Evaluating hypothetical reserves in Canada’s boreal forest using time-series AVHRR data

Ryan Paul Powers, Yale University, rppowers@alumni.ubc.ca (Presenter)
Nicholas Coops, University of British Columbia, nicholas.coops@ubc.ca
Trisalyn Nelson, University of Victoria, trisalyn@uvic.ca
Michael Wulder, Canadian Forest Service, Pacific Forestry Center, Natural Resources Canada, mike.wulder@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca

The Canadian boreal forest is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate variability (e.g., altered precipitation and /or temperature regimes), which can both negatively and positively impact the productivity and condition of the forest and the species it sustains. The creation of large protected areas is viewed as an important option for both conservation efforts and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Yet, Canada's boreal forest remains globally under protected while current protected areas are slightly biased towards low productivity environments. Recognition of this protection deficit and the extraordinary conservation potential has generated serious debate around designing a greatly expanded protected area network in Canada that is realistic given the nature of the landscape while complementing those protected areas that already exist. However, determining the placement and size of the reserves is not trivial. Using the entire Canadian boreal forest as a case study, we demonstrate how vegetation productivity, a Dynamic Habitat Index (DHI) derived from an archived AVHRR dataset (1987-2007), can be used to assess how reserve design configurations (size and location) affect the efficacy of hypothetical reserve systems. Specifically, we compare the underlying vegetation dynamics of reserves by size, ecozone, gross primary productivity (GPP), and dominant land cover using the three DHI components (cumulative annual greenness, minimum level of perennial cover, and degree of vegetation seasonality). By assessing reserves over a 21 year period, our analysis indicates that the composition of many reserves, depending on size and location, experienced a great amount of productivity variability. This approach provides an objective and consistent means of evaluating reserve performance across different geographic areas and through time. By highlighting uncertainty associated with change impacts, this approach also offers opportunities to develop more robust long-term conservation targets in new reserves and to test potential mitigation strategies prior to implementation.

Presentation Type:  Poster

Session:  Theme 1: Tracking habitat change through new integrative approaches and products   (Mon 1:30 PM)

Associated Project(s): 

• Cochrane, Mark: Applied remote sensing for conservation monitoring ...details

Poster Location ID: 46