Forest management plans for resilient landscapes

While knowledge of individual tree and stand-level responses to changing silvicultural regimes is critical for understanding forest processes, future management and planning requires a landscape perspective, particularly to evaluate the effects of management strategies on risk of loss to disturbances and their impact on future wood supply. A MSc student will have the objective to modify existing forest estate planning tools to incorporate the potential risks likely to impact landscapes under current and future conditions. The analysis will make use of the tools produced by Silva21 including climate as well as lidar-derived EFI information. We will assess trade-offs between increasing the resilience of the landscape to these disturbances vs the expected productivity in terms of financial value. Outcome (AN.8a): A tool for designing spatially-explicit forest management plans that promote resilient landscapes while maintaining or improving production.

Helin Dura, PhD
Main Partner: Canadian Wood Fibre Centre
Professor Alexis Achim
Collaborator Mathieu Bouchard