Twenty-year monitoring of silvicultural treatments and road reclamation for caribou conservation in the boreal mixedwoods

这份CRD赠款提案是与2018年11月13日评估的NSERC森林培育和木材生产行业主席一起提交的。这项建议包括两个分项目，即营林处理的中期监测和林地驯鹿养护的林道开垦。营林处理的中期监测：在基于自然干扰的管理(NDBM)中，使用一系列营林方法来复制在自然干扰后观察到的森林结构和组成。在NDBM中，部分采伐(PH)被用来维持不均衡的森林结构和生物遗产，如枯木，这是维持森林生物多样性所必需的。我们提出了一系列研究，以评估PH对林下植物群落、地面节肢动物群落、枯木动态以及北方混交林结构和生产力的中期(即20年)影响。我们将确定1)生物群落(植物和节肢动物)在PH后恢复的速度，以及2)PH后林分生产力是否增加，从而补偿收获的树木。道路复垦：该分项目将利用Agnico-Eagle矿正计划在Val-d‘Or附近建立一个新的露天矿开采金和铜矿这一事实。采矿项目的南面是Val-d‘Or的林地驯鹿种群，加拿大政府将其列为濒危物种。在该地区，为了方便资源开采，修路对驯鹿栖息地造成了干扰。栖息地的丧失加剧了这一驯鹿种群的不稳定，因此恢复其栖息地是当务之急。道路主要是通过增加捕食率来影响这一种群。然而，由于缺乏关于道路封闭对栖息地恢复的有效性的文献，因此很难提出恢复计划。这一分项目的目标是通过开垦林道恢复部分驯鹿栖息地。更具体地说，我们将评估道路填海技术的有效性，以减少驯鹿捕食者(即黑熊和灰狼)对林业道路的使用。

This CRD grant proposal is presented in association with the NSERC industrial chair in Silviculture and wood production evaluated on 13 November 2018. This proposal consists of two sub-projects, i.e. mid-term monitoring of silvicultural treatments and forest road reclamation for woodland caribou conservation.Mid-term monitoring of silvicultural treatments: In natural disturbance-based management (NDBM), a range of silvicultural approaches are used to replicate forest structure and composition that is observed after natural disturbances. Within NDBM, partial harvesting (PH) is used to maintain uneven forest structure and biological legacies, such as deadwood, necessary to maintain forest biodiversity. We propose a series of studies that will evaluate the medium-term (i.e. 20 years) effects of PH on understory plant communities, ground-dwelling arthropod communities, deadwood dynamics, and the structure and productivity of boreal mixedwood stands. We will determine 1) how quickly biotic communities (plants and arthropods) recover following PH and 2) whether stand productivity increases after PH thus compensating for harvested trees. Road reclamation: This sub-project will take advantage of the fact that Agnico-Eagle mines is planning to established a new open-pit mine for gold and copper mineral extraction near Val-d'Or. South of the mining project is located the woodland caribou population of Val-d'Or, designated as endangered by the government of Canada. In this region, to facilitate resource extraction, road building caused disturbances to the caribou habitat. Habitat loss has intensified the precariousness of this caribou population making it imperative to restore its habitat. Roads have mainly affected this population by increasing predation rates. The lack of literature on the effectiveness of road closure on habitat restoration, however, makes it difficult to propose restoration plans. This sub-project will be conducted with the objective of restoring part of the caribou habitat by reclamation of forest roads. More specifically, we will evaluate the effectiveness of road reclamation techniques to reduce the use of forestry roads by caribou predators (i.e. black bears and grey wolfs).