Canadian Forest Service Publications
Merging END concepts with protection of fish habitat and water quality in new direction for riparian forest in Ontario: a case study of science guiding policy and practice. 2012. Naylor, B.J.; Mackereth, R. W.; Kreutzweiser, D.P.; Sibley, P.K. Freshwater Science 31:248-257.
Year: 2012
Issued by: Great Lakes Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 33303
Language: English
Availability: PDF (request by e-mail)
Available from the Journal's Web site. †
DOI: 10.1899/11-035.1
† This site may require a fee
Abstract
The Crown Forest Sustainability Act stipulates that Ontario’s public forests be managed to conserve biological diversity and long-term health by following an emulation of natural disturbance (END) paradigm. Upland forests have been managed following an evolving END approach since the mid-1990s, but operations have been largely excluded from riparian forests. The new Forest Management Guide for Conserving Biodiversity at the Stand and Site Scales attempted to integrate the protection of fish habitat and water quality with the desire to emulate natural disturbance patterns in riparian forests to create a diversity of habitats to support a broad range of riparian plants and animals. Where wildfire is the dominant agent of disturbance, it encourages thoughtfully planned and carefully implemented clearcutting within riparian forest. We provide some examples of how science-based knowledge was used to develop direction to achieve these objectives.