-related tree mortality) is affected by environmental conditions and fire intensity. A burned area usually includes tree patches that partially or entirely escaped fire. There are two types of post-fire residual patches: (1) patches that only escaped the last fire; and (2) patches with lower fire susceptibility, also called fire r...

Understory Plants in Temperate Forests

Retrieval of seasonal dynamics of forest understory reflectance from semiarid to boreal forests using MODIS BRDF data

Spatial and temporal patterns of forest background (understory) reflectance are crucial for retrieving biophysical parameters of forest canopies (overstory) and subsequently for ecosystem modeling. In this communication, we retrieved seasonal courses of understory normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from multiangular Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer bidirectional reflecta...