Forest management strategies to reduce spruce budworm damage in the Fundy Model Forest

Spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana) outbreaks cannot be prevented, but the amount of damage that occurs can be managed. Tree species, stand age, hardwood content, and drainage class, as well as the outbreak severity and length, determine the amount of tree mortality during budworm outbreaks. Silviculture and forest management can be used to reduce the incidence of the most damaged stand types across the landscape. The amount of defoliation in mixed balsam fir-hardwood stands is strongly negatively related to hardwood content, especially with hardwoods > 40%. The Spruce Budworm Decision Support System (DSS) links models of stand and forest response to budworm outbreaks and inventory interpretation to a GIS, and can be used to evaluate effects of outbreaks and management on forest structure and timber supply. An example using the Spruce Budworm DSS for a portion of the Fundy Model Forest indicated that losses from a future budworm outbreak could be reduced 34% by directing harvesting and silviculture towards conversion of one-half of the most vulnerable stand types into low susceptibility or non-susceptible species. Key words: decision support system, vulnerability, silviculture, insect damage

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A Decision Support System for Sustainable Forest Management and Ecosystem Service Provisioning at the Enterprise Scale

Environmental Sciences Proceedings ◽

10.3390/iecf2020-08051 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 83

Author(s):

Timothy Thrippleton ◽

Clemens Blattert ◽

Reinhard Mey ◽

Jürgen Zell ◽

Esther Thürig ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Decision Support ◽

Forest Management ◽

Decision Support System ◽

Support System ◽

Ecosystem Service ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Future Climate Change ◽

Service Provisioning

Forest management is becoming increasingly complex due to increasing demands in ecosystem service provisioning and future climate change impacts. For a sustainable forest management, scientifically well-founded decision support is therefore urgently required. Within the project SessFor, a decision support system for strategic planning at the forest enterprise level is being developed, based on the climate sensitive forest model SwissStandSim and initialized from forest inventory data. The system is currently applied to the forest enterprise Wagenrain (440 ha), located in the Swiss Plateau region. Indicators for biodiversity and ecosystem service provisioning (timber production, recreation value and carbon sequestration) are calculated for different management strategies and evaluated using a multi-criteria decision analysis. Preliminary results demonstrate the suitability of the system to evaluate ecosystem service provisioning under different management strategies and to identify the best management strategy, based on criteria defined by the forest manager. Furthermore, results show how the system can be used to assess developments for time-scales of 50–100 years under different climate change scenarios. In the ongoing project, the system will be applied to other case study regions, including mountain forests, which are of key importance in Switzerland and other alpine areas.

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The application of a hierarchical, decision-support system to evaluate multi-objective forest management strategies: a case study in northeastern British Columbia, Canada

Forest Ecology and Management ◽

10.1016/j.foreco.2004.05.048 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 199 (2-3) ◽

pp. 283-305 ◽

Cited By ~ 53

Author(s):

B. Seely ◽

J. Nelson ◽

R. Wells ◽

B. Peter ◽

M. Meitner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

British Columbia ◽

Decision Support ◽

Forest Management ◽

Decision Support System ◽

Support System ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Multi Objective ◽

Hierarchical Decision

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Potential wood supply losses to spruce budworm in New Brunswick estimated using the Spruce Budworm Decision Support System

The Forestry Chronicle ◽

10.5558/tfc78739-5 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 78 (5) ◽

pp. 739-750 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

D A MacLean ◽

K P Beaton ◽

K B Porter ◽

W E MacKinnon ◽

M G Budd

Keyword(s):

Decision Support ◽

Decision Support System ◽

New Brunswick ◽

Support System ◽

Choristoneura Fumiferana ◽

Abies Balsamea ◽

Spruce Budworm ◽

Timber Harvesting ◽

Management Plan ◽

Forest Protection

The Spruce Budworm Decision Support System (SBW DSS) was used to estimate potential volume losses to a future spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.)) outbreak in New Brunswick. The SBW DSS was implemented separately on each of the ten Crown Timber Licenses, using data from forest industry management plan timber yields and harvest schedules; values were then compiled for all of New Brunswick. Potential volume losses on privately owned forest (industrial freehold and private woodlots) were estimated by matching stand types with those for Crown land. Total potential volume losses of 83 million and 195 million m3 of sprucefir (Picea spp. Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) were predicted for "normal" and "severe" budworm outbreak scenarios, defined based on past outbreaks in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and assumed to start in 2000. Simulated timber supply losses were 42 million, 40 mil-lion, and 1 million m3 on Crown, freehold, and federal land, respectively, under a normal outbreak scenario, versus 99 million, 92 million, and 3 million m3 under a severe outbreak scenario. On Crown land, 33% of the predicted loss in a severe outbreak occurred in stands scheduled for harvest over the next 30 years, 26% occurred in stands not scheduled for harvest for at least 30 years, and 41% was in the non-timber harvesting landbase (11% in Old Softwood Forest Habitat, 12% in Deer Wintering Areas, 14% in riparian buffers, and 3% in inaccessible areas). Harvest levels 1120 years in the future were very sensitive to reduction in yields caused by defoliation. Under a severe outbreak scenario, if 40% of the landbase was not protected for 2, 5, or 8 years to limit defoliation (simulating spraying the insecticide Bacillus thuringiensis, B.t.), 20072011 harvest level reductions of 4.0, 6.0, and 8.4 million m3 , respectively, would be necessary. We conclude that the only way that planned harvest levels for New Brunswick can be maintained, under a future spruce budworm outbreak, is with effective targeted use of insecticides for forest protection. Key words: defoliation, growth reduction, mortality, protection planning

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