Fred L. Bunnell

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• PhD
• Professor Emeritus at University of British Columbia

The chapter examines topics that must be considered when attempting to sustain biodiversity in managed forests. These include defining biodiversity operationally, scale problems and coarse and fine filters.

Chapter 3 in J. Innes and A. Tikina. Sustainable forest management. The chapter begins by acknowledging the difficulties in defining biodiversity. It continues by discussing why biodiversity is important. Scale problems that invariably enter when management consequences to a large number of species of a forest tenure are discussed and approaches o...

There is a great deal of uncertainty in the practice of forestry. That means that management must be flexible. Adaptive management formalizes flexibility. It has been applied in many different situations with varying levels of rigour. It also has been expanded to include adaptive co-management, which brings a stronger element of public participatio...

In the late 1990s British Columbia was attempting to implement biodiversity emphasis options. The were clear ecological and economic consequences that are reviewed and an alternative approach is described. [Many of the suggestions were adapted]. The journal Ecoforestry is no longer published, but in some libraries.

The short talk was given and published at the request of BC professional foresters. It noted the different challenges that forest practitioners and forest researches face while dealing with the same piece of land. It also offered a few suggestions for change. Some of these eventually came about.

A brief review of the challenges facing forest practitioners and forest researchers in their respective efforts at implementing forestry.

Despite the prevalent use of nest-site selection studies to define habitat quality for birds, many studies relying on use-availability analysis have found poor correlations between selected vegetation and reproductive success. Using 3 years of data from northeastern British Columbia (2007–2009), we determined timing of breeding from hatching dates...

Model selection results of the analysis comparing nest sites of earlier with later breeding yellow-bellied sapsuckers (n = 58 pairs) using logistic regression. (DOCX)

Model selection results for analysis of nest site selection of yellow-bellied sapsuckers using conditional logistic regression (n = 56 nest sites). (DOCX)

Model selection results of the analysis relating the nest density (nests/ha) of yellow-bellied sapsuckers in relation to % deciduous and the density of aspen trees for nesting and live birch trees for food (trees/0.04 ha) using GLM with Poisson error and log link (n = 87 forest patches varying in % deciduous). (DOCX)

Model selection results of the analysis relating fledgling production of yellow-bellied sapsuckers (n = 58 pairs) with nest site characteristics using ordinal logistic regression. (DOCX)

This chapter examines characteristics of herbivorous populations living in tundra and relates these to adaptations required by their nutritional strategy. Major groups of herbivores have developed very different solutions to the same set of problems. The tactics employed can be related to their body size and mobility.

This report addresses relations between fire and 19 furbearers in the Yukon. There are 5 sections: 1) rationale for selecting candidate species, 2) the dynamics of harvest of these species, 3) features of biology of the species relevant to forest fire, 4) empirical evaluation of the sensitivity of species to fire, 5) brief summary of research needs

54The literature of foraging theory frequently utilizes optimization techniques to predict diet and habitat choice.' - Several authors have criticized the approach for reasons that include objections to the simplicity of many models, mathematical complexity of some models, arguments concerning the stability of optima, or apparent failure to explici...

An overview of sapsucker & woodpecker ecology for youth.

\\e offer a perspective on how chronosequence research can contribute to the. changing nature of forest management. We first summarize past values associated with forests, and outline chronosequence research related to past forest management regimes. We then describe recent shifts in values that the public desires from forests, and illustrate how t...

British Columbia hosts 292 regularly breeding bird species that can be grouped into 5 migratory classes: resident, partial migrants, short-distance, long-distance and very long distance migrants. Using basic natural history features, expected response of members of each class over the past 40 years were predicted and then tested. Arrival and depart...

We investigated population dynamics of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in the Selkirk Mountains Grizzly Bear Ecosystem (SMGBE) of Idaho, Washington, and British Columbia to assist grizzly bear recovery from threatened status. We captured and radiomonitored 28 bears from 1985 to 1990. Estimated densities were 1.41 + 0.14 (95% CL) and 2.33 ? 0.36 bears/...

Although thermal cover receives attention from managers, variations in data regarding its use by ungulates hinders development of effective cover guidelines. We examined patterns of habitat selection and activity of radio-collared cow moose Alces alces Linnaeus, 1758 to determine if these 2 parameters were influenced by ambient thermal environment....

We examined seasonal use of habitat for 14 male and 5 female grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in southwestern Alberta, 1981-84, to test 2 competing hypotheses regarding segregation of the sexes. The male avoidance hypothesis predicts increasing differences in use of habitat with increasing male use of female occupied areas because of female avoidance o...

Recent international agreements relating to forest practices are silent on operational criteria for sustainable forestry. Basic values to be sustained can be derived from the agreements. Goals for each value are presented that connect simply and directly with public concerns that inspired the agreements. For each goal a relatively cheap means of mo...

The tailed frog (Ascaphus truei) is designated a species 'at risk ' or "of special concern' in California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Forest practices often have negative impacts on Ascaphus adults and larvae, including absence from some clearcut areas. Recolonization of logged sites may be critical to sustaining productive amphibian...

Adaptive management is a key component of a forest project being implemented across all of Weyerhaeuser's coastal forest tenures. This project uses two main tools to accomplish the British Columbia (BC) Coastal Group's ecological and socio-economic goals: vari-able retention (VR) harvesting and broad zoning of the land base. The adaptive management...

The tailed frog is the only stream-breeding frog in Canada. Due to its highly specialized habitat requirements and its vulnerable to habitat degradation. it is of concern through much of its range in the Pacific Northwest. The purpose of this study was to determine the range of the tailed frog in British Columbia and to generate hypotheses for its...

We collected giant red seat urchins in urchin barrens habitat with the intent of enhancing them for markel. W'e placed the urchins in enclosures and provided them with giant kelp for the 83-day period between 20 March 1998 and l2 June 1998. Sea urchin that were fed giant kelp had a final gonad index of 8.3. whereas the donor population had initial...

We are proceeding at great speed over difficult terrain, towards an unknown, unquantifiable goal. The speed reflects genuine public concerns and a sense of urgency. The difficult terrain reflects the complexity of forest practices. Moreover, forests are the richest terrestrial ecosystems on earth and major contributors to social infrastructure. Sli...

There are 195 vertebrate species occurring in mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) infested areas in interior British Columbia that will likely be impacted by beetle control measures. The effects of these measures on wildlife will depend on whether they increase or decrease the availability of critical habitat attributes such as l...

For operations of the scale anticipated in BC, there is no literature documenting effects of salvage on vertebrates. This evaluation of the likely effects of large-scale salvage operations is based on natural history features of the resident vertebrate fauna. Likely effects resulting from these features are summarized. The review of ecological rela...

This extension note is the first in a series of eight that describes a set of tools and processes developed to support sustainable forest management planning and its pilot application in the Arrow Timber Supply Area (TSA). Conducted under the Arrow Innovative Forestry Practices Agreement (IFPA) Sustainability Project, and initiated by an interdisci...

British Columbia is one of the most species-rich areas in north temperate regions. Its size, location, and topography encourage small incursions of species that are more abundant elsewhere. Given this richness, the province faces formidable challenges in the allocation of limited resources to conservation. The importance of making wise decisions is...

This extension note is the fifth in a series of eight that describes a set of tools and processes developed to support sustainable forest management planning and its pilot application in the Arrow Timber Supply Area (TSA). It summarizes the criterion and indicators used to set thresholds and evaluate potential impacts on biological diversity for th...

Increases in the environmental awareness of global consumers coupled with pressure from regional stakeholders has forced forest managers to demonstrate the potential implications of forest management activities for a broad range of indicators. This paper describes the construction and application of a hierarchical decision-support system for evalua...

We discuss progress on monitoring three indicators of biological diversity on Weyerhaeuser's coastal tenure: 1) ecosystem representation, 2) habitat structure and 3) organisms. We summarize the characteristics of the non-harvestable landbase (indicator 1), and then we outline how variable retention (VR) is maintaining habitat structures (indicator...

Most jurisdictions must assign conservation priorities to peripheral species. British Columbia hosts more than 1300 peripheral taxa, about 900 of which appear on the Red and Blue Lists prepared by the province to guide conservation actions. Conversely, fewer than half of the endemic taxa, or taxa for which the province has major global stewardship...

The size, location, and topography of British Columbia encourage incursions of taxa that are more widespread and abundant elsewhere. The periphery of the range of at least 1400 taxa extends into British Columbia. Over 900 of these appear on the Red and Blue Lists prepared by the Conservation Data Centre. Conversely, less than half of British Columb...

Assessing needs for conservation action is a challenge anywhere, but will be particularly so in British Columbia. Relatively few North American recovery plans have succeeded. The great species richness and biogeography of British Columbia suggest that the province may be particularly susceptible to failure. The richness increases the number of spec...

Managing for biodiversity is an integral part of achieving sustainable forest management. Because of the complexity of ecosystems and ecosystem processes, much uncertainty faces forest managers as they attempt to design and implement forest practices to maintain biodiversity across their land base. To reduce this uncertainty, scientists and policy-...

In 1998, MacMillan Bloedel (now Weyerhaeuser) committed to a system of Stewardship Zones and to replacing clearcutting with variable retention over its 1.1 million ha coastal tenure. The decision began a grand experiment in forest planning and practice, which the company committed to monitor and refine through an adaptive management program. The pr...

Using avian species monitoring and map-based data in a coarse-filter approach to sustaining biodiversity. BC Journal of Ecosystems and Management 8(3):29–44. Abstract The coarse-filter approach to sustaining biological diversity attempts to maintain all representative eco-systems and wildlife habitats within an ecological region or a management uni...

All jurisdictions face a problem of effectively allocating scarce resources to conservation efforts. Key steps in improving allocation of conservation resources are establishing specific goals to guide conservation efforts, ensuring that those goals address the challenges of jurisdictional rarity, and creating tools that can assign species quickly...

Canada’s most controversial forest type is the coastal temperate rainforest. I summarize the use of indicators to assess effectiveness at sustaining biological diversity within a large managed forest in temperate rainforest of coastal British Columbia. Physical, biological, historical and social features have made the management area controversial....

The authors summarize the distribution of terrestrial vertebrates of British Columbia across major habitat types and present empirical and projected effects of global weirding within two particularly vulnerable habitats—alpine and wetland. Global weirding embraces all phenomena associated with climate change: increases in average temperatures, heat...

Climate change has introduced major uncertainties into the planning and practice of forestry. We recommend seven broad actions that would help to make our forests more climate resilient: avoiding entrapment, emphasizing the future, adopting a policy of no re-grets, seeking the right species at the right place, encouraging connectivity, nurturing ac...

This document provides a synthesis of recently completed studies to assess the ecological consequences of forest management after attack by mountain pine beetle or other large-scale disturbances. Studies are assessed for their contributions to gaps in knowledge previously identified in the Mountain Pine Beetle Initiative Working Paper “Evaluating e...

BUNNELL, F. L. 1982. The lambing period of mountain sheep: synthesis, hypotheses, and tests. Can. J. Zool. 60: 1-14. Data on lambing periods from 30 populations of North American mountain sheep are reviewed. Among all populations lambing begins later and duration is shorter at more northern altitudes (p < 0.00006). Correlations are enhanced (p < 0....

We combine climate tolerances of tree species with probable changes in insect, disease, fire, and other abiotic factors to describe probable changes in distribution of tree species in British Columbia. Predicting changes in forests confronts three major sources of un-certainty: predicting weather and climate, predicting tree species' responses, and...

Crown land is unique to the Commonwealth and better represented in British Columbia than anywhere else in the Commonwealth (95% of the land base). Through tradition and common law, British Columbians have come to define Crown lands as publicly owned lands that belong to all residents and to expect governments to shepherd them for the ben-efit of al...

Wetlands in the central interior of British Columbia are experiencing increased drying that is expected to continue; small wetlands at low elevations are most vulnerable to drying. Different waterfowl species concentrate their use of wetlands at different elevations and over different wetland size classes, producing differential vulnerability to cl...

Many bird and mammal species rely on cavities in trees to rear their young or roost. Favourable cavity sites are usually created by fungi, so they are more common in older, dying trees that are incompatible with intensive fiber production. Forestry has reduced amounts of such trees to the extent that many cavity-using vertebrates are now designated...

We evaluated predictions of birds' response to climate for 32 bird species in British Columbia between the 1960s and 1990s. Of the 32 species tested, 20 showed expansion north between 51o and 60o N, but expansion was significant for only seven. Four species remained south of 51o in both decades. Ten spring and summer climate variables were evaluate...

W We're gradually learning that the economy is a subsystem of the biosphere, rather than the other way around. As this uncomfortable idea unfolds, we face the two largest threats humanity ever has faced: global weirding and species loss. To stay calm, we call global weirding 'global warming.' But global warming is far too comfortable a term to desc...

We projected consequences of climate change on future vegetation structure and vertebrate distributions, and in some instances were able to test projections. Four different means of projection were evaluated: conventional climate envelopes, key features determining responses to climate (e.g., temperature tolerance and rooting depth of wetland plant...

Many regions confront potentially competing goals: sustaining biological diversity and extracting wood products from forests rich in biological diversity. Forests of the Pacific Northwest are particularly rich in vertebrates. Because little is known of many species, management tactics to sustain vertebrate richness must employ interim surrogates th...

Variations in deer response to edge habitat have been attributed to three sources: (1) differences in habitat mosaics among study areas, (2) inconsistent definition of habitat deemed available to a deer, and (3) differences in edge characteristics. The potential influences of these factors were evaluated using data for black-tailed deer (Odocoileus...

Foraging bouts of captive black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus Richardson) were investigated to examine how searching for food affects diet selection. We determined food preference for three types of food under ad libitum conditions and then studied the foraging of two deer in a 0.5-ha, vegetation-free pen in which we controlled food...

Sinking depths in snow of a captive black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) were recorded in old-growth, second-growth, and recently clear-cut forests. Data were collected over a wide range of snow conditions. Snow hardness was extremely variable, even within 30 cm, and only weakly correlated with deer sinking depths (r = 0.52 for upper...

Maintaining representation of a full range of ecosystem types is a widely accepted strategy to conserve biodiversity in protected areas. We evaluated representation in the central coast region of British Columbia, a forested landbase containing a complex mix of management options, administrative and ownership types, and disparate ecological and eco...

This paper describes the Zone Allocation Model (ZAM) that uses the simulated annealing algorithm to create forest management zones. ZAM partitions the landscape into the Timber, Habitat, and Old Growth zones by allocating small land tiles into contiguous areas. The zone allocation process is guided by landscape-level targets and size and shape obje...

Four techniques used to estimate forest overstory cover were tested for differences in estimates derived from different observers. No differences in estimates of overstory cover were found between observers for ocular and gimbal sight techniques. Overstory estimates with the moosehorn were inconsistent between observers over all plots. On a plot by...

Sexual and vegetative reproduction of salal (Gaultheriashallon Pursh) was measured under forest canopies of different closure. Sexual reproduction occurred only at ≤33% closure; vegetative reproduction occurred under sparse and dense closure. Crown closure influenced sexual reproduction primarily through interception of radiation and associated red...

Thirteen techniques for estimating forest overstory cover or mean crown completeness were tested for differences in angle of view of the technique and interaction with mean crown completeness or height to base of live crown. With increasing angle of view from common locations, mean estimates of mean crown completeness increased and the standard dev...

Operative temperatures of five members of the deer family under different forest canopies during summer were estimated. Sky view factors and effective leaf area indices were obtained from hemispherical photography. These were combined with radiation regime, ambient air temperature, wind speed, and other relevant factors to obtain operative temperat...

Species composition and herbage production were determined for different range types used by ungulates in northern British Columbia. In addition, the effect of N fertilization on alpine grasslands was measured. Fire-induced subalpine grasslands produced much more herbage than other range types. Graminoid production, but not forb production, was gre...

Many species require or use down wood (fine and coarse woody debris) as habitat. Where forestry has been practiced for several rotations large proportions of these species are considered threatened. Key attributes determining the suitability of down wood as habitat are decay stage, tree species, and size, specifically diameter. Both quantity and di...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY As well as providing significant ecosystem services, small lakes and wetlands provide important habitat for many species, including some that are considered at risk. Wetlands also are vulnerable to the continuing effects of climate change, particularly drying trends. Relative vulnerability to climate change was assessed for 31,877...

We emphasized hardwood associates to illustrate assessment of measures taken to compensate for incidental take. 2 Emphasizing hardwood associates loses nothing. Overall, about 55 bird species occurring on the TFL seek out upland hardwood or mixed wood stands or scattered hardwood trees. Many are responding to insects feeding on deciduous foliage th...

This report summarizes the ability of coarse filter analyses to assess the likelihood that current forest planning and practice will sustain vertebrates that rank high in the provincial Conservation Framework and are strongly associated with hardwoods. Species on Environment Canada’s draft list for Bird Conservation Region 6 also are included. The...

Species Accounting Groups were created for regions where studies of forest-dwelling wildlife were scarce. They were intended to facility forest management and to help assigning priorities to funding. Our objective in this report was to evaluate the degree to which non-vertebrate species could be assigned to groups within the Species Accounting Syst...

W We're gradually learning that the economy is a subsystem of the biosphere, rather than the other way around. As this uncomfortable idea unfolds, we face the two largest threats humanity ever has faced: global weirding and species loss. To stay calm, we call global weirding 'global warming.' But global warming is far too comfortable a term to desc...

The book focuses on effectiveness monitoring for sustaining biological diversity in managed forests. Generic concepts applicable for forests anywhere are addressed but illustrated by concrete examples of these concepts as applied to a real corporate enterprise in British Columbia. This chapter provides ecological, historical, and social contexts fo...

This chapter describes the implementation of variable retention harvesting on over one million hectares of public and private forest land in coastal British Columbia by MacMillan Bloedel Limited and subsequent companies (Weyerhaeuser, Cascadia FP). Details are provided on planning, landscape zoning, phase-in, principles and guidelines for stand-lev...

This project evaluated designs intended to monitor birds in forests. Monitoring designs were evaluated in terms of their power and precision. Power is the probability of detecting a significant change when one occurs. Power indicates the ability of the monitoring program to detect changes in population abundance and to estimate differences in occup...

This project evaluated designs intended to monitor birds in forests. Monitoring designs were evaluated in terms of their power and precision. Power is the probability of detecting a significant change when one occurs. Power indicates the ability of the monitoring program to detect changes in population abundance and to estimate differences in occup...

Executive Summary Understory associates within the TFL A total of 29 bird species occurring on the TFL are strongly responsive to understory (Table 1). Small mammals can often substitute down wood and rocks when understory is sought as cover, but about 15 species of mammals are strongly responsive to understory cover and at least 8 show preferences...

Avian monitoring programs provide valuable information on the status, trends, and habitat associations of resident and migratory birds that occur in managed forests. Three types of surveys were conducted: roadside surveys, forest interior surveys, and model-based (targeted) surveys. We considered three broad survey objectives: determine occupancy i...

Executive Summary Understory associates within the TFL A total of 29 bird species occurring on the TFL are strongly responsive to understory (Table 1). Small mammals can often substitute down wood and rocks when understory is sought as cover, but about 15 species of mammals are strongly responsive to understory cover and at least 8 show preferences...

All jurisdictions face a problem of effectively allocating scarce resources to conservation efforts. Key steps in improving allocation of conservation resources are establishing specific goals to guide conservation efforts, ensuring that those goals address the challenges of jurisdictional rarity, and creating tools that can assign species quickly...

D R FRED BUNNELL, professor emeritus from the Faculty of Forestry, describes his major research interest as developing strategies and tactics for sustaining biological diversity within forested systems. He has long been interested in developing useful decision-support tools and more recently has focused this interest on assessing impacts of climate...

Introduction Forest and wildlife managers must often assess and manage species of concern in areas where there is little or no historical data to draw upon, or where relevant data is difficult and costly to acquire. This is the case for five of eight warbler species that are restricted to the northeastern corner of British Columbia. The five specie...

Dorothy shows remarkable equanimity when she observes, " Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore. " I was more startled with our first analyses of species' responses to climate change. It wasn't the province I grew up in anymore. I am no longer startled, but still find the results scary. We had an advantage most regions do not. The largest...

Dead wood is an important habitat feature for lichens in forest ecosystems, but little is known about how many and which lichens are dependent on dead wood. We reviewed substrate use by epiphytic lichens in the combined floras of Fennoscandia and the Pacific Northwest of North America based on literature and herbarium data and analyzed substrate af...

Lichen communities of forests often appear to be negatively affected by timber harvest presumably because of reduction of suitable substrate and increased desiccation. We examined species richness and composition of lichens on wood of logs of the same decay class in unlogged stands (>140 years old) and logged, 20- to 30-year-old stands. There was n...

This report is part of a larger project addressing thresholds for within forest stand biodiversity indicators. I considers all non-vertebrates from fungi to insects.