Business opportunities in forest industry. Louis Imbeau, Ph.D. Université du Québec en Abitibi- Témiscamingue

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1 Business opportunities in forest industry Louis Imbeau, Ph.D. Université du Québec en Abitibi- Témiscamingue

2 Which group do you trust most? (Ipsos poll, May 2018) 85% 61% 58% 47% 31% 18% SCIENTISTS (University Professors) ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS NEWS MEDIA BUSINESS LEADERS SOCIAL MEDIA POLITICIANS

3 Business opportunities in forest industry Louis Imbeau, Ph.D. Université du Québec en Abitibi- Témiscamingue

4 Business opportunities in forest industry What about long-term effects on biodiversity? Louis Imbeau, Ph.D. Université du Québec en Abitibi- Témiscamingue

5 Northern boreal forest ecosystems Stand regeneration is more difficult for many reasons: Harsh climatic conditions, low seed production (Sirois 2000) Strong interactions with ericoid shrubs (Mallik 2003, Thiffault and Jobidon 2006) High fire severities (Jayen et al. 2006) Problems may be sufficiently important to prevent sustainable harvesting activities

6 Northern limit of forest allocations in Quebec 1998 Provincial committee on the northern limit of forest allocations 2002 First establishment of a northern limit 2005 Creation of a scientific committee to revise this northern limit 2006 to 2012 Data acquisition, analyses, preparation of a new report 2013 Final report 2015 Special issue of CJFR Assessing the northern limit of commercial forest in Quebec

7 Study question: Can any given northern boreal forest be submitted to sustainable forest management practices considering its specific biophysical conditions?

8 Four operational criteria 1) Constraints of the physical environment (Robitaille et al.) 2) Forest productive capacity (Raulier et al.) Degrees of direct constraints to management operations linked to the maintenance of productive capacity of forest ecosystems 3) Forest vulnerability to fire risk (Gauthier et al.) Probability of not finding standing timber at harvest time due to forest fires 4) Biodiversity (Imbeau et al. 2015) Minimal presence of wildlife habitat before planning any type of management Considers fragmentation of such habitats Specific requirements of the boreal caribou

9 Study area ( km²) km km²

10 Forest succession creates different wildlife habitats < 2 m 2-5 m 5-11 m 11 m < 20 ans yrs yrs 100 yrs 200 yrs

11 Biodiversity - Habitat loss Cyr et al. (2009) Landscape (%) >

12 Effects Habitat loss 100 Initial population (%) 50 Andrén (1994) Swift et Hannon (2010) 10-30% Forest cover (%) 100

13 Study units: ecological land districts A land district is defined as an area of land characterized by a unique pattern of: relief geology geomorphology regional vegetation N = 1114 districts (Mean area = 433 km 2 )

14 Home ranges Bird species associated to old spruce forests 15 km ha ~ 20% ~300 ha

15 Tall and dense stands -Without anthropogenic disturbances-

16 Tall and dense stands -Current state-

17 District classification -without anthropogenic disturbances-

18 District classification -Current state-

19 Env. Canada (2011)

20 District classification -Woodland caribou habitat (Fires) (Anthropogenic disturbances) 1114 districts 980 districts 567 districts

21 Nottaway, Assinica and Témiscamie caribou herds (Rudolph et al. 2017) 33% (+0.3%/yr) 51.5% (+1.2%/yr) 47% (+1.3%/yr)

22 Integration of biodiversity indicators -Without anthropogenic disturbances-

23 Integration of biodiversity indicators -Current state-

24 Main consequences Current landscape-level changes in the proportion of older forests are likely to have major effects on wildlife communities Boreal caribou populations are currently being subjected to disturbance levels that exceed what is required to ensure their persistence Declines shown within local populations occupying the northern continuous range (Rudolph et al. 2012)

25 Winners and Losers Recovery of all local populations required under the species at risk act Declines violate Canadian aboriginal treaty rights (Hebblewhite 2017)

26 Forest Areas of Wildlife Interest 25% of productive forests selected by tallymen 71% (n=52 traplines) Greater proportion deciduous/mixed forests (Dupont et al. 2005)

27 Why Mixed/Deciduous forests? Selected by Moose year-round Especially in mid to late-winter (Jacqmain et al. 2008)

28 Why Mixed/Deciduous forests? Positive effect on marten home range size (Cheveau et al. 2013)

29 Why Mixed/Deciduous forests? Marten trapped / 100 km 2 Positive effect on marten harvested in boreal zone (Suffice et al. in prep.) Deciduous Forests 4-12 m (%)

30 Which group do you trust most? (Ipsos poll, May 2018) 85% 61% 58% 47% 31% 18% SCIENTISTS (University Professors) ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS NEWS MEDIA BUSINESS LEADERS SOCIAL MEDIA POLITICIANS

31 Which group do you trust most? How should we manage northern forests? 85% 61% 58% 47% 31% 18% SCIENTISTS (University Professors) ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS NEWS MEDIA BUSINESS LEADERS SOCIAL MEDIA POLITICIANS

32 100% 85% 61% 58% 47% 31% 18% CREE TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE OWNERS SCIENTISTS (University Professors) ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS NEWS MEDIA BUSINESS LEADERS SOCIAL MEDIA POLITICIANS