Use of Terrestrial Invertebrates as Indicators of the Ecological Sustainability of Forest Management under the Montreal Process

Abstract

Twelve nations involved in boreal or temperate forest management are committed to reporting on indicators under the Montreal Process as a mechanism for assessing progress towards sustainable forest management. For fauna, invertebrates are often considered too poorly known and diverse to include in sustainability indicator reporting. The alternative view, that no monitoring of sustainability can be considered adequate without inclusion of some invertebrate species, is espoused in this paper. The microhabitats of soil and litter, foliage and canopy, bark and branch, dead standing trees and coarse woody debris are highlighted as relevant in the context of determining the impacts of forest management on invertebrates and for selecting ‘representative’ species. It is argued that a selection of those species from each of the key microhabitats that are restricted to later stages of succession should be monitored. This could be complemented by a selection of easily monitored species from a range of functional groups as a means of endeavouring to pick up adverse impacts not foreseen on the basis of present knowledge. In the longer term, habitat indices (developed from predictive models of fauna habitat) should be used to monitor the occurrence of indicator species across the broader landscape, rather than at specific sites where monitoring of species takes place. Most countries would be in a position to select indicator species and commence monitoring for some key microhabitats (e.g. soil and litter). However, further research is needed in many countries before indicator species can be selected for other key microhabitats (e.g. coarse woody debris).