Climate Change, Carbon Sequestration, and Forest Fire Protection in the Canadian Boreal Zone

Climate Change, Carbon Sequestration, and Forest Fire Protection in the Canadian Boreal Zone PDF Author: Brian J. Stocks
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781443570015
Category : Carbon cycle (Biogeochemistry)
Languages : en
Pages : 26

Get Book Here

Book Description
Boreal forests and peatlands in northern circumpolar areas, including Ontario, store globally significant amounts of carbon but are subject to forest fires and other natural disturbances that cycle carbon between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. Climate change projections for the 21st century suggest that wildland fire regimes will become more severe, with more fires, more extreme weather events, and the likelihood of increased area burned. Even if fire suppression resources are increased to cope with the changing fire conditions, suppression efforts will be challenged. Forest fires release significant amounts of greenhouse gases and under a more severe fire regime increased emissions are expected. Concerns over increasing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the potential to achieve carbon offset credits through enhanced forest management practices, may lead resource management agencies to consider, as one of their options, increasing fire suppression efforts to reduce area burned and maintain carbon in storage.

Climate Change, Carbon Sequestration, and Forest Fire Protection in the Canadian Boreal Zone

Climate Change, Carbon Sequestration, and Forest Fire Protection in the Canadian Boreal Zone PDF Author: Brian J. Stocks
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781443570015
Category : Carbon cycle (Biogeochemistry)
Languages : en
Pages : 26

Get Book Here

Book Description
Boreal forests and peatlands in northern circumpolar areas, including Ontario, store globally significant amounts of carbon but are subject to forest fires and other natural disturbances that cycle carbon between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. Climate change projections for the 21st century suggest that wildland fire regimes will become more severe, with more fires, more extreme weather events, and the likelihood of increased area burned. Even if fire suppression resources are increased to cope with the changing fire conditions, suppression efforts will be challenged. Forest fires release significant amounts of greenhouse gases and under a more severe fire regime increased emissions are expected. Concerns over increasing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the potential to achieve carbon offset credits through enhanced forest management practices, may lead resource management agencies to consider, as one of their options, increasing fire suppression efforts to reduce area burned and maintain carbon in storage.

Fire, Climate Change, and Carbon Cycling in the Boreal Forest

Fire, Climate Change, and Carbon Cycling in the Boreal Forest PDF Author: Eric S. Kasischke
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387216294
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 490

Get Book Here

Book Description
A discussion of the direct and indirect mechanisms by which fire and climate interact to influence carbon cycling in North American boreal forests. The first section summarizes the information needed to understand and manage fires' effects on the ecology of boreal forests and its influence on global climate change issues. Following chapters discuss in detail the role of fire in the ecology of boreal forests, present data sets on fire and the distribution of carbon, and treat the use of satellite imagery in monitoring these regions as well as approaches to modeling the relevant processes.

Boreal Forests in the Face of Climate Change

Boreal Forests in the Face of Climate Change PDF Author: Miguel Montoro Girona
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031159888
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 859

Get Book Here

Book Description
This open access book explores a new conceptual framework for the sustainable management of the boreal forest in the face of climate change. The boreal forest is the second-largest terrestrial biome on Earth and covers a 14 million km2 belt, representing about 25% of the Earth’s forest area. Two-thirds of this forest biome is managed and supplies 37% of global wood production. These forests also provide a range of natural resources and ecosystem services essential to humanity. However, climate change is altering species distributions, natural disturbance regimes, and forest ecosystem structure and functioning. Although sustainable management is the main goal across the boreal biome, a novel framework is required to adapt forest strategies and practices to climate change. This collaborative effort draws upon 148 authors in summarizing the sustainable management of these forests and detailing the most recent experimental and observational results collected from across the boreal biome. It presents the state of sustainable management in boreal forests and highlights the critical importance of this biome in a context of global change because of these forests' key role in a range of natural processes, including carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, and the maintaining of biodiversity. This book is an essential read for academics, students, and practitioners involved in boreal forest management. It outlines the challenges facing sustainable boreal forest management within the context of climate change and serves as a basis for establishing new research avenues, identifying future research trends, and developing climate-adapted forest management plans.

Climate Change and the Future Fire Environment in Ontario

Climate Change and the Future Fire Environment in Ontario PDF Author: Mike Wotton
Publisher: Sault Ste Marie : Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Applied Research and Development
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 32

Get Book Here

Book Description
The increased fi re load is expected to increase the cost of fi re management in the province 16% by the year 2040 and 54% by the year 2090 over year 2000 costs, exclusive of infl ation or other factors. [...] In addition to increases in seasonal fi re severity indices, a number of these studies also predict increases in the frequency of occurrence of extreme fi re danger in some areas of the country (e.g., Stocks et al. [...] This study uses lightning- and people-caused fi re occurrence models developed specifi cally for Ontario with GCM projections of future climate and Ontario's level of protection analysis software, LEOPARDS (see McAlpine and Hirsch 1999) to estimate the impacts of climate change on the fi re management organization both in terms of numbers of escaped fi res and with respect to changes in operationa [...] The sites of the GCM grid cell centres and OMNR weather stations used are shown in Figure 1. Fire Weather and Fire Danger To create the fi re climate of a future decade, the monthly anomalies were applied to the daily data from the OMNR fi re weather station archive from the years 1992-2001 (corresponding to the period over which lightning records were available). [...] The Fire Behaviour Prediction (FBP) System (Forestry Canada Fire Danger Group 1992) was used in conjunction with the Initial Spread Index (ISI), the Build-up Index (BUI) (calculated on the detection date of the fi re using the FWI System), and the fuel type associated with the fi re to estimate an initial rate of spread for each fi re.

The Effects of Forest Management on Carbon Storage in Ontario's Forests

The Effects of Forest Management on Carbon Storage in Ontario's Forests PDF Author: Stephen J. Colombo
Publisher: Sault Ste. Marie : Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Applied Research and Development
ISBN:
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 140

Get Book Here

Book Description
"This report examines how forest management can affect the carbon (C) balance of Ontario's forests. Ten forest management activities organized in four themes were examined: stand establishment (site preparation, planting, and vegetation management), growth enhancement (thinning, fertilization, and genetic improvement), forest protection (from forest fires, and insect and disease infestations), and harvesting (controlling the area occupied by roads, skid trails and landings, and reducing the area disturbed by harvesting)."--Document.

The Role of Boreal Forests and Forestry in the Global Carbon Budget

The Role of Boreal Forests and Forestry in the Global Carbon Budget PDF Author: International Boreal Forest Research Association. Conference
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 340

Get Book Here

Book Description


Forest Ecosystems, Forest Management and the Global Carbon Cycle

Forest Ecosystems, Forest Management and the Global Carbon Cycle PDF Author: Michael J. Apps
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642611117
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 455

Get Book Here

Book Description
Globally, forest vegetation and soils are both major stores of terrestrial organic carbon, and major contributors to the annual cycling of carbon between the atmosphere and the biosphere. Forests are also a renewable resource, vital to the everyday existence of millions of people, since they provide food, shelter, fuel, raw materials and many other benefits. The combined effects of an expanding global population and increasing consumption of resources, however, may be seriously endangering both the extent and future sustainability of the world's forests. About thirty chapters cover four main themes: the role of forests in the global carbon cycle; effects of past, present and future changes in forest land use; the role of forest management, products and biomass on carbon cycling, and socio-economic impacts.

The Carbon Bomb

The Carbon Bomb PDF Author: Kevin Jardine
Publisher: Amsterdam : Stichting Greenpeace Council
ISBN:
Category : Atmospheric carbon dioxide Environmental aspects
Languages : en
Pages : 50

Get Book Here

Book Description


The Relationship Between Wildfire Dynamics and Soil Carbon in Boreal Forests of Alaska: Forest Management for Emissions Reduction in a Changing Climate

The Relationship Between Wildfire Dynamics and Soil Carbon in Boreal Forests of Alaska: Forest Management for Emissions Reduction in a Changing Climate PDF Author: James D Heaster
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book Here

Book Description
The boreal region of Alaska has vast forests spanning hundreds of thousands of square kilometers in the central portion of the state that is prone to large stand replacing summer wildfires. The region stores considerable quantities of terrestrial carbon sequestered in soil horizons down to 1 meter in depth that are strongly influenced by a combination of climate change, permafrost dynamics, vegetative composition, and fire regimes. Data and literature establish that the boreal region of Alaska (and the rest of the Arctic) has been steadily warming at a rate nearly double that of lower latitudes. This warming has resulted in larger fires defined by shorter return intervals. This altered fire regime places the vast stocks of organic soil carbon at risk to greater degrees of combustion, potentially contributing millions more tons of CO2 to the atmosphere in the Arctic region. Between 2000-2015 roughly 5% (~28,000 km2) of the over 560,000 km2 of the boreal region burned, raising CO2 levels and supporting a positive feedback loop between climate and fires; when considering that this region of Alaska is larger than the state of California (~420,000 km2) these emissions are significant. Mean summer temperatures have risen by 1.4° C over the last 100 years, resulting in shorter fire return intervals characterized by more severe and intense, longer fire seasons. This warming is driving more pronounced permafrost degradation that is altering both the extent and depth of regional permafrost layers, increasing labile carbon stocks that serve as additional fuel pools for fires. While permafrost layers are fluctuating more frequently, the warmer temperatures are supporting increased vegetation growth with expansion of the boreal forest into landscapes that were previously hostile, increasing novelty in these area's fire regimes and subsequent emissions. As fire activity increases in the region, forest composition is being altered toward a greater dominance by deciduous rather than coniferous trees, a development that is increasing soil carbon levels as these stands mature. Human suppression policies, despite being well intentioned, are driving more frequent and severe fires due to an unnatural buildup of fuels, especially around regional population centers. Because of these findings, I recommend closing critical data gaps with further data additions, changing timber harvesting and forest management policies, and reexamining fire suppression policies.

The Importance of Forest Sector Adaptation to Climate Change

The Importance of Forest Sector Adaptation to Climate Change PDF Author: T. C. Lemprière
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 80

Get Book Here

Book Description
This report summarizes current knowledge about recent changes in the climate of Canadas forests and projects further changes over this century based on scenarios of future global greenhouse gas emissions developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Even with sustained reductions in global emissions the future climate is predicted to be quite different, meaning that adaptation will be essential. Impacts on the forest are already occurring and will be substantial in the future. The current upward trend in area burned annually is expected to continue. Forests will be prone to widespread stress induced by the changing climate, increasing the likelihood of pest outbreaks in the short to medium term. Recent outbreaks of several pests have exceeded in scope all previous known epidemics of these pests and are associated with the crossing of a climatic threshold. Invasion of the boreal forest by the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae (Hopkins), appears likely, although the effect of this range expansion would likely be less severe than that observed recently in British Columbia, and outbreaks of the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens), are predicted to be longer and more severe in the future. Future forest growth in response to climate change is expected to be variable, with growth reduction because of drought in parts of Canadas western forests perhaps the most dramatic short- to medium-term outcome, though modestly increased growth in the east is predicted. Such impacts have implications for the cost and characteristics of timber supply, and climate change will also affect forestry operations, recreation opportunities, biodiversity, and carbon storage. Planning based on past approaches will need to be reconsidered. Current objectives for sustainable forest management may not be attainable in the future, although there may be some new opportunities. Climate change may produce public safety risks, significant economic and social dislocation in forest-dependent communities including Aboriginal communities, and impacts on the competitiveness of companies as well as on the actions and policies of all levels of government. These effects can be reduced through early identification and implementation of actions to reduce vulnerabilities or take advantage of new opportunities. The key needs associated with adaptation in the forest sector include awareness building and debate, improved knowledge and information, vulnerability assessments, planning frameworks and tools, and enhanced coordination and cooperation among governments and other forest sector participants. Meeting the challenge of adaptation will require sustained effort for many years.