Canadian Forest Service Publications
Future forests and indicator-species population models. 2007. Venier, L.A.; Pearce, J.L.; Wintle, B.A.; Bekessy, S.A. The Forestry Chronicle 83: 36 - 40.
Year: 2007
Issued by: Great Lakes Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 28820
Language: English
Availability: PDF (request by e-mail)
Abstract
In this paper, we provide an overview of a project that we initiated to explore the utility of spatially-explicit metapopulation models linked to dynamic landscape models as a way of incorporating biological indicators into sustainable forest management.We developed models for three indicator species as case studies; brown creeper (Certhis americana), redbacked vole (Clethrionomys gapperi) and red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) in a northern Ontario landscape. Results from the project to date suggest that there are significant advantages to models that are spatially-explicit and dynamic in their treatment of both populations and landscapes. Dynamic landscape metapopulation (DLMP) models allow a manager to track population change through time in response to a changing landscape and a fluctuating environment. These DLMP models may be used to predict the impact of current and alternative forest management strategies on population sizes of a suite of species chosen to indicate the health of forest ecosystems.