Ecological Forestry
An Introduction to Ecosystem Management

Do you give a hoot ?.

"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."

Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

There are two schools of wildlife (and forest) management. The most common is to decide what species to manage for (usually consumptive uses, products we consume in some way) and ensure proper habitat is available. A good example would be waterfowl management areas, where the focus is on production of ducks and geese. Often when we manage for one narrow purpose, we can do great damage to the other `purposes' in the ecosystem.

The other school of thought is allow more natural habitat development to ensure a stable, mixed population of all the plants and animals that have evolved to become part of that ecosystem. An example of this would be preserving dune systems and protecting the habitat for the animals that would normally live there. This method reflects the shift in the 1990's from endangered `species' to endangered `spaces', since habitat loss is considered to be the greatest cause of species extinction. It is estimated that by the year 2000, habitat loss will result in the extinction of 50,000 species annually worldwide.

We need wood products from the forest, whether paper or building supplies or firewood. Yet we are only beginning to realize the value of other forest `products' - clean water, storage of carbon, wildlife, food, esthetics, erosion control, etc. This is not an issue of wildlife conservation versus industrial use - creation or restoration of healthy forests will supply us with far more benefits, including wood, than tree farms.

Ecosystem management is the essence of natural selection forestry - treating the forest as a community of interdependant plants and animals. Fortunately, we still have remnants of Acadian forest left on which to build, although it will take vision, hard work and creativity to put things in order. Our choices are clear - we can focus on clearcuts and softwood plantations, trying to maintain unresilient, simple tree farms; we can let nature take its own course and, on most sites, progress naturally into mixed forests, a process that will take 100-200 years; or we can work with nature, using practices that help speed up natural succession.

1. Stands of old field white spruce are dying prematurely and need to be restructured into uneven-aged forests with more variety. Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions. Large clearcuts and softwood plantations have potential for severe impact and by allowing increased exposure to sunlight and wind, leave fewer management options. A more gentle approach might be to make narrow strip cuts, about 15 m (50 feet or 3/4 chain) wide and perhaps twice that length. Ideally, the strips would run east-west to reduce wind damage and be no longer than twice the width. The timetable would be something like this:

YEAR 1

- harvest all *A* strips, leaving clumps of trees for wildlife and any healthy trees other than white spruce. Remove some of the best spruce from the uncut strips. Depending on what seed sources are present in the area, you will get a wide range of plants regenerating naturally, including poplar and pin cherry. These early successional species help build soil and can provide shade and protection for later underplantings.

YEAR 3

- take a good look at the regeneration in the *A* strips. Under the shade of poplar and pin cherry, which may be up to 2.75m (9 feet) tall, plant Acadian species that would naturally occupy the site if you had 100-200 years to wait. About 40-50 yellow birch, sugar maple, eastern hemlock, white pine or red spruce should be enough; less if you have some already growing naturally. In open areas, try planting white birch, white ash or red oak seedlings.

YEAR 10

- harvest all *B* strips, leaving clumps of wildlife trees and any healthy trees other than white spruce.

YEAR 13

- underplant *B* strips

YEAR 15

- remove most of the poplar and pin cherry from all *A* strips for firewood or to fuel an appropriately-designed cogeneration system.

YEAR 25

- remove most of the poplar and pin cherry from all *B* strips.

Depending on the size of the seedlings transplanted, you may have to protect them from mice and snowshoe hares. Taller seedlings will need less protection. If some white spruce in the strips does blow down, think of it as cheap fertilizer for your next crop of trees. This method of harvesting is more time-consuming and costly than removing the whole stand, but only in the short term. It is less disruptive to wildlife, conserves organic matter and soil nutrients and should make future financial inputs unnecessary. Remember that this is only one possible solution - other methods will arise as more expertise is developed by woodlot owners.

2. Most mixed wood stands contain a high percentage of short-lived species: poplar, pin cherry, fir and red maple, and balsam fir. Much restructuring can be accomplished using what is already growing on the site. In some cases a few light thinnings will be all the help a forest needs. Be aware of what species are naturally regenerating and favour the shade-tolerant, longer-lived species. In areas lacking naturally-occurring species such as eastern hemlock, red spruce or yellow birch, consider underplanting. Make small patch cuts, .1 to .4 hectares (1/4 to 1 acre), or narrow strip cuts and planted with Acadian species.

3. Late successional forests should be handled using natural selection forestry and can be a source of valuable products. Treeplanting should not be necessary, except to add species that naturally would occur on the site.

This series of webpages is based on the booklet "Wildlife and Woodlands - What you can Do !" written by Gary Schneider. This booklet reflects the views of the Environmental Coalition of Prince Edward Island independent of federal and provincial government departments. If your interested in receiving a hardcopy of this booklet, please see our publications page. Web development and maintenance by Chris Martin.