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Increases in heat-induced tree mortality could drive reductions of biomass resources in Canada’s managed boreal forest

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Abstract

Context

The Canadian boreal forest provides valuable ecosystem services that are regionally and globally significant. Despite its importance, the future of the Canadian boreal forest is highly uncertain because potential impacts of future climate change on ecosystem processes and biomass stocks are poorly understood.

Objectives

We investigate how anticipated climatic changes in coming decades could trigger abrupt changes in the biomass of dominant species in Canada’s boreal forests.

Methods

Using the dynamic global vegetation model LPJ-LMfire, which was parameterized for the dominant tree genera in Canada’s boreal forests (Picea, Abies, Pinus, Populus) and driven by a large range of climate scenarios grouped by two forcing scenarios (RCP 4.5/8.5), we simulated forest composition, biomass, and the frequency of disturbance, including wildfire, from Manitoba to Newfoundland.

Results

Results suggest that responses of this region to a warmer future climate will be very important, especially in southern boreal areas and under the RCP 8.5 forcing scenario. In these areas, reductions of total aboveground biomass incurred by fire and heat-induced tree mortality events are projected; the fertilizing effect of increasing atmospheric CO2 on forest productivity is unlikely to compensate for these losses. Decreases in total forest stocks would likely be associated with forest cover loss and a shift in composition in particular from needleleaf evergreen (softwood) to broadleaf deciduous (hardwood) taxa.

Conclusion

The simulated future reduction in softwood biomass suggests that forest management strategies will have to be adapted to maintain a sustainable level of forest harvest and tree density that meets demands for wood products, while maintaining other ecosystem services.

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Acknowledgements

The study was made possible thanks to financial support that was provided by the European NEWFOREST project (PIRSES-GA-2013-612645), the Forest Complexity Modelling (FCM) program, and the NSERC Strategic and Discovery programs. Jed Kaplan was supported by the European Research Council (COEVOLVE 313797). This research was conducted as part of the International Associated Laboratory MONTABOR (LIA France-Canada) and the International Research Group on Cold Forests (CNRS). We thank NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) and CFCAS for the funding of the development of the CRCM5. The authors are particularly grateful to Travis Logan of the Ouranos Consortium for help with computation of climatic models, Daniel Stubbs from Calcul Quebec and Compute Canada for help with the Fortran programming and server space facilities for running LPJ-LMfire, and Xiao Jing Guo for help with mapping and computation for this project. We also thank W.F.J. Parsons for English-language editing of the manuscript, and David Price and the two anonymous reviewers for comments on an earlier version.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal and Centre for Forest Research, Case postale 8888, Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada

    Emeline Chaste, Martin P. Girardin & Yves Bergeron

  2. EPHE, PSL Research University, ISEM, Univ. Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, CIRAD, INRAP, UMR 5554, 34095, Montpellier, France

    Emeline Chaste & Christelle Hély

  3. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Laurentian Forestry Centre, 1055 du PEPS, Stn. Sainte-Foy, P.O. Box 10380, Québec, QC, G1V 4C7, Canada

    Martin P. Girardin

  4. ARVE Research SARL, 1009, Pully, Switzerland

    Jed O. Kaplan

  5. Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07743, Jena, Germany

    Jed O. Kaplan

  6. Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK

    Jed O. Kaplan

  7. Forest Research Institute, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 445 boul. de l’Université, Rouyn-Noranda, QC, J9X 5E4, Canada

    Yves Bergeron & Christelle Hély

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  1. Emeline Chaste
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  2. Martin P. Girardin
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Correspondence to Emeline Chaste.

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Chaste, E., Girardin, M.P., Kaplan, J.O. et al. Increases in heat-induced tree mortality could drive reductions of biomass resources in Canada’s managed boreal forest. Landscape Ecol 34, 403–426 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-019-00780-4

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