An integrated multi-trophic assessment of the impact of biomass harvesting on forest sustainability

森林生物能源部门正在加拿大各地迅速发展，采伐残余物正在成为工业原料的重要来源。生物能源部门有可能带来许多社会和经济效益，包括新的多样化市场和可再生能源。尽管有这些好处，但人们担心生物质收获对这一资源未来可持续性的潜在影响。生物能源部门的许多成员，包括森林管理人员、非政府组织以及大学和政府研究人员，都认为迫切需要了解生物量收获对生物多样性的影响。通过与工业界、政府和学术界的合作，我们组建了一个多学科的研究团队来研究这个问题。我们提出了一种创新的方法来研究生物量采伐强度对北方森林生物多样性的影响及其与土壤性质和立地生产力的联系。这项工作是独一无二的，因为它将研究广泛的关键类群（土壤微生物，土壤微型节肢动物，表面大型节肢动物和植被），这些类群是食物链中的重要环节，因此与营养循环和现场生产力有关。结果将在单个分类群和综合生态系统评估中进行解释。这种信息对于制定可持续生物量清除的阈值至关重要。这项研究的结果将直接为生物质收获实践的省级指导方针的制定提供信息，指导工业生物能源收获战略和森林认证标准，并影响加拿大的研究方向。最后，如果加拿大要进入广泛的新的国际市场并保持竞争力，从而使加拿大的经济和社会受益，就需要以强有力的科学为基础的森林管理。

The forest bioenergy sector is developing rapidly across Canada, and harvesting residues are emerging as an important source of industrial feedstock. The bioenergy sector has the potential for many social and economic benefits, including new and diversified markets and renewable sources of energy. Despite these benefits, there is concern regarding the potential impacts of biomass harvesting on the future sustainability of this resource. Knowledge on the impact of biomass harvesting on biodiversity has been identified as an urgent need by a wide range of members of the bioenergy sector, including forest managers, NGOs, and university and government researchers. Through our partnerships with industry, government, and academia, we have put together a multi-disciplinary team of researchers to examine the issue. We propose an innovative approach to examine the effects of biomass harvesting intensities on boreal forest biodiversity and its linkage to soil properties and site productivity. This work is unique as it will study a broad range of key taxa (soil microbes, soil microarthropods, surface macroarthropods, and vegetation) that are important links in the food-chain and hence linked to nutrient cycling and site productivity. The results will be interpreted both for individual taxa and in an integrated ecosystem level assessment. Such information is crucial to the development of thresholds of sustainable biomass removal. The results of this study will directly inform provincial guideline development on biomass harvesting practices, guide industrial bioenergy harvest strategies and forest certification standards, and influence the direction of research in Canada. Ultimately, forest management based on strong science is required if Canada is to access a wide range of new international markets and remain competitive, thus benefiting the Canadian economy and society.