Joint production of timber, carbon, and wildlife habitat in the Canadian boreal plains

Abstract

This study investigates the relationships and trade-offs between forest carbon management, sustained timber yield, and the production of wildlife habitat to provide a more complete picture of the costs and challenges faced by forest managers for a particular case study in Canada’s boreal mixedwood region. The work presented is an extension of a previously published model that analysed the joint production of timber supply and wildlife habitat using a natural disturbance model approach to ecosystem management. The primary contribution of the present study is the detailed incorporation of a carbon budget model into the framework developed previously. Using the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector, dynamics specific to separate biomass and dead organic matter carbon pools are represented for individual forest cover types. Results indicate the potential for cost thresholds in the joint production of timber supply and carbon sequestration. These thresholds are linked to switch points in the decision between multiple use and specialized land management practices. Cobenefits in the production of carbon and wildlife habitat are shown to depend on ecological parameters, harvest flow regulations, and incentives for timber supply provided by the market.