In an attempt to reconcile wood extraction and forest biodiversity in managed boreal forests, ecosystem-based forest management (EBM) has become the management approach. Retention forestry represents one prominent way that EBM is implemented in many parts of the world. Retention patches commonly left after harvesting serve as analogues of fire island remnants, which are patches of unburned forests in the burned forest matrix. Although the persistence of retention patches has been questioned, few studies have attempted to quantitatively compare forest attributes in both burned and harvested forests. As part of a larger program examining multiple aspects of ecosystem function in fire and harvest island remnants, we investigated the impact of disturbance type (fire/harvest) and forest edges on C stock in snags and coarse woody debris (CWD) found in island remnants in mixedwood boreal forests of Alberta, Canada. Total C stock (in snags and CWD) was similar between the two disturbance types and edge plots had similar total deadwood C stocks to interiors. The edges of island remnants had about two-fold more snag C stock than their interiors in both disturbance types, but C stock in CWD was unaffected by edge effects and disturbance type. Our results suggest that deadwood C dynamics in island remnants in fire and harvest disturbed boreal forests were similar, thus lending support for the continued implementation of retention forestry in Alberta.

中文翻译：

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艾伯塔省北方森林遭受干扰十年后，火岛和滞留岛残余物具有相似的枯木碳储量


为了在管理的北方森林中协调木材采伐和森林生物多样性，基于生态系统的森林管理（EBM）已成为管理方法。保留林业是世界许多地区实施循证管理的一种重要方式。砍伐后通常留下的保留斑块与火岛遗迹类似，是被烧毁的森林基质中未烧毁的森林的斑块。尽管保留斑块的持久性受到质疑，但很少有研究尝试定量比较烧毁和采伐森林的森林属性。作为检查火灾和收获岛遗迹生态系统功能多个方面的大型计划的一部分，我们研究了干扰类型（火灾/收获）和森林边缘对岛屿遗迹中发现的断枝和粗木本碎片（CWD）中碳库的影响生长于加拿大阿尔伯塔省的混合木北方森林。两种干扰类型之间的总碳库（障碍物和 CWD）相似，并且边缘地块的枯木碳库总量与室内相似。在两种扰动类型中，岛屿残余物边缘的障碍碳库比其内部多约两倍，但 CWD 中的碳库不受边缘效应和扰动类型的影响。我们的结果表明，受火灾和采伐干扰的北方森林中的岛屿残余物中的枯木碳动态相似，从而为艾伯塔省继续实施保留林业提供了支持。