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
70% Russia
70% Alaska
50% Canada

Fairbanks

Pr. Albert

Chicoutimi
Kapuskasing
Note latitudinal variation

Mean monthly temperature

25
20
15
10
5
Fairbanks

Prince Albert
Kapuskasing

-5

Chicoutimi

-10
-15
-20
-25
-30
J1

F2

M3

A4

5
M

8
A

10

11

12

Monthly precipitation (mm)

120

100

80

60

Fairbanks
Prince Albert
Kapuskasing
Chicoutimi

40

20

0
J

Chicoutimi
Kapuskasing
Prince Albert
A

Fairbanks
N

Mean annual snowfall (mm)

Bo
re
al
fo
re
st
zo
n

Boreal
forest and
permafrost
distribution
-2.8
Mean annual
temperature

0.6

0.7

3.0

Discontinuous permafrost limit ~ -2C

Jan

tree
growth

July

120
150

pollen/seed
viability

Mean location
Polar Front

30

Mean #d >10C

240

Mean #d <0C

Boreal forest

patchy discontinuous

Tundra

continuous

Permafrost

Boreal forest-environment
interactions
Biota

Climate
Physical
template

Soil

The boreal forest biome in Canada

T
aig
a
Bo
re
al
fo
re

st

Trees of the N. American boreal forest

Evergreens

Deciduous

Boreal forest vegetation types

(North America)
non-accessed

spruce
pine
balsam fir
poplar
birch
other

Forest structure

Boreal forest

spruce/birch/pine forest mosaic

Taiga

spruce-lichen woodland

Boreal forest soils

Underlain by coarse-textured
deposits or bedrock. Well-drained,
warm fairly rapidly in summer, more
rapid breakdown of organics,
strongly-leached, acidic, low nutrient
availability.
100

Bf

gleysols,
cryosols

% cover

O
Ae

Underlain by fine-textured
deposits / permafrost. Poorlydrained, cold in summer; little
microbial activity, slow
breakdown of organics, low
nutrient availability.

Podzols,

Cg

regosols
0

south

boreal forest

north

taiga

O
BC

Forest community segregation

in the boreal forest
black
spruce

tamarack

white spruce birch-aspenbalsam fir

jack pine

mosses

site:
wet
soil:
gleys
active: thin (<0.3m)
layer
organic thick
layer

mesic

dry
podzols
thick (>2m)
(or no permafrost)
thin

Biomass and productivity

black
spruce

white
spruce

paper
birch

aspen

poplar

Nutrient cycling and storage (nitrogen)

black
spruce

white
spruce

paper
birch

aspen

poplar

Herbivory and boreal forest dynamics

Moose
population

Nitrogen
mineralization

Browse
biomass

Wolf
population

enhancements

phytotoxins

soil
microbiota

reductions

Insect outbreaks

(e.g. spruce budworm; Siberian silkworm)

Climate
(early summer drought)

Insect populations
(larvae)

Fire hazard

Forest structure*
and biomass
*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
resistance

jack pine

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)

white spruce

Balsam poplar
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
8
6

white spruce

black spruce
balsam poplar

2
0
-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
water table

Sphagnum
nutrient uptake
Sphagnum
moss growth

ironpan
formation
soil acidity

enhancements

peat
development

tree growth
reductions

Sphagnum bog formation

200

Effects of
successional
paludification of
boreal forest soils

High severity fire

Low severity fire
150

100

50

(in western Qubec)

0
0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

100

200

High severity fire

Low severity fire

80

150

60
100
40

50
20

0
0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Data: Simard et al., 2007. Ecological Applications 17, 1

Effects of paludification on forest

timber production
100

50

High severity fire

80

40

60

30

40

20

20

10

Low severity fire

0
0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

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, 1

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
fir

% change

5
0

-5

pine

-10
-15
-20

spruce

birch
4

other
6

North
American
vegetation
at the Last
Glacial
Maximum
(18 000 14C yr BP
= 20 000 yrs BP)

Postglacial
migration
of the
boreal
forest
plant
community
from pollen
evidence

Pollen Viewer

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/pollen/viewer/webviewer.h

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-

Ranges, clades and postglacial migrations

of New World tree squirrels
(T = Tamiasciurus)

QuickTime and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompress
are needed to see this picture.

Douglas squirrel
T. douglasii

eastern
clade

QuickTime and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

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, 3

Range, fossil sites and inferred postglacial

migration of American marten
Martes americana
varieties: americana
and caurina

QuickTime and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

fossils

Stone et al., 2002. Molecular Ecology 11, 2049

Sphyrapicus(sapsuckers)
Dendroica(warblers)
Vermivora(warblers)
Passerella(warblers)

Vireo(vireos)
Empidonax(flycatchers)
Opopornis(warblers)

Superspecies
complexes of
boreal forest
birds: note
repetitive
distribution
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
distribution of boreal
forest glacial refugia

cold
palaeotemperature

warm
Ma (BP) 2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

18O

Clock for DNA

cladogram = 2.2%
change in DNA per
Ma

100

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 ?