Maintaining forest biodiversity - collaborating with industry to understand how the intensification of forest management will impact biodiversity

加拿大人占世界森林面积的近10%。加拿大目前约有1/4的森林被管理用于木材生产。对这种自然资源日益增长的需求要求加拿大在更少的土地上种植更多的木材纤维，这已经刺激了几个省考虑实施集约化的林业。加拿大人现在面临着一个关键的不确定性，即我们不了解强化森林管理做法将如何影响森林生物多样性。该项目代表了林业行业、政府和大学之间的长期合作，将适应性管理作为一种正式程序，以处理在实施维持森林生物多样性的政策和管理做法方面的不确定性。工业和NSERC为长期试验性Nebie小区网络和密集森林管理科学伙伴关系奠定了基础。这项拟议研究的主要目标是量化集约化营林对安大略省北部和GLSL森林内植物群落组成、结构和功能多样性的影响。这将利用来自Nebie Plot网络的数据来完成，以评估地上植物物种多样性和地下种子库多样性--使用DNA条形码协议对种子进行条形码编码，并评估北部森林生态系统的种子库多样性。我们将为我们项目中的所有物种建立一个功能特征矩阵，用于分析不同强度干扰后森林群落组合的格局。该项目的第二个目标是通过以下方式推进适应性管理周期：(1)使用Nebie抽样设计监测生物多样性反应，该抽样设计将提供可靠的信息，并将能够测试关于强化营林对北方和五大湖-圣彼得堡植物群落组成、结构和功能多样性的影响的替代假设。(2)通过分析和评估数据来评估政策选择的效果，以及(3)使用所产生的信息来修订目标和目的。

Canadians are responsible for nearly10% of the world's forest. Approximately¼ of Canada's forests are currentlymanaged for timber production. Increasing demand for this natural resource requires Canada to grow more wood fibre on less land, which has stimulated several provinces to consider implementing intensification of silviculture. Canadians are now faced with the keyuncertaintythat we do not understand how the intensification of forest management practices will affect forest biodiversity. This project represents a long-standing collaboration among Forest Industry, government and universities using adaptive management asa formal process to deal with uncertainties in implementing policies and management practices that maintain forest biodiversity. Industryand NSERC that have laid the foundation for the long term experimental NEBIE Plot Network and the Intensive Forest Management Science Partnership. The primarygoal of this proposed research is to quantifythe effects of intensification of silviculture on the compositional, structural, and functional diversityof plant communities within the boreal and GLSLforests of Ontario. This will be accomplished using data from the NEBIE plot network to assess above ground plant species diversityand below ground seed bank diversityusing DNA barcoding protocols for barcoding seeds and estimating seed bank diversityin northern forest ecosystems. We will build a functional trait matrix for all species in our project, which will be used in analyzing patterns in forest communityassemblage following disturbance of varying intensity. A secondarygoal of this project is to advance the adaptive management cycle by(1) Monitoring biodiversityresponses using the NEBIE sampling designs that will provide reliable information and will enable tests of alternative hypotheses about effects of intensification of silviculture on the compositional, structural, and functional diversityof plant communities within the boreal and Great Lakes -St. Lawrence (GLSL) forests of Ontario, (2) Evaluate the effects of policyoptions by analyzing and evaluating data, and (3) Revise goals and objectives using the resulting information.