GREATER FUNDY ECOSYSTEM RESEARCH PROJECT

UNB Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management


Forest Management Guidelines to Protect
Native Biodiversity in the Fundy Model Forest

Landscape Level Considerations

Plantations


From a timber perspective, plantations represent intensive forestry for the production of fibre or wood. Landowners may wish to pursue biodiversity objectives on their entire forest or only on specific proportions. In some jurisdictions it is felt that the existence of intensive sites offsets the demand for intense forest management on the rest of the landscape. Plantations have a number of deleterious impacts to the environment, particularly if a large amount of land is converted from natural forest to plantation (see review by Freedman et al., 1994). A strategy which advocates replacing diverse mixed species stands with pure softwood plantations is not acceptable for biodiversity values.


A young spruce plantation near Fundy National Park
(Photo: G. Forbes)

If the objective of the landowner is to promote biodiversity on all managed stands then a number of options are available:

Options for existing plantations:

  1. Overall, plantations of non-native species, such as Norway Spruce, or species not normally forming pure stands in the ecodistrict (e.g. Jack Pine along the Fundy Coast), should not cover more than 5% of the total area of each ecodistrict. Plantations of non-native species or species not normally forming pure stands in the ecodistrict should not be included in inventories of old age class forest types. For example, Norway Spruce can never be considered a substitute for Red Spruce.

  2. Plantations can meet mature habitat requirements by letting the plantation age to the maturity window for that particular forest type. The plantation can then meet the criteria for mature habitat, with the following restrictions:
    a) the plantation should have at least 5% of canopy tree species that are other than the dominant planted species
    b) the plantation should meet the guidelines for coarse woody debris and snags (i.e. minimum of 200 pieces of cwd/ha and 10 m3/ha., average diameter of pieces greater than or equal to 10 cm) contained in this document. This requirement may be met by early thinning or girdling of trees
    c) the plantation should have a minimum canopy closure of 60%

  3. Retain as many tree species as feasible during thinning operations.

  4. Replant Aspen and Poplar in clumps within maturing plantations for their use by cavity nesting species

For new or planned plantations:

  1. Follow snag and clump guidelines, retaining Aspen, Poplar and Birch trees where possible.
  2. Retain coarse woody debris
  3. Limit crush-and-burn site preparation in order to retain coarse woody debris
  4. Retain strips or clumps of competing species during herbicide or thinning operations
  5. Use native species only
  6. Reflect the site's ecological classification by not converting mixed stands into softwood or hardwood (i.e. plantations on converted sites are not eligible).


Go to Guidelines for:
Patch Size (Forest Stand Size)
Connectivity
Stand Age - Provisions for Mature Forest Stand
Incorporating Maturity into Forest Harvest Schedules
Guidelines for Mature/Overmature Coniferous Forest
Stand Conversion
Roads
Protected Areas
Water Course Buffers


Habitat Considerations for Specific Species
Special Status Tree Species
Coarse Woody Debris
Snag and Cavity Tree Retention


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Information provided by:
Dr. Graham Forbes
Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management at UNB
Last Update: Dec 17, 1997
This document: http://www.unb.ca/web/forestry/centers/cwru/plant.htm