Using Biodiversity Indicators to Assess the Success of Forecasting Adaptive Ecosystem Management: The Newfoundland and Labrador Experience

Abstract

This paper reports on an initiative referred to as the Biodiversity Assessment Project (BAP). A suite of tools is being developed to assist forest managers in assessing the predicted future forest conditions of Newfoundland and Labrador’s forests under a variety of management scenarios. Since 1999, the Western Newfoundland Model Forest partnership has worked with the Institut Québécois d’Aménagement de la Forêt Feuillue (IQAFF) to develop a suite of strategic planning tools that assess the impact of various forest management scenarios on selected biodiversity indicators. This original approach began with Millar Western Forest Products Ltd. (MWFP) in Alberta, Canada, in cooperation with Peter Duinker, Lakehead University, and is now being modified to fit the Newfoundland and Labrador forest condition. The preliminary results show that forest management actions can have significant impact on various biodiversity indicators, depending on the selected management scenario. There are several components to BAP. The coarse filter layer examines the ecosystem diversity and landscape structure indices. The fine filter layer focuses on species-specific Habitat Suitability Models (HSMs). WNMF is also defining the natural disturbance regimes for western Newfoundland and comparing the selected biodiversity indicators between a natural forest condition and a managed forest. This future control forest will be used to set the natural range of variation on each biodiversity parameter being used for assessment. The BAP tools will also be developed to assess central Newfoundland eco-regions so they can be used throughout the province and applied to specific situations, such as fire-dominated ecosystems. The BAP will begin to be incorporated in the provincial wood supply analysis starting in 2005 as a prototype assessment tool.

Parent Publication

• Monitoring Science and Technology Symposium: Unifying Knowledge for Sustainability in the Western Hemisphere

Citation

Dolter, C. Sean. 2006. Using Biodiversity Indicators to Assess the Success of Forecasting Adaptive Ecosystem Management: The Newfoundland and Labrador Experience. In: Aguirre-Bravo, C.; Pellicane, Patrick J.; Burns, Denver P.; and Draggan, Sidney, Eds. 2006. Monitoring Science and Technology Symposium: Unifying Knowledge for Sustainability in the Western Hemisphere Proceedings RMRS-P-42CD. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 448-454