GIS model for riparian forest management in Ontario emulating post-fire residual forest patterns**

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Forest industries are faced with the challenge of obtaining necessary saw logs and wood fiber from decreasing landbase at a reasonable cost and complying with the general forest management policy of maintaining the ecosystem integrity. It is believed that careful harvesting of trees in shoreline areas is possible through emulating natural disturbance pattern (ENDP), that will maximize wood fiber procurement while conserving biodiversity and ecosystem functions. To be successful there is a critical need for a reliable method of locating and mapping the natural disturbance patterns, for example post-fire residual forests. In the proposed study a GIS-based model will be developed to predict shoreline residual forest patterns that would emulate natural disturbance patterns in the shorelines which can be used for the dual purpose of protecting ecologically sensitive riparian areas as well as locating opportunity for selectively harvesting. Our predictive GIS model, will enable Resolute Woodland manager develop new shoreline forest management strategies based on topography, hydrology, vegetation, and other landscape characteristics, which better emulate natural disturbance patterns and help delineate the ecologically sensitive riparian areas. Application of the model will achieve a balanced approach of habitat protection and economic trade-off unlike the current practice of maintaining fixed-width buffers that do not consider the ecological complexity of the land-water interface. The outcome of this research will directly benefit the forest industries across the country by contributing to hydrology-based shoreline forest management strategies that will facilitate ecologically based harvesting as well as conservation of riparian habitat and biotic integrity.