Forest Co-op Fish & Wildlife Science Unit
In 2009, the Forest Co-op Fish & Wildlife Science Unit (FWSU) enjoyed its 4th year. Support from scientists in the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), at Canadian Forest Service (CFS), and at universities was strong, and support from the forest industry was enthusiastic despite the economic landscape on which Forest Co-op members, partners, and collaborators found themselves. The mission of the FWSU is to facilitate the evaluation, co-ordination and delivery of high quality fish and wildlife science projects and programs to support sustainable forest
management, thereby
reducing uncertainty associated with forest manage-ment decisions. The pages that follow illustrate the depth, breadth, and quality of the work undertaken through the FWSU in support of this mission in 2009.
2009 was primarily "the year of the caribou" for the FWSU, but it saw a continuation of efforts from 2008 (the "year of the bird"). With an exciting new project led by CFS, OMNR and the University of Guelph just getting underway, 2010 may well be "the year of the invertebrate". Although the project stars are caribou, birds, and invertebrates, the work also addresses bigger issues related to species at risk, ecosystem processes, and forest management guideline effectiveness monitoring.
To make a real contribution to Sustainable Forest Management, the results of the work facilitated by the FWSU must be disseminated and the findings implemented. Forest Co-op Science Day, the Forest Co-op website, and the biannual meetings of the FWSU attended by representatives of OMNR (including Forest Policy Branch), the forest industry, researchers and others help to achieve this. In 2009, key results of the Forest Co-op Ontario Forest Birds Workshop held in 2008 were published by the Canadian Institute of Forestry (CIF) in a special issue of the Forestry Chronicle (Volume 85, No. 2). These and other papers from the workshop are linked to the Forest Co-op website. In the summer of 2009, OMNR released their "Forest Management Guide for Conserving Biodiversity at the Stand and Site Scales" for use by forest management planning teams in Ontario. To develop the habitat management direction in this guide, all available information was used, including that produced through the Forest Co-op. Past Forest Co-op projects focusing on shoreline forestry, shoreline buffers, goshawks, marten habitat, and marten core areas contributed to the direction in the Guide. Current and future Forest Co-op projects on caribou will support OMNR’s new Caribou Conservation Plan, a plan that will influence how forest management is conducted in woodland caribou country. The Forest Co-op Wetlands & Waterbirds project and the Forest Co-op Bio-indicators of Forest Stream Health project will both assist in testing the effectiveness of direction in the Stand and Site Guide, leading to recom-mendations for management.
The FWSU looks back on 2009 with pride, and forward to 2010 with great anticipation. We thank the members of the Forest Co-op FWSU for their dedication and steadfast support in 2009. Particular appreciation is extended to our champions within OMNR and CFS, and the distinguished, talented, science delivery teams that worked with us in 2009.