Evaluating and predicting the cumulative impact of multiple disturbances and restoration strategies on carbon stocks and biodiversity in boreal forests of Atlantic Canada

加拿大大西洋地区的北方森林正在经历迅速的变化。云杉芽虫爆发、森林火灾和大量非本地驼鹿的相互作用威胁着该系统的土壤、植物和动物。这些干扰也影响了加拿大大西洋北方森林固碳的能力——这是减缓气候变化的一个重要过程。我们的目标是研究云杉芽虫、火灾和驼鹿的管理如何影响这些北方森林的碳固存和生物多样性。为了进行这项研究，我们正在与纽芬兰岛上的主要土地管理机构——格罗斯莫恩国家公园、特拉诺瓦国家公园、纽芬兰政府、加拿大自然保护协会和加拿大自然资源部——建立伙伴关系和合作关系。我们的团队将收集实地数据并综合现有数据，包括植树、budworm和驼鹿管理以及规定火灾对纽芬兰碳和生物多样性的影响。我们将利用这些数据对土地管理和恢复如何影响森林和土壤作为碳汇和支持生物多样性的能力进行建模。我们的项目通过以下方式提高了碳汇增强和生物多样性的知识水平：1)量化常见土地管理行动对碳汇和生物多样性的贡献；2)利用数据和模型预测整个景观的碳汇和生物多样性；3)将野生动物管理纳入碳汇评估，这是一个经常被遗忘但重要的贡献者；4)量化保护区作为森林碳汇的价值。从我们的项目中获得的知识还将帮助我们的土地管理机构合作伙伴为联邦倡议做出贡献，例如加拿大政府目前的目标，即到2030年种植20亿棵树，同时确保在他们管理的土地上保持生态完整性和生物多样性的持久性。

Boreal forests in Atlantic Canada are undergoing rapid change. The interaction of a spruce budworm outbreak, forest fire, and hyperabundant non-native moose threaten the soils, plants, and animals of this system. These disturbances also impact the ability of Atlantic Canadian boreal forests to sequester carbon - an important process to mitigate climate change. We aim to study how management of spruce budworm, fire, and moose can impact carbon sequestration and biodiversity in these boreal forests. To do this research, we are partnering and collaborating with key land-management agencies on the island of Newfoundland - Gros Morne National Park, Terra Nova National Park, The Government of NL, The Nature Conservancy of Canada, and Natural Resources Canada. Our team will collect field data and synthesize existing data on the effects of tree planting, budworm and moose management, and prescribed fire on carbon and biodiversity in Newfoundland. We will use these data to model how land management and restoration impact the ability of forests and soils to act as carbon sinks and support biodiversity. Our project advances the state of knowledge on carbon sink enhancement and biodiversity by 1) quantifying how common land management actions contribute to the carbon sinks and biodiversity; 2) using data and models for projection of carbon sinks and biodiversity across whole landscapes; 3) including wildlife management, an often forgotten but important contributor, in carbon sink assessments; and 4) quantifying the value of protected areas as forest carbon sinks. Knowledge from our project will also help our land-management agency partners to contribute to federal initiatives such as the current Government of Canada target of planting 2 billion trees by 2030, while ensuring the maintenance of ecological integrity and biodiversity persistence on the lands they manage.