Are productive yellow-cedar forests showing early signs of decline on Haida Gwaii?

黄雪松的衰退是全球气候变化导致的森林枯死的最严重例子之一。由于黄雪松具有巨大的文化重要性，是温带雨林生态系统的组成部分，具有商业价值，因此了解导致树木衰退和死亡的原因对于有效地保护和管理幸存的森林至关重要。2014年，下降的范围扩大到海大县，对大安森林有限公司构成了重大挑战，海达拥有的一家公司，可持续地管理着193，000公顷的森林。Taan Forest对观察到的下降及其对他们管理的黄杉林的潜在影响深感担忧。NSERC的Engage Plus提案扩大了Taan Forest与UBC的LoriDaniels博士之间发起的新合作。2016年，我们开发并测试了一种新的方案，用于分析和监测沼泽附近的黄杉衰退。虽然自1980年左右以来，健康的树木的生长有所增加，但树木年轮分析显示，死亡前下降的黄杉的生长减少。这种树轮“特征”似乎是易受影响的黄杉数量下降的预警。2017年，我们将在五个适合木材管理的地点对森林进行采样，并利用树木年轮“特征”来确定海达县的黄杉林是否也出现了衰退的早期迹象。我们将与丹安森林合作，将我们的研究结果纳入他们的最佳管理实践，以确保黄杉的可持续管理。我们的研究结果将在演讲，研讨会，书面报告和夏季实地考察中分享，所有这些都将在海达·冈底斯举行。

Yellow-cedar decline is among the most serious examples of forest dieback driven by global climate change.As yellow-cedar is of tremendous cultural importance, an integral part of temperate rainforest ecosystems, andcommercially valuable, understanding what is causing tree decline and death is essential for effectiveconservation and management of surviving forests. In 2014, the decline expanded to Haida Gwaii, posing asignificant challenge to Taan Forest Ltd., a Haida owned company that sustainably manages 193,000 ha ofrainforests. Taan Forest is deeply concerned about the observed decline and the potential implications for theirmanaged yellow-cedar forests.This NSERC Engage Plus proposal expands the new collaboration initiated between Taan Forest and Dr. LoriDaniels at UBC. In 2016, we developed and tested a new protocol for analysis and monitoring of yellow-cedardecline near bogs. While the growth of live healthy trees increased since c.1980, tree-ring analyses showedreduced growth of declining yellow-cedars before death. This tree-ring "signature" appears to be an earlywarning of decline in susceptible yellow-cedar. In 2017, we will sample forests at five sites suitable for timbermanagement and use the tree-ring "signature" to determine if productive yellow-cedar forests are also showingearly signs of decline on Haida Gwaii. We will work with Taan Forest to incorporate our findings in their bestmanagement practices to ensure sustainable management of yellow-cedar. Our findings will be shared inpresentations, a workshop, a written report, and a summer field tour, all to be held on Haida Gwaii.