Boreal forest
Biophysical environments
Biotic interactions
Fire regimes & post-fire succession
Floodplain succession & paludification
Forest clearance and succession
Climate change: natural & anthropogenic
Boreal
forest
biome
-------
Scandinavia Fairbanks
70% Russia
70% Alaska
50% Canada Chicoutimi
Pr. Albert
Kapuskasing
Note latitudinal variation
Mean monthly temperature
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Monthly precipitation (mm)
Monthly precipitation (mm)
12 0
10 0
80
60 Fa irban ks
Prin ce Albe rt
Kap uskasin g
40 Chicoutimi
20
0
Chicoutimi
J F
M Kap uskasin g
A
M Prin ce Albe rt
J J
A Fa irban ks
S
O
N
D
Mean annual snowfall (mm)
Boreal
forest and
permafrost
distribution
-2.8
Mean annual 0.6 3.0
temperature 0.7
Discontinuous permafrost limit ~ -2C
Mean location
Jan tree July Polar Front
growth
120 30 Mean #d >10C
150 pollen/seed 240 Mean #d <0C
viability
Boreal forest Tundra
patchy discontinuous continuous Permafrost
Boreal forest-environment
interactions
Climate Biota
Physical
template
Soil
The boreal forest biome in Canada
Trees of the N. American boreal forest
Evergreens
Deciduous
Boreal forest vegetation types
(North America)
non-ac cess ed
s pruce
pine
balsam fir
poplar
birc h
other
Forest structure
Boreal forest Taiga
spruce/birch/pine forest mosaic spruce-lichen woodland
Boreal forest soils
Underlain by coarse-textured Underlain by fine-textured
deposits or bedrock. Well-drained, deposits / permafrost. Poorly-
warm fairly rapidly in summer, more drained, cold in summer; little
rapid breakdown of organics, microbial activity, slow
strongly-leached, acidic, low nutrient breakdown of organics, low
availability. nutrient availability.
100
gleysols,
O
cryosols
Ae O
BC
Podzols,
Bf Cg
regosols
0
south north
boreal forest taiga
Forest community segregation
in the boreal forest
white spruce - jack pine
black birch-aspen-
tamarack
spruce balsam fir
mosses
site: wet mesic dry
soil: gleys podzols
active: thin (<0.3m) thick (>2m)
layer (or no permafrost)
organic thick thin
layer
Biomass and productivity
black white paper aspen poplar
spruce spruce birch
Nutrient cycling and storage (nitrogen)
black white paper aspen poplar
spruce spruce birch
Herbivory and boreal forest dynamics
Moose
population
Nitrogen
Browse mineralization
biomass
Wolf
population soil
phytotoxins microbiota
enhancements reductions
Insect outbreaks
(e.g. spruce budworm; Siberian silkworm)
Climate Fire hazard
(early summer drought)
Forest structure*
Insect populations
and biomass
(larvae)
*suitable host trees (e.g. balsam
fir for spruce budworm)
enhancements reductions
Fire regime
Fire cycle
Natural fire cycle averages 50-200 years
Length of the cycle controlled by moisture
balance
Most fires small (~70% in AK & YK <5 ha).
Severe fires can cover 200,000 ha.
Most boreal forests equally flammable
regardless of age (after first decade).
Forest
fire
weather
zones
Precipitation
and wildfire
frequency
Precip.
Fire RI
Fire regime
Fire intensity
Most tree species are not fire resistant.
Thick bark protects pines.
Tendency of fire to crown dependent on
tree canopy architecture and understorey
vegetation. Crown fires common in spruce
and pine forests, rare in deciduous forests.
Fire resistance:
protective role of tree bark
paper birch black spruce jack pine
resistance
Fire regime
Post-fire regeneration
Many trees dependent on recurring fires.
Post-fire reproduction by means of:
light, wind-dispersed seeds (e.g. birches,
poplars)
serotinous or semiserotinous cones (e.g.
jack pine, black spruce)
stump sprouting or suckering (aspen, paper
birch)
Post-fire regeneration
from suckers
from serotinous cones
Fire succession
no
Birch (Betula papyrifera) forest
with spruce (Picea sp.) understorey
on mesic site
Fire regime
Fire severity
Removal of the canopy and surface organic
layer increases surface energy receipt.
Thickness of active layer may increase
substantially for first few years following
fire.
Nutrients in surface mat and soil released
by fire (N and P increase most in
moderately burned areas).
Succession schematic
Floodplain succession, Alaska
Floodplain succession
( pioneer phase)
Floodplain succession
( pioneer phase)
Balsam poplar
white spruce
herbs
Floodplain succession
(climax phase)
mature white spruce
on scroll bars
Floodplain succession, NE BC
Influence of forest cover on soil temperature
14
12
10
6
w hite spruce
4 black spruce
balsam poplar
2
-2
-4
-6
May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr
In the absence of disturbance
paludification may occur
Moss-organic layers > 5cm thick preclude
spruce regeneration from seed.
Spruce stands may reproduce vegetatively
by layering (regrowth of low branches
buried in the moss-organic mat).
If moss-organic layer continue to increase
in depth, paludification (bog-formation)
may occur. In W. Siberia ~1/3 of the taiga
is forested bog.
Paludification: a double feedback loop
soil Sphagnum
water table nutrient uptake
Sphagnum peat
ironpan development
moss growth
formation
soil acidity tree growth
enhancements reductions
Sphagnum bog formation
200
Effects of
High severity fire
Low severity fire
successional
150
Forest floor thickness (cm)
100
paludification of
50
boreal forest soils
(in western Qubec)
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Years since fire
200 100
High severity fire
Low severity fire
80
150
Mean ericaceous cover (%)
Forest floor thickness (cm)
60
100
40
50
20
0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Years since fire Years since fire
Data: Simard et al., 2007. Ecological Applications 17, 1619-163
Effects of paludification on forest
timber production
100 50
High severity fire
80 Low severity fire
40
Stem basal area (m^2/ha)
Mean open canopy (%)
60 30
40 20
20 10
0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Years since fire Years since fire
Left: stand opens up over time, and
Right: wood production declines (especially in stands
>200-yr old)
Data: Simard et al., 2007. Ecological Applications 17, 1619-163
Forest clearance in NW Europe
Farm clearance-abandonment cycle
(data from New England)
Wood production areas
Effects of harvesting on forest cover
in accessed areas of boreal forest
15
poplars
10
balsam birch
5
fir other
% change
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
-5
-10
pine
-15
spruce
-20
North
American
vegetation
at the Last
Glacial
Maximum
(18 000 14C yr BP
= 20 000 yrs BP)
Postglacial
migration
of the
Pollen Viewer
boreal
forest
plant
community
from pollen
evidence
[Link]
LGM and Late Glacial distribution of boreal
and mixed forest from pollen evidence
Boreal = dark green
Mixed forest = light green
No analogue
Overpeck et al., 1992. Geology 20, 1071-1074.
Ranges, clades and postglacial migrations
of New World tree squirrels
(T = Tamiasciurus)
QuickTime and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Douglas squirrel ?
T. douglasii ? eastern
QuickTime and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
clade
Red squirrel
T. hudsonicus
QuickTime and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
SW clade
T. mearnsii
Simplified from data in Abrogast et al., 2001. J. Mammalogy 82, 302-319
Range, fossil sites and inferred postglacial
migration of American marten
Martes americana
varieties: americana
and caurina
Quic kTime and a
TIFF (Unc ompres sed) dec ompres sor
are needed to see this pic ture.
fossils
Stone et al., 2002. Molecular Ecology 11, 20492063
Sphyrapicus (sapsuckers)
Dendroica (warblers)
Superspecies
Vermivora (warblers)
complexes of
a
Passerella (warblers)
boreal forest
b
birds: note
Vireo (vireos)
repetitive
Empidonax (flycatchers)
distribution
Opopornis (warblers)
patterns
Poecile (chickadees)
Weir and Schluter, 2004. Proc. Roy. Soc. London B, 217, 1881-1887.
Cladogram of boreal bird superspecies
Map shows ice cover at
LGM and approximate 100
distribution of boreal
forest glacial refugia
Clock for DNA
cladogram = 2.2%
change in DNA per cold
Ma
palaeotemperature
warm
Ma (BP) 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0 .0
Weir and Schluter, 2004. Proc. Roy. Soc. London B, 217, 1881-1887.
ADVANCE = north;
RETREAT = south
Changes in the boreal
forest margin in
southern Sweden
since 1250BC
Global climate change and the boreal forest:
growth fire frequency paludification ?
