Abstract
Over the past two centuries progressive anthropogenicperturbations to natural, boreal forest-climateinteractions have contributed increasingly to awidespread transition from coniferous to deciduouslandscapes. This transition is associated withchanges, at boreal latitudes, in temperature,photosynthetic activity, atmospheric CO2 andspring snow cover. These signals convey thediminished capacity of boreal landscapes to store andcycle materials and energy.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bertalanffy, L. von: 1950, 'The theory of open systems in physics and biology', Science 111, 23-29.
Bertrand, J. P.: 1994, Timberwolves, Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, Thunder Bay, Canada.
Bormann, F. H. and Likens, G. E.: 1977, Pattern and Process in a Forested Ecosystem, Springer-Verlag, New York.
Bothwell, M. L., Sherbot, D. M. J. and Pollock, C. M.: 1994, 'Ecosystem response to solar ultraviolet-B radiation: influence of trophic-level interactions', Science 265, 97-100.
Briffa, K. R., Schweingruber, F. H., Jones, P. D., Osborn, T. J., Shiyatov, S. G. and Vaganov, E. A.: 1998, 'Reduced sensitivity of recent tree-growth to temperature at high northern latitudes', Nature 391, 678-682.
Brumelis, G. and Carlton, T. J.: 1989, 'The vegetation of post-logged black spruce lowlands in central Canada', J. Applied Ecology 26, 321-329.
Carelton, T. J. and MacLellan, P.: 1994, 'Woody vegetation responses to fire versus clear-cutting: A comparative survey in the central Canadian boreal forest' Ecoscience 1(2).
Clark, C. W.: 1990, Mathematical Bioeconomics, John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Clark, J. S.: 1989, 'Effects of long-term water balance on fire regime, Northwestern Minnesota', J. of Ecology 77, 989-1004.
Currie, D. J. and Paquin, V.: 1987, 'Large-scale biogeographical patterns of species richness of trees', Nature 329, 326-327.
Day, R. J.: 1990, 'The dynamic nature of Ontario's forests from post-glacial times to the present day', in Old Growth Forests, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, pp. 63-122.
Forrest, R.: 1995, 'Jury out on Ontario Forest Act', Logging and Sawmilling Journal 26(1).
Gates, D. M.: 1962, Energy Exchange in the Biosphere, Harper and Row, New York.
Groisman, P. Ya, Karl, T. R. and Knight, T. W.: 1994, 'Observed impact of snow cover on the heat balance and the rise of continental spring temperatures', Science 263, 198-200.
Hardin, G.: 1968, 'The tragedy of the commons', Science 162, 1243-1248.
Hatsopoulos, G. N. and Keenan, J. H.: 1965, Principles of General Thermodynamics, John Wiley.
Hearden, K.W., Millson, S. V. and Wilson, W. C.: 1992, A report on the status of forest regeneration, The Ontario independent forest audit committee, October 1992.
Holbo, H. R. and Luvall, J. C.: 1989, 'Modelling surface temperature distributions in forest landscapes', Remote Sens. Envir. 27, 11-24.
Holling, C. S.: 1992a, 'Cross-scale morphology, geometry and dynamics of ecosystem', Ecological Monographs 62(4) 447-502.
Holling, C. S.: 1992b, 'The role of forest insects in structuring the boreal landscapes', in: H. H. Shugart et al. (eds), A Systems Analysis of the Global Boreal Forest, Cambridge University Press.
Ip, D. W.: 1996, 'Community tree planting: Early survival and carbon sequestering potential', J. Arboriculture 1, 222-228.
Jacoby, G. C. and D'Arrigo, R. D.: 1995, 'Tree ring width and density evidence of climatic and potential forest change in Alaska', Global Biogeochemical Cycles 9, 227-234.
Keeling, C. D., Whorf, T. P., Wahlen, M. and Van der Plicht, J.: 1995, 'Interannual extremes in the rate of rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide since 1980', Nature 375, 666-670.
Keeling, C. D., Chin, J. F. S. and Whorf, T. P.: 1996, 'Increased activity of northern vegetation inferred from atmospheric CO2 measurements', Nature 382, 146-149.
Kerr, J. T. and Packer, L.: 1997, 'Habitat heterogeneity as a determinant of mammal species richness in high-energy regions', Nature 385, 252-254.
Koestler, A.: 1967, The Ghost in the Machine, Hutchinson of London.
Kronberg, B. I., Watt, M. J. and Polischuk, S. C.: 1998, 'Forest-climate interactions in the Quetico-Superior Ecotone (Northwest Ontario and Northern Minnesota)', Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 50, 173-187.
Kurz, W. A. and Apps, M. J.: 1995, 'Retrospective assessment of carbon flows in Canadian boreal forests', in M. J. Apps and D. T. Price (eds.), Forest Ecosystems, Forest Management and the Global Carbon Cycle, Springer, pp. 173-182.
Lanctot, G.: 1963, A History of Canada, Vol. 1, Harvard University Press.
Long, G. and Whiteman, R.: 1998, When Giants Fall, Fox Meadow Creations, Huntsville, Canada.
Lower, A. R. M.: 1938, The North American Assault on the Canadian Forest: A History of the Lumber Trade Between Canada and the United States, Ryerson Press, Toronto.
Lower, A. R. M.: 1973, Great Britain's Woodyard: British America and the Timber Trade 1763-1867, McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal.
Ludwig, D., Hilborn, R. and Walters, C.: 1993, 'Uncertainty, resource exploitation and conservation: lessons from history', Science 260, pp. 17-36.
Manabe, S. and Wetherald, R. T.: 1986, 'Reduction in summer soil wetness induced by an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide', Science 232, 626-628.
Mertz, W.: 1981, 'The essential trace elements', Science 213, 1332-1338.
Miller, D. H.: 1956, 'The influence of pine forest on daytime temperature in the Sierra Nevada', The Geographical Review 46, 209-218.
Mitchell, J. F. B. and Warrilow, D. A.: 1987, 'Summer dryness in northern mid-latitudes due to increased CO2', Nature 330, 238-240.
Myneni, R. B., Keeling, C. D., Tucker, C. J., Asrar, G. and Nemani, R. R.: 1997, 'Increased plant growth in the northern high latitudes from 1981 to 1991', Nature 386, 698-702.
Nicolis, G. and Prigogine, I.: 1989, Exploring Complexity, W. H. Freeman, New York.
Nobel, P. S.: 1974, Biophysical Plant Physiology, W. H. Freeman, San Francisco.
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), 1992, Digital mosaic of Landsat TM data, Ontario Forest Research Institute, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada.
Price, D. T. and Apps, M. J.: 1996, 'Boreal forest responses to climate-change scenarios along an ecoclimatic transect in central Canada', Climatic Change 34, 179-190.
Prigogine, I.: 1955, Introduction to the Thermodynamics of Irreversible Processes, Thomas, Springfield Illinois.
Ramakrishna, R., Nemani, R. and Running S. W.: 1995, 'Satellite monitoring of global land cover changes and their impact on climate', Climatic Change 31, 395-413.
Rizzo, B. and Wiken, E.: 1992, 'Assessing the sensitivity of Canada's ecosystems to climatic change', Climatic Change 21, 37-55.
Rowe, J. S.: 1990, Home Place, NeWest Publishers, Edmonton, Canada.
Salthe, S. N.: 1993, Development and Evolution: Complexity and Change in Biology, MIT Press.
Saul, J. R.: 1995, The Unconscious Civilization, Anansi Press, Toronto.
Schindler, D. W., Beaty, K. G., Fee, E. J., Cruickshank, D. R., Debruyn, E.R., Findlay, D.L., Linsey, G. A., Shearer, J. A., Stainton, M. P. and Turner M. A.: 1990, 'Effects of climatic warming on lakes of the central boreal forest', Science 250, 967-970.
Schindler, D. W., Curtis, P. J., Parker, B. R. and Stainton, M. P.: 1996, 'Consequences of climate warming and lake acidification for UV-B penetration in North American boreal lakes', Nature 379, 705-708.
Schneider, E. D. and Kay, J. J.: 1994, 'Manifestation of the second law of thermodynamics', Mathematical and Computer Modelling 19(6-8), 25-48.
Shugart, H. H. and Smith, T. M.: 1996, 'A review of forest patch models and their application to global change research', Climatic Change 34, 131-153.
Shvidenko, A. Z., Nilsson, S., Rojkov, V. A. and Strakhov, V. V.: 1995, 'Carbon budget of the Russian boreal forests: a systems analysis approach to uncertainty', in: M. J. Apps and D. T. Price (eds), Forest Ecosystems, Forest Management and the Global Carbon Cycle, Springer, pp. 145-162.
Skinner, W. R., Stocks, B. J., Martell, D. L., Bonsal, B. and Shabbar, A.: 1999, 'The association between circulation anomalies in the mid-troposphere and area burned by wildland fire in Canada', Theoretical and Applied Climatology (in press).
Suffling, R.: 1992, 'Climate change and boreal forest fires in Fennoscandia and Central Canada', in M. Boer and E. Koster (eds.), Greenhouse Impact on Cold-Climate Ecosystem and Landscapes, Catena supplement 22, 111-132.
Thornthwaite, C. W. and Mather J. R.: 1957, 'Instruction and table for computing potential evapotranspiration and water balance', Publ. Climatol. 8(3).
Ulanowicz, R. E. and Hannon, B. M.: 1987, 'Life and the production of entropy', Proc. R. Soc. London B. 232, 181-192.
Ulanowicz, R. E.: 1997, Ecology, the Ascendent Perspective, Columbia University Press, New York.
Ulanowicz, R. E. and Baird, D.: 1999, 'Nutrient controls on ecosystem dynamics: the Chesapeake mesohaline community', J. Marine Systems 19, 159-172.
Watt, M. J.: 1992, Climate change and tree ring investigations in the Quetico-Superior Ecotone', M.Sc. Thesis, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Canada.
Williams, R. J. P.: 1981, 'Natural selection of the chemical elements', Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B. 213, 361-397.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kronberg, B.I., Watt, M.J. The Precariousness of North American Boreal Forests. Environ Monit Assess 62, 261–272 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006201904039
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006201904039