Are productive yellow-cedar forests showing early signs of decline on Haida Gwaii?

黄柏的衰退是全球气候变化导致森林死亡的最严重的例子之一。由于黄柏具有巨大的文化重要性，是温带雨林生态系统的组成部分，具有商业价值，因此了解是什么导致树木衰退和死亡对于有效保护和管理幸存的森林至关重要。2014年，降幅扩大到海达岛，对海达拥有的可持续管理19.3万公顷热带雨林的Taan森林有限公司构成了重大挑战。塔安森林对观察到的下降及其对他们管理的黄雪松森林的潜在影响深感担忧。NSERC Engage Plus提案扩展了塔安森林和UBC的LoriDaniels博士之间发起的新合作。2016年，我们开发并测试了一项新的协议，用于分析和监测沼泽附近的黄柏衰退。虽然活的健康树木的生长自1980年以来有所增加，但树木年轮分析显示，死亡前衰退的黄柏的生长减少了。这个树轮的“特征”似乎是易受影响的黄柏衰退的早期警告。2017年，我们将在五个适合木材管理的地点对森林进行采样，并使用树轮“签名”来确定生产力较高的黄柏森林是否也显示出夏威夷的早期衰退迹象。我们将与泰安森林合作，将我们的发现纳入他们的最佳管理实践中，以确保黄柏的可持续管理。我们的发现将在演讲、研讨会、书面报告和夏季实地考察中分享，所有这些都将在夏威夷举行。

Yellow-cedar decline is among the most serious examples of forest dieback driven by global climate change.As yellow-cedar is of tremendous cultural importance, an integral part of temperate rainforest ecosystems, andcommercially valuable, understanding what is causing tree decline and death is essential for effectiveconservation and management of surviving forests. In 2014, the decline expanded to Haida Gwaii, posing asignificant challenge to Taan Forest Ltd., a Haida owned company that sustainably manages 193,000 ha ofrainforests. Taan Forest is deeply concerned about the observed decline and the potential implications for theirmanaged yellow-cedar forests.This NSERC Engage Plus proposal expands the new collaboration initiated between Taan Forest and Dr. LoriDaniels at UBC. In 2016, we developed and tested a new protocol for analysis and monitoring of yellow-cedardecline near bogs. While the growth of live healthy trees increased since c.1980, tree-ring analyses showedreduced growth of declining yellow-cedars before death. This tree-ring "signature" appears to be an earlywarning of decline in susceptible yellow-cedar. In 2017, we will sample forests at five sites suitable for timbermanagement and use the tree-ring "signature" to determine if productive yellow-cedar forests are also showingearly signs of decline on Haida Gwaii. We will work with Taan Forest to incorporate our findings in their bestmanagement practices to ensure sustainable management of yellow-cedar. Our findings will be shared inpresentations, a workshop, a written report, and a summer field tour, all to be held on Haida Gwaii.