Enhancing forest resilience: Advances in Ontario’s wild tree seed transfer policy

Climate is a critical driver in shaping patterns of tree distribution and productivity in Canadian forests. Canada’s climate is changing and, as a result, tree populations may become maladapted to the climate at their current growing locations. In 2020, Ontario updated its tree seed transfer policy...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Betty van Kerkhof, Ken A. Elliott, Pengxin Lu, Daniel W. McKenney, William C. Parker, John H. Pedlar, Ngaire Roubal
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Canadian Institute of Forestry 2022-11-01
Series:The Forestry Chronicle
Subjects:
Online Access:https://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/10.5558/tfc2022-002
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849239973125947392
author Betty van Kerkhof
Ken A. Elliott
Pengxin Lu
Daniel W. McKenney
William C. Parker
John H. Pedlar
Ngaire Roubal
author_facet Betty van Kerkhof
Ken A. Elliott
Pengxin Lu
Daniel W. McKenney
William C. Parker
John H. Pedlar
Ngaire Roubal
author_sort Betty van Kerkhof
collection DOAJ
description Climate is a critical driver in shaping patterns of tree distribution and productivity in Canadian forests. Canada’s climate is changing and, as a result, tree populations may become maladapted to the climate at their current growing locations. In 2020, Ontario updated its tree seed transfer policy to respond to the evolving natural, operational, scientific, and policy environments, including a changing climate. Collaboration among federal and provincial science, operations, and policy staff was essential to update the policy, which involved a custom climate similarity analysis, a related assessment of critical seed transfer distances, various engagement efforts to assess end-user receptivity, and the development of an online interactive tool to allow users to explore seed transfer options under climate change. Here we describe several factors considered during the policy update, major steps in the update process, and highlights of the outcome. The intent of this effort is to support other jurisdictions considering similar changes and to emphasize the need for a changing culture in seed procurement and management.
format Article
id doaj-art-d4044f6c0c264086bf03b7818324abf8
institution Kabale University
issn 0015-7546
1499-9315
language English
publishDate 2022-11-01
publisher Canadian Institute of Forestry
record_format Article
series The Forestry Chronicle
spelling doaj-art-d4044f6c0c264086bf03b7818324abf82025-08-20T04:00:45ZengCanadian Institute of ForestryThe Forestry Chronicle0015-75461499-93152022-11-01981445310.5558/tfc2022-002Enhancing forest resilience: Advances in Ontario’s wild tree seed transfer policyBetty van Kerkhof0Ken A. Elliott1Pengxin Lu2Daniel W. McKenney3William C. Parker4John H. Pedlar5Ngaire Roubal6Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (retired), Sault Ste. Marie, OntarioOntario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, (retired), Peterborough, OntarioOntario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Sault Ste. Marie, OntarioNatural Resources Canada – Canadian Forest Service, Sault Ste. Marie, OntarioOntario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Sault Ste. Marie, OntarioNatural Resources Canada – Canadian Forest Service, Sault Ste. Marie, OntarioOntario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Sault Ste. Marie, OntarioClimate is a critical driver in shaping patterns of tree distribution and productivity in Canadian forests. Canada’s climate is changing and, as a result, tree populations may become maladapted to the climate at their current growing locations. In 2020, Ontario updated its tree seed transfer policy to respond to the evolving natural, operational, scientific, and policy environments, including a changing climate. Collaboration among federal and provincial science, operations, and policy staff was essential to update the policy, which involved a custom climate similarity analysis, a related assessment of critical seed transfer distances, various engagement efforts to assess end-user receptivity, and the development of an online interactive tool to allow users to explore seed transfer options under climate change. Here we describe several factors considered during the policy update, major steps in the update process, and highlights of the outcome. The intent of this effort is to support other jurisdictions considering similar changes and to emphasize the need for a changing culture in seed procurement and management.https://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/10.5558/tfc2022-002climate changecritical seed transfer distanceforest regenerationSeedwheretree seedchangements climatiques
spellingShingle Betty van Kerkhof
Ken A. Elliott
Pengxin Lu
Daniel W. McKenney
William C. Parker
John H. Pedlar
Ngaire Roubal
Enhancing forest resilience: Advances in Ontario’s wild tree seed transfer policy
The Forestry Chronicle
climate change
critical seed transfer distance
forest regeneration
Seedwhere
tree seed
changements climatiques
title Enhancing forest resilience: Advances in Ontario’s wild tree seed transfer policy
title_full Enhancing forest resilience: Advances in Ontario’s wild tree seed transfer policy
title_fullStr Enhancing forest resilience: Advances in Ontario’s wild tree seed transfer policy
title_full_unstemmed Enhancing forest resilience: Advances in Ontario’s wild tree seed transfer policy
title_short Enhancing forest resilience: Advances in Ontario’s wild tree seed transfer policy
title_sort enhancing forest resilience advances in ontario s wild tree seed transfer policy
topic climate change
critical seed transfer distance
forest regeneration
Seedwhere
tree seed
changements climatiques
url https://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/10.5558/tfc2022-002
work_keys_str_mv AT bettyvankerkhof enhancingforestresilienceadvancesinontarioswildtreeseedtransferpolicy
AT kenaelliott enhancingforestresilienceadvancesinontarioswildtreeseedtransferpolicy
AT pengxinlu enhancingforestresilienceadvancesinontarioswildtreeseedtransferpolicy
AT danielwmckenney enhancingforestresilienceadvancesinontarioswildtreeseedtransferpolicy
AT williamcparker enhancingforestresilienceadvancesinontarioswildtreeseedtransferpolicy
AT johnhpedlar enhancingforestresilienceadvancesinontarioswildtreeseedtransferpolicy
AT ngaireroubal enhancingforestresilienceadvancesinontarioswildtreeseedtransferpolicy