by Svetlana Savin | 9 June 2022
In the coming decades, forest ecosystems will be exposed to a different climate than the one to which they are adapted. These changes in climate will have consequences on the ecological services provided by forests. The effects on forests, whether positive or negative, will be felt for several decades and will challenge forest-dependent activities. We need to prepare for this now.
As the manager of public forests and the organization in charge of developing private forests, the Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs (MFFP) is committed to adapting its practices to manage the risks associated with the current and anticipated consequences of climate change. To do so, the MFFP wishes to adopt a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for Forest Management.
This strategy outlines the MFFP’s action plan to adapt forest management practices to the effects of climate change. In partnership with Indigenous communities and forestry stakeholders, the Strategy will make it possible to develop knowledge on the effects of climate change and implement appropriate adaptation solutions, all from an adaptive risk management perspective
by Audrey Verreault | 6 June 2022
This leaflet presents the various actions taken by forest specialists who establish sample plots in private forests as part of the ecoforestry inventory of southern Québec. The ecoforestry inventory consists of acquiring and distributing knowledge on Québec’s public and private forests to monitor their evolution and ensure their sustainable management.
by Marie-Claude Boileau | 25 March 2022
Order made under the Quebec Fishery Regulations (1990) which modifies the content of this Regulation with regard to the periods, quotas, fishing gear and methods and the length or weight limits for fish applicable to the sport fishing for an area or part of it.
by André Boily | 7 February 2022
Published in Global Change Biology 28(5): 1884-1902. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16014
Many modelling approaches have been developed to project climate change impacts on forests. By analysing ‘comparable’ yet distinct variables (e.g. productivity, growth, dominance, biomass, etc.) through different structures, parameterizations and assumptions, models can yield different outcomes to rather similar initial questions. This variability can lead to some confusion for forest managers when developing strategies to adapt forest management to climate change. In this study, we standardized results from seven different models (Habitat suitability, trGam, StandLEAP, Quebec Landscape Dynamics, PICUS, LANDIS-II and LPJ-LMfire) to provide a simple and comprehensive assessment of the uncertainty and consensus in future performance (decline, status quo, improvement) for six tree species in Quebec under two radiative forcing scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5). Despite a large diversity of model types, we found a high level of agreement (73.1%) in projected species’ performance across species, regions, scenarios and time periods. Low agreements in model outcomes resulted from small dissensions among models. Model agreement was much higher for cold-tolerant species (up to 99.9%), especially in southernmost forest regions and under RCP 8.5, indicating that these species are especially sensitive to increased climate forcing in the southern part of their distribution range. Lower agreement was found for thermophilous species (sugar maple, yellow birch) in boreal regions under RCP 8.5 mostly as a result of the way the different models are handling natural disturbances (e.g. wildfires) and lags in the response of populations (forest inertia or migration capability) to climate change. Agreement was slightly higher under high anthropogenic climate forcing, suggesting that important thresholds in species-specific performance might be crossed if radiative forcing reach values as high as those projected under RCP 8.5. We expect that strong agreement among models despite their different assumptions, predictors and structure should inspire the development of forest management strategies to be better adapted to climate change.
by Audrey Verreault | 31 January 2022
Published in Current Forestry Reports 7(4): 305-320. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40725-021-00148-5
Climate change is modifying the dynamics of forests and threatens the supply of ecosystem services from managed forests. In response, managers are developing climate-adapted strategies, mostly focusing on changes in abiotic conditions. Ungulate populations, however, also impact forest integrity and productivity, and the effects of ungulate browsing likely interact with the effects of climate change. This raises the issue of whether climate-adapted strategies will be compatible with abundant ungulate populations. Here, we endeavour to (1) review if/how climate-adapted strategies currently consider ungulates and (2) to highlight how browsing could affect the success of these strategies, using a systematic mapping protocol and available knowledge of ungulate browsing.
