Technology transfer from small watersheds to managed watersheds in the Canadian Boreal Forest: application of watershed disturbance models to an industrial landscape

我们建议制定一个程序，使流域内的水文要素可以嵌入森林业使用的预测和规划工具，也可以由加拿大所有地区的能源部门、森林业和其他土地使用者在综合资源管理方面联合使用。我们的目标是将在Forward I项目期间为一级流域开发的水文模型框架应用于与行业相关的规模，即我们在西部Boreal平原(艾伯塔省天鹅山)和中部Boreal Shield(安大略省西北部遗留森林)运营的行业合作伙伴的区域和次区域分析和森林管理领域。在这个过程中，我们将在现有框架的基础上开发一个适当的混合模型，纳入确定性和随机性方法的各个方面。我们将利用现有的广泛的实地基础设施和完善的协议来收集来自一至四级流域的天气、土壤、土壤微生物群落、地下水、湿地、植被、河岸和水生生物指标、溪流和水质的输入数据。项目成果将使我们的行业合作伙伴能够根据分水岭确定最佳的土地干扰水平，并根据平衡土地干扰与水质值的协议，规划其长达200年的综合土地管理活动。此外，这项工作将有助于减少数据需求、明智的监测、所有流域情景的系统学习能力以及更好的收获后总生物量预测。它将把河岸植被的连通性和完整性与湿地纳入基于模式和过程的规划，认识到这些流域特征在减少损失和在自然变化范围内维持与这些地点相关的动植物方面的重要性。

We propose to develop a process whereby hydrologic elements within watersheds can be embedded in forecast and planning tools used by the Forest Industry and can also be used jointly in an Integrated Resource Management context by the Energy Sector, Forest Industry and other land users throughout all areas in Canada. Our goal is to apply the hydrologic modelling framework developed for first-order watersheds during the FORWARD I project to the industry-relevant scale, namely regional and sub-regional analysis and forest management areas of our Industry Partners operating in the western Boreal Plain (Swan Hills, Alberta) and the central Boreal Shield (Legacy Forest, northwestern Ontario). During this process, we will develop an appropriate hybrid model from the existing framework, incorporating aspects of both deterministic and stochastic approaches. We will use existing extensive field infrastructure and refined protocols to collect input data on weather, soils, soil microbial communities, groundwater, wetlands, vegetation, riparian and aquatic bioindicators, streamflow and water quality from first- through fourth-order watersheds. Project outcomes will permit our Industry Partners to determine the optimal land disturbance levels by watershed and plan their Integrated Land Management activities for up to a 200-year horizon, based on protocols that balance land disturbance with water quality values. In addition, this work will facilitate fewer data needs, judicious monitoring, system learning capability for all watershed scenarios, and better post-harvest total biomass predictions. It will link riparian vegetation connectivity and integrity and wetlands into planning based on patterns and processes, recognizing the importance of these watershed features in moderating losses and maintaining, within the range of natural variation, the flora and fauna associated with these sites.