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The other biological This extension note is the second in from human intervention, believing
a series designed to raise awareness of that this was the appropriate way to
concepts documented as
landscape ecology concepts and to preserve all species.
individual extension notes provide background for the ecologi- However, scientists have increas-
cally based forest management ingly recognized that forest, shrub,
include:
approach recommended in the and grassland ecosystems are dynamic
• management concepts for Biodiversity Guidebook. The emphasis entities. This view, referred to in ecol-
is on natural disturbance ecology ogy as the “non-equilibrium model,”
landscape ecology
(Parminter ). We first define and considers ecosystem structure to be
(Extension Note No. 07), describe natural disturbances, the determined by interactions between
agents responsible, and the ecological the long-term forces of ecological
• spatial patterns, principles of natural disturbances, and succession, fluctuations in climate,
• connectivity, their effects on landscape patterns, and the more immediate effects of
processes, and functions. We conclude natural disturbances.
• riparian areas, by examining how the concepts of Natural disturbances are defined as
• interior habitats and natural disturbance ecology are incor- relatively distinct events in time that
porated into the Forest Practices Code disrupt ecosystem, community, or
edge effects, and
and the biodiversity guidelines. population structure and that change
• seral stages across resources, the availability of suitable
What Is Natural Disturbance habitat, and/or the physical environ-
landscapes.
Ecology? ment. These events occur at varying
intensities across various space and
Until relatively recently, natural re- time scales and have contributed,
source management decisions and along with climate, soils, and
activities were based on the idea that geomorphology, to producing the
ecosystems existed in a steady, self- diverse landscape patterns we see
replacing state (sometimes today.
corresponding to “old-growth” condi-
tions) and that natural disturbances Disturbance Agents and Regimes
were unimportant. Some people Wildfire, wind, drought, insects, and
sought to protect old-growth forests disease cause some of the most
Parminter’s chapter in Voller and Harrison’s Conservation Biology Principles for Forested Landscapes
provides a valuable reference for those wanting an in-depth understanding.
Area affected by some natural and cultural disturbances in British Columbia
(from Parminter 1997)
Disturbances can affect an ecosys- than % in interior ponderosa pine
tem for: forests where conditions are different
• a relatively short time period (e.g., and fire is the prevalent disturbance
a tree falls; subsequent canopy agent.
closure occurs within a decade), or Small-scale wind events may create
• a relatively long time period (e.g., a disturbances of varying size in the
landslide or intense wildfire; landscape because of specific topo-
complete ecosystem recovery to graphic or vegetation conditions.
pre-disturbance conditions may Trees susceptible to blowdown include
take centuries). those that are:
• situated in rain-saturated soils;
. Disturbances affect many levels of • located where airflow may be fun-
biological organization nelled and thus accelerated (e.g., on
Most biological communities are re- a mountain ridge, at the head of a
covering from the last disturbance. valley, or next to clearcuts); and
The effects of disturbance are felt at • weakened by age, root disease, or
many levels of biological organiza- insect damage.
tion—from the individual to
ecosystem-wide. Natural disturbances . Disturbances overlay environmen-
can: tal gradients, both influencing and
• disrupt ecosystem and stand being influenced by those gradients
development, Underlying environmental gradients
• return areas to earlier stages of affect some natural disturbances. For
succession, and example, fires have the potential to
• change habitat mosaics. burn more intensely when moving
For example, severe fires may con- across dry terrain as opposed to
sume organic matter in soils, kill moister areas, where less fuel might
dominant tree species, change stream burn. Some disturbances, however,
chemistry, and shift the patterns of operate independently of physical
mammal movements, thus affecting gradients, as when severe windstorms
ecological, physiological, and behav- randomly destroy trees over wide
ioural processes and landscape areas. The landscape patterns that
patterns. result from this type of disturbance
are thus patchy and unrelated to the
. Disturbance regimes vary, both underlying environmental gradients.
regionally and within one landscape. Alternatively, some disturbances
Disturbances vary among specific reinforce changes in landscape com-
geographic areas and biogeoclimatic position and structure along physical
zones. Some regions or landscapes are gradients. Such events are important
subject to wind, landslides, and flood- mechanisms for energy flow and nu-
ing, while fire, insects, and disease trient cycling and for maintaining age,
affect others more. species, genetic, and structural
For example, damage during severe diversity.
wind events is strongly associated with
elevation and aspect, as well as 5. Disturbances interact
vegetation structure. Extremely large Various disturbance agents affect an
areas can be disturbed, especially already diverse physical and biological
along or near the west coast, where landscape to create and maintain eco-
large-scale storms with hurricane- system diversity. Some disturbance
force winds come ashore. Some % agents may promote or inhibit the
of individual tree mortality in coastal occurrence and effects of other distur-
Sitka spruce–western hemlock forests bance agents.
is wind-induced, compared to less For example, windthrow may affect
areas with root rot, or insect attack the establishment of early seral spe-
may increase in fire-damaged trees. cies. In contrast, windthrown forests
Or, stands regenerating after a wildfire may be accelerated towards a later
may be less prone to bark beetle attack seral stage if shade-tolerant advanced
for several decades, at which time the regeneration forms the bulk of the
trees may become susceptible. next stand.
The coastal plantations had a forests, and non-forested land. In
simpler structure and composition some areas, scattered cutblocks frag-
than natural forests and it was antici- mented the landscape. In others, the
pated that most stands would be process of continuous clearcutting left
harvested before they were years few, if any, remnant patches. The
old. These plantations lacked the amount of edge, the degree of isola-
multi-layered canopy, range of tree tion of forest remnants, and the length
sizes, old live trees, and abundant of forest road networks increased.
standing dead trees and coarse woody These factors further influenced natu-
debris that are often present in natural ral disturbance regimes, often
forests, thus reducing habitat quality resulting in accelerated windthrow,
for some species. pest outbreaks, wildfire, and land-
At the landscape level, this manage- slides.
ment approach tended to alter Today, forest operations are no
disturbance regimes by breaking up longer viewed as discrete treatments.
large blocks of mature forest into a Management activities take place in a
mosaic of young plantations, mature semi-natural matrix of “culturally
Comparison of idealized development in stands for (a) both structural diversity
and wood production and (b) maximum wood production only (from Hansen
et al. 1991).
modified” forests, grasslands, and patterns that result from natural dis-
Cissel et al
al.. (199
(19944 ) describe wetlands that dominates at the pro- turbances and by anticipating future
a useful six-step process to vincial scale. Furthermore, the land in disturbances. To aid this integration
analyze disturbance this matrix is managed in various process, the Biodiversity Guidebook
processes at the landscape ways—ranging from concentrated and groups the biogeoclimatic units of
level and to generate intensive, to dispersed and extensive— British Columbia into five natural
potential management
to use multiple resources. This matrix disturbance types characterized by
actions:
also plays three important roles re- similar disturbance regimes. These
1. Assess historic and current lated to biodiversity: regimes were responsible for the com-
disturbance regimes for
terrestrial and aquatic • providing habitat at smaller scales, position, size, age, and distribution of
ecosystems. • buffering and increasing the effec- specific forest types on the landscape,
tiveness of protected areas (e.g., as well as the structural characteristics
2. Integrate this information
parks and wilderness), and of forest stands.
using an appropriate
mapping and/or narrative • controlling connectivity in the To conserve biodiversity and main-
technique and define a
landscape, including the movement tain more natural landscapes,
desired landscape of organisms between protected landscape-level management activities
condition and associated areas (Franklin ). should be kept within the historical
management approach for The Forest Practices Code ad- range of variability that existed as the
subareas, or strata, with dresses the management needs of this current ecosystems and landscapes
similar disturbance semi-natural matrix by using an eco- developed. This concept is central to
regimes, potential system approach that considers the designing management prescriptions
vegetation, and human forest as a functioning ecological sys- because it provides a reference point
use patterns. tem in which ecological processes from which to evaluate the success of
3. Project this management form a blueprint for specific resource ecosystem management. It can help
approach into the future management activities. These activi- to:
using a geographic ties must enable the harvest of wood
information system;
• describe the dynamics of ecosys-
fibre, as well as maintain native spe- tems that undergo continual
assume no natural
cies, ecosystem processes and change,
disturbances, but allow for
structures, and long-term ecosystem • identify the range of sustainable
natural succession; model
har vesting that
harvesting productivity (Figure ). future conditions, and
approximates the natural The guidelines in the Biodiversity • establish the limits of acceptable
disturbance regime. Guidebook () help to incorporate change (Morgan et al. ).
4. Analyze the resulting the principles of natural disturbance Several current landscape design
landscape pattern to see if ecology into forest planning. The methods incorporate important ele-
adjustments are needed to major premise underlying the guide- ments of the historical range of
meet established lines is that if the effects of forest variability, such as site history, natural
management objectives management activities closely resem- disturbance regimes, and successional
(current conditions may be ble those of natural disturbances, then processes. (See, for example, Diaz and
outside the range of natural ecological processes will likely Apostol ; Bell ; Regional
desired conditions). continue with minimal adverse im- Interagency Executive Committee
5. Adjust the frequency
frequency,, pact. This approach ensures that ; Diaz and Bell .) British Co-
intensity
intensity,, or location of management treatments are consist- lumbia’s biogeoclimatic ecosystem
future har vesting units as
harvesting ent with the conditions under which classification system provides a frame-
required; change the natural species, gene pools, communi- work that can be used to study how
amount or shape of
ties, ecosystems, and ecosystem the historical roles of natural distur-
reser ves; prescribe
reserves;
processes have evolved. bances have affected different
ecosystem restoration
practices.
ecosystems, and how disturbance
Applying Disturbance Ecology regimes interact with resource man-
6. Identify management
Concepts agement activities.
actions that will
encourage development of
New management practices should
the desired landscape Management activities can be success- consciously focus on the effects of
condition. fully integrated into the natural natural disturbances and the value of
landscape by paying attention to the biological legacies, rather than on the
particular disturbance agent responsi- over several cutting cycles.
ble. Larger-scale disturbances, such as No single silvicultural system will
more extensive wildfire and wind- precisely reproduce the inherent natu-
throw, are emulated at the landscape ral variability because forests are
level by designing similarly sized and created by a variety of disturbances.
shaped cutblocks, and leaving rem- Some of this natural variation can be
nant patches of live and dead trees, as introduced into managed landscapes
well as residual coarse woody debris. by using a variety of silvicultural sys-
Several adjacent cutblocks may be tems, but the choice will ultimately
needed to mimic larger natural distur- depend on the biological, social, and
bances, especially wildfires in economic objectives for the landscape.
sub-boreal and boreal ecosystems The basic premise asserts that when
(DeLong ). At a landscape scale, an ecosystem is managed within its
the choice of rotation age, rate of cut, historical range of variability, it will
and cutblock layout will determine remain diverse, resilient, productive,
the future age-class distribution and and healthy.
landscape pattern. The long-term
consequences of these new manage- Text by Susan Bannerman
ment regimes should be evaluated
References landscapes? Ecological Applications
():–.
Bell, S. . Total resource design. In Hansen, A.J., T.A. Spies, F.J. Swanson,
Visual landscape design training and J.L. Ohmann. . Conserving
manual. B.C. Min. For., Rec. biodiversity in managed forests:
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No. -. App. . pp. –. BioScience ():–.
British Columbia Ministry of Forests Morgan, P., G.H. Aplet, J.B. Haufler,
and B.C. Ministry of Environment, H.C. Humphries, M.M. Moore, and
Lands and Parks. . Biodiversity W.D. Wilson. . Historical range
guidebook. B.C. Forest Practices of variability: a useful tool for
Code. Victoria, B.C. ix + p. evaluating ecosystem change. Jour-
Cissel, J.H., F.J. Swanson, W.A. McKee, nal of Sustainable Forestry
and A.L. Burditt. . Using the (/):–.
past to plan the future in the Pacific Parminter, J. []. Natural distur-
Northwest. Journal of Forestry bance ecology. In Conservation
():–, . biology principles for forested
DeLong, C. . Lessons from wild- landscapes. J. Voller and S. Harrison
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George For. Region, Prince George, Regional Interagency Executive Com-
B.C. Res. Note PG-. p. mittee. . Ecosystem analysis at
Diaz, N. and D. Apostol. . Forest the watershed scale: federal guide
landscape analysis and design: a to watershed analysis, Version ..
process for developing and imple- Regional Ecosystem Office, Port-
menting land management land, Oreg.
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U.S. Dep. Agric. For. Serv., Port- and forest management: a review of
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Diaz, N. and S. Bell. . Landscape Serv., Ogden, Utah. Gen. Tech. Rep.
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century. K. Kohm (compiler). patch dynamics, and landscape
Island Press, Covelo, Calif. pattern in natural areas. Natural
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biodiversity: species, ecosystems, or