BIODIVERSITY IN THE BOREAL SHIELD ECOZONE:

A NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON ECOLOGICAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT

June 12-14, 1997

Workshop Proceedings

Prepared by:

LURA Group

July, 1997

The Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network (EMAN) was designed to determine what changes are occurring in the environment and why. There are many stresses impinging on ecosystems in Canada, such as changes in the chemistry and physics of the atmosphere, increasing average global temperature, deliberate and accidental introduction of non-native species, major land use changes, and resource extraction. While some of these stresses, such as forest harvesting, cause immediate and obvious changes, others, such as the changing atmosphere and the introduction of non-native species, can result in long-term subtle ecosystem responses. Consequently, long-term multi-disciplinary studies are needed to define the ecosystem responses to these stresses and to design satisfactory pollution control and/or management policies.

In 1997, EMAN initiated two activities to further develop the concepts and objectives of EMAN. The first was to conduct a multi-disciplinary, multi-issue assessment making use of information from a number of EMAN sites. We decided that the boundaries of this project should be one of the fifteen terrestrial ecozones in Canada i.e. to focus on an Ecological Science Cooperative. We choose the Boreal Shield for the pilot project because it is of great economic importance to Canada and is subjected to all of the major stresses outlined above. There are 20 EMAN sites within this ecozone, some of which have the longest multi-disciplinary monitoring datasets available. The Boreal Shield ecozone also represents an opportunity to study a number of stresses by comparing results at different sites. For example, acid rain affects the central part of this ecozone with little effect in the extreme east and western areas, while increased UV-B from stratospheric ozone depletion and increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are uniform across the ecozone. Average annual air temperature is increasing in the west and slightly decreasing in the east.

These proceedings represent the results of a two day workshop held prior to the assessment, to determine what the focus of the assessment should be. The assessment was released in January 1998 for review and comment, and may be obtained in paper or electronic form from the Ecological Monitoring Coordinating Office in Burlington, Ontario.