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OOS-40:
Understory and epiphytic vegetation as indicators of the ecological
integrity of managed forests
Thursday,
August 11, 8 AM - 11:30 AM, Meeting Rooms 510a and 510c, Level 5, Palais
des congrès de Montréal
Organizers:
Sybille Haeussler (skenna@bulkley.net)
Sophie Gachet, Yves Bergeron, Ellen MacDonald
Description:
Ten
years after the Pan-European and Montreal Processes established formal criteria
and indicators for sustainable management of temperate and boreal forests, there
have been many advances in the use of biological indicators to enhance
scientific understanding of how forests respond to management against a backdrop
of global environmental change. This session synthesizes recent research on the
use of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens as multi-scale indicators of the
ecological condition of managed forests and for detecting and predicting
environmental change. Presenters describe progress in developing quantitative
models of vegetation change and use of functional groups to improve
predictability and generality of vegetation response. Plants complement other
bioindicators like vertebrates and provide a window into complex ecological
processes such as nutrient cycling. The discussion will address whether recent
findings support current paradigms of sustainable forestry such as the emulation
of natural disturbance and how to further the success of international criteria
and indicator programs.
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