NATURAL FIRE REGIMES AS SPATIAL MODELS FOR MANAGING BOREAL FORESTS

Because organisms have adapted to the natural disturbance regimes of forest ecosystems such as fires and windfalls, conservationists often suggest that timber harvesting systems be designed to imitate natural disturbance regimes. Using the crown fires that shape true boreal forest ecosystems as spatial models for harvesting would require very large clearcuts; in two studies, mean fire size was 12 710 ha (in Labrador) and 7 764 ha (in Quebec). Most conservationists would be reluctant to advocate such large clearcuts and it is not easy to justify them from the perspectives of various ethical systems. A solution is proposed in which moderate-sized clearcuts would be clustered into portions of land areas bounded by water-bodies. These water-bounded areas have an average size of 770 ha in Labrador and 322 ha in Quebec.