Boreal forest

Biophysical environments
Biotic interactions
Fire regimes & post-fire succession
Floodplain succession & paludification
Forest clearance and succession
Climate change: natural & anthropogenic
Boreal
forest
biome
-------
Scandinavia Fairbanks
70% Russia
70% Alaska
50% Canada Chicoutimi
Pr. Albert
Kapuskasing

Note latitudinal variation

 Mean monthly temperature

J F M A M J J A S O N D
 Monthly precipitation (mm)
Monthly precipitation (mm)

12 0

10 0

80

60 Fa irban ks
Prin ce Albe rt
Kap uskasin g
40 Chicoutimi

20

0
Chicoutimi
J F
M Kap uskasin g
A
M Prin ce Albe rt
J J
A Fa irban ks
S
O
N
D
Mean annual snowfall (mm)
 Boreal
forest and
permafrost
distribution
-2.8

Mean annual 0.6 3.0

temperature 0.7

Discontinuous permafrost limit ~ -2C

 Mean location
Jan tree July Polar Front
growth
120 30 Mean #d >10C

150 pollen/seed 240 Mean #d <0C

viability

Boreal forest Tundra

patchy discontinuous continuous Permafrost

 Boreal forest-environment
interactions

Climate Biota
Physical
template

Soil
The boreal forest biome in Canada
 Trees of the N. American boreal forest

Evergreens

Deciduous
Boreal forest vegetation types
(North America)
non-ac cess ed

s pruce
pine
balsam fir
poplar
birc h
other
 Forest structure
Boreal forest Taiga

spruce/birch/pine forest mosaic spruce-lichen woodland

 Boreal forest soils
Underlain by coarse-textured
deposits or bedrock. Well-drained,
warm fairly rapidly in summer, more
rapid breakdown of organics,
strongly-leached, acidic, low nutrient
availability.
Underlain by fine-textured
deposits / permafrost. Poorly-
drained, cold in summer; little
microbial activity, slow
breakdown of organics, low
nutrient availability.

100
gleysols,
O
cryosols
Ae O
BC
Podzols,
Bf Cg
regosols

0
south north

boreal forest taiga

 Forest community segregation
in the boreal forest
white spruce - jack pine
black birch-aspen-
tamarack
spruce balsam fir

mosses

site: wet mesic dry

soil: gleys podzols
active: thin (<0.3m) thick (>2m)
layer (or no permafrost)
organic thick thin
layer
Biomass and productivity

black white paper aspen poplar

spruce spruce birch
Nutrient cycling and storage (nitrogen)

black white paper aspen poplar

spruce spruce birch
Herbivory and boreal forest dynamics

Moose
population
Nitrogen
Browse mineralization
biomass

Wolf
population soil
phytotoxins microbiota

enhancements reductions
 Insect outbreaks
(e.g. spruce budworm; Siberian silkworm)

Climate Fire hazard

(early summer drought)

Forest structure*
Insect populations
and biomass
(larvae)

*suitable host trees (e.g. balsam

fir for spruce budworm)

enhancements reductions
 Fire regime

Fire cycle
Natural fire cycle averages 50-200 years
Length of the cycle controlled by moisture
balance
Most fires small (~70% in AK & YK <5 ha).
Severe fires can cover 200,000 ha.
Most boreal forests equally flammable
regardless of age (after first decade).
 Forest
fire
weather
zones
Precipitation
and wildfire
frequency

Precip.

Fire RI
 Fire regime
Fire intensity
Most tree species are not fire resistant.
Thick bark protects pines.

Tendency of fire to crown dependent on

tree canopy architecture and understorey
vegetation. Crown fires common in spruce
and pine forests, rare in deciduous forests.
 Fire resistance:
protective role of tree bark

paper birch black spruce jack pine

resistance
 Fire regime
Post-fire regeneration
Many trees dependent on recurring fires.
Post-fire reproduction by means of:
light, wind-dispersed seeds (e.g. birches,
poplars)
serotinous or semiserotinous cones (e.g.
jack pine, black spruce)
stump sprouting or suckering (aspen, paper
birch)
 Post-fire regeneration

from suckers

from serotinous cones

Fire succession

no
 Birch (Betula papyrifera) forest
with spruce (Picea sp.) understorey
on mesic site
 Fire regime
Fire severity
Removal of the canopy and surface organic
layer increases surface energy receipt.
Thickness of active layer may increase
substantially for first few years following
fire.
Nutrients in surface mat and soil released
by fire (N and P increase most in
moderately burned areas).
Succession schematic
Floodplain succession, Alaska
Floodplain succession
( pioneer phase)
 Floodplain succession
( pioneer phase)

Balsam poplar
white spruce

herbs
 Floodplain succession
(climax phase)

mature white spruce

on scroll bars
Floodplain succession, NE BC
Influence of forest cover on soil temperature

14

12

10

6
w hite spruce
4 black spruce
balsam poplar
2

-2

-4

-6
May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr
 In the absence of disturbance
paludification may occur
Moss-organic layers > 5cm thick preclude
spruce regeneration from seed.
Spruce stands may reproduce vegetatively
by layering (regrowth of low branches
buried in the moss-organic mat).
If moss-organic layer continue to increase
in depth, paludification (bog-formation)
may occur. In W. Siberia ~1/3 of the taiga
is forested bog.
 Paludification: a double feedback loop

soil Sphagnum
water table nutrient uptake

Sphagnum peat
ironpan development
moss growth
formation

soil acidity tree growth

enhancements reductions
Sphagnum bog formation
 200

Effects of
High severity fire
Low severity fire

successional
150
Forest floor thickness (cm)

100
paludification of
50
boreal forest soils
(in western Qubec)
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Years since fire
200 100

High severity fire

Low severity fire
80
150

Mean ericaceous cover (%)

Forest floor thickness (cm)

60

100

40

50
20

0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Years since fire Years since fire

Data: Simard et al., 2007. Ecological Applications 17, 1619-163

 Effects of paludification on forest
timber production
100 50

High severity fire

80 Low severity fire

40

Stem basal area (m^2/ha)

Mean open canopy (%)

60 30

40 20

20 10

0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

Years since fire Years since fire

Left: stand opens up over time, and

Right: wood production declines (especially in stands
>200-yr old)
Data: Simard et al., 2007. Ecological Applications 17, 1619-163
Forest clearance in NW Europe
Farm clearance-abandonment cycle
(data from New England)
Wood production areas
 Effects of harvesting on forest cover
in accessed areas of boreal forest
15
poplars
10
balsam birch
5
fir other
% change

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

-5

-10
pine

-15
spruce
-20
 North
American
vegetation
at the Last
Glacial
Maximum

(18 000 14C yr BP

= 20 000 yrs BP)
Postglacial
migration
of the
Pollen Viewer
boreal
forest
plant
community
from pollen
evidence
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/pollen/viewer/webviewer.html
LGM and Late Glacial distribution of boreal
and mixed forest from pollen evidence

Boreal = dark green

Mixed forest = light green
No analogue
Overpeck et al., 1992. Geology 20, 1071-1074.
 Ranges, clades and postglacial migrations
of New World tree squirrels

(T = Tamiasciurus)

QuickTime and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

Douglas squirrel ?
T. douglasii ? eastern
QuickTime and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
clade
Red squirrel
T. hudsonicus
QuickTime and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
SW clade

T. mearnsii

Simplified from data in Abrogast et al., 2001. J. Mammalogy 82, 302-319

 Range, fossil sites and inferred postglacial
migration of American marten

Martes americana
varieties: americana
and caurina

Quic kTime and a

TIFF (Unc ompres sed) dec ompres sor
are needed to see this pic ture.

fossils

Stone et al., 2002. Molecular Ecology 11, 20492063

 Sphyrapicus (sapsuckers)

Dendroica (warblers)
Superspecies
Vermivora (warblers)
complexes of
a
Passerella (warblers)
boreal forest
b
birds: note
Vireo (vireos)
repetitive
Empidonax (flycatchers)
distribution
Opopornis (warblers)
patterns
Poecile (chickadees)

Weir and Schluter, 2004. Proc. Roy. Soc. London B, 217, 1881-1887.
 Cladogram of boreal bird superspecies

Map shows ice cover at

LGM and approximate 100

distribution of boreal
forest glacial refugia

Clock for DNA

cladogram = 2.2%
change in DNA per cold
Ma
palaeotemperature
warm
Ma (BP) 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0 .0
Weir and Schluter, 2004. Proc. Roy. Soc. London B, 217, 1881-1887.
ADVANCE = north;
RETREAT = south
Changes in the boreal
forest margin in
southern Sweden
since 1250BC
Global climate change and the boreal forest:
growth fire frequency paludification ?