Canadian Forests: Climate Analysis

We once lived in a world lush and plentiful where we enjoyed all the natural resources peacefully. However at the beginning of the industrial revolution more people moved to the cities therefore increasing their dependency load. Fastforward to today and the world has seen a drastic change in the loss of natural resources as well as a number of health related illnesses like asthma. This is mainly due to the effects from carbon pollution, greenhouse gases and global warming. Canada as a country is thought of as environmentally aware and progressive. Actually has many issues regarding this topic and if it is not taken care of it will affect the future of the nation. I care about this topic because it has to

The GTA is located in the southern Ontario potion of the Deciduous Forest Biome. The Deciduous Forest Biome extends across Ontario and into the Maritime provinces (Course Manual 19). In the portion of the biome where the GTA is located, the temperature ranges from -12 degrees celcius to over 20 degrees celcuis (Course Manual 19). Its recieves an average of 250 centimetres of snow and 75 centimetres of rain per year (Course Manual 21). The GTA recieves a broad spectrum of weather with multiple winter storms and summer heat spells common throughout the year. Due to the ideal growing season and abundant nutrients, the Deciduous Forest Biome is home to a number of diverse plant and animal species. Unfortunatly, due to large populations and human influences, the biomes forests are threatened with never ending agricultural development and urban expansion. High population rates also impact waste disposal, healthy drinking water, pollution and overfishing (Course Manual 23). In fact, this compact area of the Deciduous Forest Biome has the largest negative impact on climate change in all of

The Rim Fire of 2013 ravaged the slopes of the Stanislaus National Forest leaving many areas severely burned and unable to recover. Restoration efforts have been made and 56,000 saplings were planted in 2016 in the most severely burned areas; but the forest still has a long way to recovery. Fires are a naturally occurring hazard in the Stanislaus National Forest, and have contributed to the replenishment, control, and sustainability of the forest; but fires of the Rim Fire's intensity are very rare. The Rim Fire destroyed over 277,314 acres of habitat, harmed many mature trees, and ruined the layers of topsoil, and increased erosion and runoff. The devastation of the Rim Fire would not be have been so intense if it weren’t for past fire

Permafrost is very vulnerable to changes in air temperature and different snow coverages making it extremely sensitive to climate change. As the permafrost is melting, it continues to amplify the already rapidly increasing rate of global warming because it is releasing heat-trapping elements that are stored in the soil and the ice into the atmosphere. In the Beringia Upland Tundra, average temperatures in the year 2050 are expected to be 3.5-7 degrees fahrenheit higher than what current temperatures are at now. With this happening, the permafrost will continue to melt unless humans reduce the amount of heat-trapping emissions being let into the atmosphere (Hagenstein). Through warmer climate is increased evaporation, lakes are getting severly smaller and permafrost is thinning. As the climate warms, shrubs are entering into the tundra. In some circumstances and places, shrubs are taking place of other tundra vegetation such as lichen. Caribou depend on lichens for food in the winter since the tundra does not produce much food in the winter. A decline of lichen can cause a negative slope of growth and and numbers of these animals, and can possibly lead to extinction in this region. If caribou don't survive, then other animal species in this region will not be able to evolve and thrive since caribou are a solid food source for them

The rising number of high severity wildfires in California has significant ecological, economic, and health impacts. Many western American forests are adapted to frequent low severity fires. However, the majority of these forests, and particularly the mixed conifer forests of California, are not adapted to high intensity fires and do not possess fire resistance adaptations such as serotinous cones to protect seeds. Consequently, high severity fires have significant negative impacts on California forests, and the absence of low severity fires has considerably altered many fundamental ecosystem processes (Miller et al. 2008). Prior to 1900, low severity fires would burn every 6-15 years. Low severity fires are generally non-lethal, have minimal change to the overstory, and kill mainly small trees. In the past, these fires were started naturally by lightning, or by Native Americans who used low severity fires to manage the forests.

Mackenzie River Basin has been steadily warming over the last 3 decades and changes due to global warming are rippling through the entire ecosystem. The indigenous communities that live in the basin and depend on the natural resources are particularly vulnerable to these changes. Some the changes that are detrimental to these communities include the increases in forest fires, increase of permafrost melting and the decrease of water in the basin. The increase

The Acadian forest in Canada takes up 12.1 million hectares, and can be distinguished from other parts of Canadian forests by its location in the lowlands and deep valleys and by its mixed hardwood and softwood composition. The position of these trees in deep valleys isolates them from other forests, and limits their ability to further naturally spread their population geographically, and causes them to be more significantly impacted by disturbances. The Acadian forest region covers the Canadian provinces of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, with a rich diversity of plant and animal species consisting of many shade-tolerant trees and lichens. Yet these shade-tolerant trees are slowly transitioning into small seedlings as logging practices abolish old trees. The old-growth hardwood population in specific provides critical habitats for animal species though these trees are declining in numbers due to extensive logging. With the declining old-growth trees, the number of critical habitats will also decline and animal species will most likely die out. These regions are affected by climate change at the same time, which increases the vulnerability of Acadian biodiversity.

How are native species specifically affected by climate change and invasive species in Canada’s national parks and why?

Touching back on the temperature raising the number of wild brush fires are increasing. This is happening cause of the droughts that we are having. These droughts cause the plants to become so dry that they become a big a very big fire hazard. For example like here on the big island we have been getting some mean droughts that

In the article “Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide fluxes from a fire chronosequence in subarctic boreal forests of canada,” the authors studied the effects of forest fires in Northwestern Canada. Koster et al. focused on the effects that forest fires had over time, on three greenhouse gases. There were three main hypotheses in the research paper: The increases of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide will change as a consequence of fire and the

Examples of positive effects are when the fire destroys some adult trees and burns the branches, trunks and leaves of the others, and burns the undergrowth. This effect is positive because it means the seeds and soil that needed a fire to release them, can now germinate. Young plants can also grow vigorously due to the increase in light caused by the fire. A fire can also change the structure in the soil by making it thinner and releasing its stored nutrients which give the ideal condition for seeds to germinate. However this can also be considered a negative effect, because at the same time it makes the soil easier to be washed or blown away. More examples of negative effects bushfires bring are that they significantly reduce the number of animals in an ecosystem, which can eventually lead to extinction of endangered species. Many animals die while trying to escape the fire, while some escape to a safe area. The escaped animals will not be able to return until food is available again. This damages the food web and can take years to return to normal. Bushfires can easily get out of control, and that leads them into

According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, Wildfire means “a sweeping and destructive conflagration esp. in a wilderness or a rural area.” Also according to the same dictionary, wilderness means “a tract or region uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings.” Forest Fires happen when there is a drought because branches and twigs die and dry out creating plenty of fuel for a fire. According to the NIFC (National Interagency Fire Center) there are about 105,534 wildfires that occur each year.

The likely short-term impacts of the wildfires will be the air quality which will mean it will be safe to have outdoor exposure after the wildfires are contained and the air quality becomes safe in terms of health conditions. Another short term impact will be the decrease in plants due to the fires that are burning them which will then affect the the carbon cycle due to plants being burned and carbon dioxide becomes abundant in the atmosphere in large amounts which will create an atmospheric disbalance.

Maple trees and the maple syrup industry really help Climate Change. Not only are trees not getting cut down, more trees are getting planted so the company can keep up with the high demands for maple syrup. There are 34 million Quebec maple trees in production and 7,300 maple syrup production businesses in Quebec. This results in more trees using our carbon dioxide and through photosynthesis, giving us more oxygen. Quebec’s maple syrup-producing forests absorb and store 8 times more carbon than the maple syrup production process releases. Maple trees help us control climate change as CO2 emissions are a big part of climate change. It also helps the air quality because there is less CO2 in the air, but the maple trees also replace it with oxygen.

Humans have been changing the Western forests' fire system since the settlement by the Europeans and now we are experiencing the consequences of those changes. During the summer of 2002, 6.9 million acres of forests was burnt up in the West (Wildland Fires, 1). This figure is two times the ten year annual average, and it does not look like next summer will be any better (Wildfire Season, 1).