Climate Change Carbon Sequestration And Forest Fire Protection In The Canadian Boreal Zone Electronic Resource

Acknowledgements -- Background and context -- Climate change and boreal forest fires -- Carbon emissions from boreal fires -- Greenhouse gas emissions accounting and the forest sector -- Managing forested areas to promote carbon storage -- Fire in Ontario's far north -- Summary of fire management-related issues -- References.

The increased fi re load is expected to increase the cost of fi re management in the province 16% by the year 2040 and 54% by the year 2090 over year 2000 costs, exclusive of infl ation or other factors. [...] In addition to increases in seasonal fi re severity indices, a number of these studies also predict increases in the frequency of occurrence of extreme fi re danger in some areas of the country (e.g., Stocks et al. [...] This study uses lightning- and people-caused fi re occurrence models developed specifi cally for Ontario with GCM projections of future climate and Ontario's level of protection analysis software, LEOPARDS (see McAlpine and Hirsch 1999) to estimate the impacts of climate change on the fi re management organization both in terms of numbers of escaped fi res and with respect to changes in operationa [...] The sites of the GCM grid cell centres and OMNR weather stations used are shown in Figure 1. Fire Weather and Fire Danger To create the fi re climate of a future decade, the monthly anomalies were applied to the daily data from the OMNR fi re weather station archive from the years 1992-2001 (corresponding to the period over which lightning records were available). [...] The Fire Behaviour Prediction (FBP) System (Forestry Canada Fire Danger Group 1992) was used in conjunction with the Initial Spread Index (ISI), the Build-up Index (BUI) (calculated on the detection date of the fi re using the FWI System), and the fuel type associated with the fi re to estimate an initial rate of spread for each fi re.

"This report examines how forest management can affect the carbon (C) balance of Ontario's forests. Ten forest management activities organized in four themes were examined: stand establishment (site preparation, planting, and vegetation management), growth enhancement (thinning, fertilization, and genetic improvement), forest protection (from forest fires, and insect and disease infestations), and harvesting (controlling the area occupied by roads, skid trails and landings, and reducing the area disturbed by harvesting)."--Document.

This weather guide includes detailed specifications for locating and instrumenting fire weather stations, taking weather observations, and overwintering the Drought Code component of the FWI System. The sensitivity of the FWI System components to weather elements is represented quantitatively. The importance of weather that is not directly observable is discussed in the context of fuel moisture and fire behavior. Current developments in the observation and measurement of fire weather and the forecasting of fire danger are discussed, along with the implications for the reporting of fire weather of increasingly automated fire management information systems.

This report updates a review of literature about the effects of global climate change on forest plants and communities published in 1998. The focus is on changes in Ontario predicted for forest fires, insect outbreaks, disease, forest growth, species composition, harvest rates, wood supply, genetics and regeneration, and carbon-based forest management.--Includes text from document.

Reviews literature concerning the effects of global climate change on forest plants and communities, and provides opinions on the potential impacts that climate change may have on Ontario forests. Sections of the review discuss the following: the climate of Ontario in the 21st century as predicted by climate models; forest hydrology in relation to climate change; insects and climate change; impacts on fungi in the forest ecosystem; impacts on forest fires and their management; plant physiological responses; genetic implications of climate change; forest vegetation dynamics; the use of models in global climate change studies; and forest management responses to climate change.

Forest managers can expect the unexpected and they can expect that change will be ongoing and unrelenting. Some general recommendations for beginning to address climate change in Canada's forest sector include enhancing the capacity to undertake integrated assessment of vulnerabilities to climate change at various scales; increasing resources to monitor the impacts of climate change; increasing resources for impacts and adaptation science; reviewing forest policies, forest planning, forest management approaches, and institutions to assess our ability to achieve social objectives under climate change; embedding principles of risk management and adaptive management into forest management; and maintaining or improving the capacity for communicating, networking, and information sharing with the Canadian public and within the forest sector."--Pub. website.

Increasing forest fire activity is of great concern to many Canadians. Forestry plays a key roll in the Canadian economy and the Canadian way of living. This workshop had five objectives: determine whether fire activity has increased ; evaluate and prioritize the possible causes ; summarize the potential impacts ; recommend appropriate responses ; and communicate the findings and recommendations, which is the purpose of this report. The report combines presentation notes taken by Paul Ward and discussion notes taken by the rapporteurs. It summarizes the workshop and makes no attempt to interpret the discussions, findings, or recommendations from any particular perspective.