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Jack Pine Ecosystem Productivity ProjectDr. Neil Foster "With the type of detailed data we are collecting and analyzing, we are advancing our knowledge and understanding of jack pine site productivity, both in terms of vegetation succession and tree growth. This improved understanding should contribute to better managed forests over the long term." Dr. Robert Fleming
About the Project Team...The Jack Pine Ecosystem Productivity Project is currently being lead by Neil Foster and Rob Fleming, research scientists with the Canadian Forest Service, at the Great Lakes Forestry Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The project team includes John Jeglum, Fred Beall, Debbie Mossa, Tom Weldon, Paul Hazlett, Jagtar Bhatti, Laura Hawdon and Wayne Johns. These individuals are working in collaboration, with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Weyerhaeuser Ltd., Domtar Ltd., and the USDA Forest Service.
About the Project...Research in Ontario, and throughout Canada is attempting to address issues surrounding forest sustainability, and the effects that existing forest management practices are having on the sustainability of both fibre supply and biodiversity. The Jack Pine Ecosystem Productivity Project is one of several related North American studies that are placing a long-term and detailed focus on these very important concerns, for a variety of forest species and the sites on which they occur. This type of research is important to forest managers and practitioners in both industry and government because harvest levels and scheduling are ultimately dependent on stand growth and ecosystem health, and hence on site productivity. The underlying scientific knowledge needed to evaluate site productivity is only acquired through detailed and systematic data collection, analysis, and study.
Specifically, the Jack Pine Ecosystem Productivity Project is designed to:
Forest ecosystem site productivity is a term used to describe the ability
of a forest site to sustain healthy tree and vegetation growth. It reflects
the combined effects of a number f physical, chemical and biological conditions
and processes. Physical conditions include soil moisture, temperature,
texture, structure and bulk density, while chemical conditions include
soil pH (acidity), organic content, and the presence and amounts of critical
elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and carbon. Soil microorganisms,
and soil fauna (insects, worms, etc.) are responsible for various biological
processes including decomposition and mineralization. All these factors
interact in great complexity, and are only now beginning to be thoroughly
understood through study and research. This gain in knowledge is leading
to a better understanding of over-all site productivity. Forest management
practices that affect these processes and their interaction will also
affect tree growth. There is a definite need for forest managers and planners
to have a sound knowledge of site productivity. The Jack Pine Ecosystem
Productivity Project is examining in detail, the processes and factors
that effect site productivity, as well as the nutrition and growth of
young plantations. Data collected through the study is being used with
computer simulation models to determine if sites can maintain long-term
productivity in growth (30 to 50 years into the future); in essence, determining
whether a harvested site is productive enough to produce future stands
of healthy, vigorous trees during future rotations.
Following in detail, is work being conducted through the Jack Pine Ecosystem Productivity Project:
Fig.1 Wells Twp. Nutrient Cycling Plot Fig.2 Jack Pine Productivity Site Tour in Wells Twp.
Fig. 3. The Jack Pine Ecosystem Productivity Project encompasses a range of jack pine sites. Since 1968, Canadian Forest Service researchers from the Great Lakes Forestry Centre have studied nutrient cycling in jack pine, with additional forest ecosystems being studied in similar, complimentary research projects since the late 1970s. In 1993, researchers began an even more ambitious program relating to jack pine, with the initiation of a suite of studies that examine the impacts of specific forest practices on jack pine ecosystems. This resulted from one of Ontario's Environmental Assessment requirements: that the effects of whole-tree harvesting on long-term site productivity be examined in detail. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, at the same time, set up a complimentary study focusing on black spruce ecosystem productivity.
In Conclusion...The Jack Pine Ecosystem Productivity Project is a long-term, detailed, and comprehensive examination of the physical, chemical and biological inter-workings of a variety of jack pine sites across north central Ontario. The project is focusing on the effects of various silvicultural disturbances and harvesting practices on site productivity. For forest managers and practitioners, the study is providing a better understanding of how to maintain ecosystem productivity (healthy tree and vegetation growth capacity) in disturbed jack pine sites. The results of this project will greatly assist forest managers in both modifying existing and developing new and potentially innovative harvesting and silvicultural practices that maximize site productivity over multiple rotations.
Additional, and more detailed information about this study is available. For more information, please contact: Neil Foster
Robert Fleming
Guy K.M. Smith |
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Last Updated: 2006-06-15 | ![]() |
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