The combined impact of increasing temperatures (2 to 8°C by 2100) and forest development in the mixed boreal forest could modify the growth and distribution of temperate species.
(Shutterstock)
Maxence Soubeyrand, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT) and Fabio Gennaretti, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT)
Research shows that the distribution of temperate hardwoods (sugar maple, red maple and yellow birch) could be shifting northward, which would have serious consequences for the boreal forest.
Forest fires were mostly started by lightning. Their spread was then exacerbated by a lack of precipitation and abnormally high temperatures.
(Victor Danneyrolles)
Dorian M. Gaboriau, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT); Jonathan Lesven, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT); Victor Danneyrolles, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC), and Yves Bergeron, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT)
The forest fires of the summer of 2023 in Québec were devastating. It was the worst year in 50 years. But with climate change, the worst may be yet to come.
Narrow-leaved kalmia is an invasive plant typical of boreal ecosystems. Its proliferation can hinder the reforestation of areas subject to disturbances.
(Jacques Ibarzabal/iNaturalist)
Jérôme Alsarraf, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC); Andre Pichette, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC), and Jean Legault, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC)
Boreal plants produce molecules that are valued by traditional medicines and inspire the development of medicinal products by contemporary chemists.
Labrador Tea is one of the boreal plants that are classified as pests or weeds. The plant is important to Indigenous communities for its healing properties.
(J. Baker)
Some boreal plant species are classified — and treated — as weeds, affecting Indigenous communities’ access to important cultural, medicinal and ceremonial resources.
Indigenous cultures possess ancestral knowledge and an in-depth understanding of plants that deserves to be recognized, preserved and promoted for the benefit of society as a whole.
(Olivier Fradette)
New scientific discoveries are being made by drawing on Indigenous peoples’ ancestral knowledge about medicinal plants.
Woodland caribou of the Pipmuacan herd. The effects of predation and habitat loss have greatly contributed to the decline of caribou in southern Nitassinan.
(Stéphane Bourassa, Canadian Forest Service)
Zombie fires smoulder through the winter and reignite in the early spring. How these fires behave is not well understood, but they can contribute to an earlier and longer fire season.
What strategies are the best to make forests more resilient and better adapted to new climate conditions?
(Claude Villeneuve)
Claude Villeneuve, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC); Charles Marty, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC); Maxime Paré, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC), and Patrick Faubert, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC)
Can planting trees help us solve the climate crisis? Probably, but to what extent?
The search for a balance in meeting human needs within the limits of the environment is a perennial challenge in the history of humanity.
(Shutterstock)
Is it possible to measure sustainable development? Can we go beyond merely embracing virtuous principles and put the concept into use?
The beaver lives at the intersection of the aquatic and forest environments, so its presence increases interactions between these two ecosystems.
(Shutterstock)
Miguel Montoro Girona, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT); Guillaume Grosbois, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), and Mélanie Arsenault, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT)
Beavers are an important ecosystem engineer in the boreal forest and researchers are demystifying their secrets.
In North America, log driving is thought to have stopped by the end of the 20th century, with the exception of British Columbia, where it is still practised on a small scale.
(Shutterstock)
Logging over the past two centuries has had a major impact on Québec’s forests. The traces it has left will guide the adoption of sustainable forest management techniques.
Satellite image of a forest fire in July 2021 in northern Saskatchewan (Wapawekka Hills). The image covers an area of about 56 kilometres in width and is based on Copernicus Sentinel data.
(Pierre Markuse), CC BY 2.0
Victor Danneyrolles, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC); Raphaël Chavardès, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), and Yves Bergeron, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT)
North America’s boreal forests have been burning a lot, probably more and more over the past 60 years. Yet the long-term trend indicates that they are burning less than they were 150 years ago.
Climate change will affect Canada’s boreal forest in a complex way.
(Shutterstock)
Woodland caribou populations are on the decline because human activity changes their habitat and exposes them to predation by wolves. But changing wolves’ hunting habits may protect the caribou.
The boreal forests in the James Bay Lowlands are part of an ecosystem relied upon by Indigenous communities for their survival.
(Shutterstock)
The Ring of Fire Regional Assessment is Canada’s first opportunity to apply new legislative tools to co-operating with Indigenous jurisdictions. But the government is messing up.
The world’s leaders have tried to stop deforestation before, but have had little success.
(AP Photo/Michael Probst)
The pledge to end deforestation holds great potential, but Canada has some work ahead if it is to make meaningful progress on the new goal and stop ongoing forest and carbon loss.
The secret lives of lynx are revealed through audio recordings.
(Shutterstock)