Stand age structural dynamics of conifer, mixedwood, and hardwood stands in the boreal forest of central Canada

To study the effects of stand development and overstory composition on stand age structure, we sampled 32 stands representing conifer, mixedwood, and hardwood stand types, ranging in ages from 72 to 201 years on upland mesic sites in northwestern Ontario. We defined the stages of stand development as: stem exclusion/canopy transition, canopy transition, canopy transition/gap dynamics, and gap dynamics. Stand age structure of conifer stands changed from bimodal, bimodal, reverse-J, and bimodal, respectively, through the stages of stand development. Mixedwood and hardwood stands revealed similar trends, with the exception of missing the canopy transition/gap dynamic stage in mixedwoods. Canopy transition/gap dynamic stage in hardwoods showed a weaker reverse-J distribution than their conifer counterparts. The results suggest that forest management activities such as partial and selection harvesting and seed-tree systems may diversify standard landscape-level age structures and benefit wildlife, hasten the onset of old-growth, and create desired stand age structures. We also recommend that the determination of old-growth using the following criteria in the boreal forest: 1) canopy breakdown of pioneering cohort is complete and stand is dominated by later successional tree species, and 2) stand age structure is bimodal, with dominating canopy trees that fall within a relatively narrow range of age and height classes and a significant amount of understory regeneration.

Carbon storage and net primary productivity in Canadian boreal mixedwood stands

Canadian boreal mixedwood forests are extensive,with large potential for carbon sequestration and storage;thus,knowledge of their carbon stocks at different stand ages is needed to adapt forest management practices to help meet climate-change mitigation goals.Carbon stocks were quantified at three Ontario boreal mixedwood sites.A harvested stand,a juvenile stand replanted with spruce seedlings and a mature stand had total carbon stocks(±SE)of 133±13 at age 2,130±13 at age 25,and 207±15 Mg C ha^-1 at age 81 years.At the clear-cut site,stocks were reduced by about 40%or 90 Mg C ha^-1 at harvest.Vegetation held 27,34 and 62%of stocks,while detritus held 34,29 and 13%of stocks at age 2,25 and 81,respectively.Mineral soil carbon stocks averaged 51 Mg C ha^-1,and held 38,37 and 25%of stocks.Aboveground net primary productivity(±SE)in the harvested and juvenile stand was 2.1±0.2 and 3.7±0.3 Mg C ha^-1 per annum(p.a.),compared to 2.6±2.5 Mg C ha^-1 p.a.in the mature stand.The mature canopies studied had typical boreal mixedwood composition and mean carbon densities of 208 Mg C ha^-1,which is above average for managed Canadian boreal forest ecosystems.A comparison of published results from Canadian boreal forest ecosystems showed that carbon stocks in mixedwood stands are typically higher than coniferous stands at all ages,which was also true for stocks in vegetation and detritus.Also,aboveground net primary productivity was typically found to be higher in mixedwood than in coniferous boreal forest stands over a range of ages.Measurements from this study,together with those published from the other boreal forest stands demonstrate the potential for enhanced carbon sequestration through modified forest management practices to take advantage of Canadian boreal mixedwood stand characteristics.