Forest Conversion

Aspen, birch, or other hardwoods are less flammable than spruce and pines. These trees can slow or reduce fire spread in coniferous forests. In the boreal forest, this deciduous state can occur when fires burn severely anyway, so actively managing fuel breaks for this alternate ecosystem state maintains natural ecosystems and their services.

Silvicultural practices for forest conversion are generally focused on encouraging lower flammability species to regrow and dominate, reducing the need for re-treatment.

Silviculture practices for forest conversion

• Encourage regrowth of deciduous broadleaf trees

• Regenerate at low densities to reduce crown bulk density

• Understory deciduous shrubs may slow conifer regeneration

• Early interventions to increase longevity of treatment

We can learn a lot from natural systems to develop what are being called “Nature-based Solutions”. Here are a few approaches from our own research on post-fire succession in boreal forests.

Nature-based approaches

• Initial colonization is key control point

• Seedbeds can provide a bottleneck to colonization

• Capitalize on resprouting capacity of deciduous species

• Make use of competitive dynamics