Readings 1-3 Flashcards
What happened to the variability in ecologically important retention elements when logging became an industry?
The natural variability of retention elements was reduced, mainly because no natural disturbance removes as much biomass from a given area as commercial harvesting, driving the variation of some retention elements beyond their natural range.
At a grand scale, what is a critical factor in ecosystem management?
Forest Connectivity.
Many animal and plant species are adapted to continued forest cover. Since more land is being subject to disturbance from multiple entities, large scale co-ordination is required between entities to maintain forest cover that connects protected areas and intact forests in order to maintain biodiversity.
According to the Ecosystem Management in North America paper, what is the most crucial aspect of ecosystem management?
The retention of structural elements at both stand and landscape levels. These must be planned over the long term seeing as they have not been effectively provided under recent management practices.
Although many ecosystem management guides include sections on retention elements, what important consideration concerning retention elements is not included?
The amount of time that retention elements are to be maintained.
What are some main problems with many of the recommendations made by ecological management guides?
Most recommendations are given at either the stand, or the landscape level, but seldomely both, thus failing to ensure large scale connectivity.
None of the guides take climate change or permanent fragmentation of the landscape into consideration.
Lack of consideration of the temporal scale of retention.
What are seven important retention elements in ecosystem management?
Downed woody debris Snags Green Trees Forested Corridors Riparian buffers Large patches Old Forest
What was the single greatest weakness shared by most guides reviewed in “Ecosystem Management in NA”?
The lack of consideration for the temporal scale of retention elements is the single greatest weakness shared by most guides. It is essential to manage retention elements for long enough to fulfill their diverse ecological roles.
