Symposium
Justin Crotteau
USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, United States
Anthony D'Amato, PhD
Professor and Director
University of Vermont, United States
Brian Palik
USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Minnesota, United States
Increasingly agencies and organizations that manage forests are turning to approaches that better sustain a broad suite of ecosystem services; to achieve this goal they are looking for models of silviculture that emulate natural disturbance and stand development processes to a much greater degree than long-standing timber-focused models. Often, ecological silviculture translates into restoration of structure and composition in greatly simplified forests, that is, those that have been managed with a timber-focused model for decades or more. But ecological silviculture is distinct from restoration ecology, since the former explicitly includes management for commodities, especially timber, that are not usually within the purview of restoration ecology. Moreover, ecological silviculture is about restoration and management for adaptability to global changes. Specifically, it is about positioning forests to be better able to adapt to rapidly changing and novel drivers by making sure the forest has “all its parts”.
The goal of this session is to initiate a conversation about the global tenets and application of ecological silviculture. We will do this by identifying and summarizing approaches and research taken by innovative managers and researchers, who themselves will be presenting on synthesized ecological silviculture systems grouped by similar forest or environmental characteristics. These include approaches in four broad biogeoclimatic types. First, the boreal to sub-boreal forest type will integrate silvicultural examples from conifer wetlands in the United States; black spruce forests and aspen mixedwoods of Canada; and Scots pine of Fennoscandian forests. Next, the wet forest type will include examples from North and South American Pacific temperate rainforests, mountain ash of Australia, and Douglas-fir-western hemlock of United States. Third, the mesic forest type will entail mixed species forests of central Europe; yellow-birch—conifer mixedwoods of Canada; plus Acadian mixedwoods, northern hardwoods, central hardwoods, and southern Appalachian hardwood forests of the United States. And fourth, the warm-to-dry type describes Sierra Nevada mixed conifer, interior dry pine, longleaf pine, southeastern pine-oak, and Great Lakes red pine of the United States. In the synthetic discussion following presentation, participants will have the opportunity to elevate the presented array of international silvicultural systems to more universal concepts that further ground application to ecological theory.
This session is important because it will aid the discipline of ecological forestry to mature while also increasing the access to this technological development for ESA members. It will also be of interest to members seeking to increase connections between ecological theory and applied management.
Presenting Author: Charles A. Nock, Renewable Resources – University of Aalberta
Co-author: Ellen S. Macdonald – University of Alberta
Co-author: Miguel Montoro Girona – Groupe de Recherche en Ecologie de la MRC Abitibi, Institut de Recherche sur les Forêts, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Co-author: Brad Pinno – University of Alberta
Co-author: Phil Comeau – University of Alberta
Co-author: Marcella Windmuller Campione – University of Minnesota
Co-author: Timo Kuuluvainen – University of Helsinki
Presenting Author: William Beese, Forestry – Vancouver Island University
Co-author: Justin Crotteau – USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station
Co-author: Pablo Donoso – Universidad Austral de Chile
Co-author: Jerry F. Franklin – University of Washington
Co-author: David Lindenmayer – The Australian National University
Co-author: Abe Wheeler – USDI Bureau of Land Management
Presenting Author: Miranda Curzon, Natural Resource Ecology & Management – Iowa State University
Co-author: Anthony D'Amato, PhD – University of Vermont
Co-author: Jodi A. Forrester, PhD – NC State University
Co-author: John M. Kabrick, PhD – USDA Forest Service - Northern Research Station
Co-author: Tara L. Keyser, PhD – US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Southern Research Station, Asheville, NC, United States
Co-author: Thomas A. Nagel, PhD – University of Ljubljana
Co-author: Patricia Raymond, PhD – Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs du Québec
Co-author: Robert S. Seymour, PhD – University of Maine
Presenting Author: Robert York, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management – University of California Berkeley
Co-author: Andrew J. Larson – Department of Forest Management and Wilderness Institute, University of Montana
Co-author: Derek J. Churchill, PhD – Washington Department of Natural Resources
Co-author: Benjamin Knapp – University of Missouri
Co-author: Steve Jack – T.L.L. Temple Foundation
Co-author: Justin Hart – University of Alabama
Co-author: Anthony D'Amato, PhD – University of Vermont
Co-author: Brian J. Palik – USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station