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The Department is involved in numerous silviculture research activities and takes a proactive
stand in ecosystem health, ranging from nursery research to hardwood regeneration.
Innovative Projects
In the pursuit of applied ecosystem management, innovation
is expanding the more traditional activities of silviculture into newer areas of ecosystem
health and associated functions. Examples of specific investigations to produce quantifiable
results are:
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Revegetation trials on reclaimed roads to test timing
of planting and seeding of mixtures of stabilizing plants and various tree seedlings
(and mixtures) to recover productive forest landbase
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Encouragement of hardwood regeneration
(particularly yellow birch) through site preparation techniques and, through the use
of enclosures, protection of hardwood regeneration from herbivory to ensure the
presence of yellow birch in the canopy where a natural “climax’ species
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Investigations of cut size on herbivory
(particularly by introduced species) and effects on natural succession and
biodiversity
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Testing effects of wider buffers with various degree
of partial harvesting therein in relation to timber loss and habitat alteration due
to windthrow
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Fertilization to increase terrestrial and aquatic
production
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Assessment of the application of national criteria
and objectives to local forest management conditions and activities |
Research Activities
The types of silvicultural research activities carried out
by the Department fall within four broad categories: |
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Reforestation Research:
These research activities revolve around tree seedling planting and involve such
issues as planting technique, site preparation, vegetation control and early
seedling growth enhancement. As an example, the Department has trials in place
to evaluate the benefits of seedling fertilization at the time of planting.
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Forest Improvement Research:
Research in this area typically revolves around the response of juvenile
forests to various improvement activities such as density control, fertilization
and intermediate harvesting (i.e., commercial thinning). As an example, the Department
has in place a series of trials to look at the response of various forest stand
types to commercial thinning.
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Tree Improvement Research:
The Department has in place a program to improve the genetic
quality of the seedlings that we grow for reforestation. In this way, we hope
to enhance the yield from our forest plantations. In support of this effort,
research trials are established to test the genetically enhanced seedlings, thereby
providing us with the information required to select those trees which are truly superior.
Additionally, tree improvement research includes testing to determine what tree species
grow best under various circumstances. For example, the Department maintains a series
of conifer species in which the performance of native tree species is compared to
that of several exotic species.
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Nursery Research:
Nursery oriented silvicultural research primarily involves the effort to
produce the best quality seedling at the most reasonable cost. An
example of this type of research would be trials now in place to assess
the performance of seedlings grown in a variety of container types. |
The information generated through the Department’s silvicultural research
program is used to guide and modify operational procedures and standards.
Results are disseminated throughout the provincial forestry community through
workshops, field trips and via a report series entitled Silviculture Notebook.
In addition to true research, Silviculture and Research Section also devotes
considerable resources to the development of silvicultural applications for new
and existing technologies. For example, the Reforestation Forester, another
staff member of the Section, has been doing extensive developmental work with
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) in an
effort to enhance the quality of our silviculture treatment mapping.
Statistics
Silviculture statistics |
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