Forest management and disturbance monitoring

Forest management and natural disturbances, such as forest fires and severe insect outbreaks, influence the carbon stocks in forest ecosystems.  NFCMARS uses the best available statistics on forest management and natural disturbances, obtained from the National Forestry Database program, the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System, and from provinicial and territorial resource management agencies.

Canada’s provinces and territories report forest management activities, including clearcut harvesting and thinning, to the National Forestry Database Program or directly to the carbon accounting team of the Canadian Forest Service.  This team incorporates the annual impact of these activities into the NFCMARS.

Natural disturbances, including forest fires and severe insect outbreaks, also influence the carbon stocks in forest ecosystems. Provincial and territorial agencies usually monitor burned and insect-infested areas.  A national satellite-mapping program also monitors fires. The CWFIS(Canadian Wildland Fire Information System) team compiles the various fire datasets into a single annual report that includes both the area affected and the impact of the fires.  The carbon accounting team incorporates this information into the NFCMARS. This team also incorporates information on the areas of insect outbreaks in the NFCMARS. While the area affected is fairly straightforward, entomologists are relied upon to provide expertise on the impact of different insects on carbon stocks.