Solving the Density Dilemma Researchers at the CFS Great Lakes Forestry Centre in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, in cooperation with the University of British Columbia, have pioneered an ecologically sound tool that solves the density dilemma for managers of black spruce, Canada's major commercial and reforestation softwood species. Approximately 300 million spruce seedlings are planted every year in the Canadian Boreal Forest region. The diagrams are based on principles derived from ecology and plant population dynamics.
Industry needs the exact information about the end product of a plantation that SDMDs provide.
The CFS plans to extend the diagrams to manage for woodland caribou winter habitat. Caribou like to winter among black spruce, but only if too much snow doesn't cover the tasty shrubbery underneath. By inputting the tree density needed to protect the undergrowth while at the same time minimizing the snow depth, managers can produce habitat conditions favourable to the caribou during the long, cold winter. Planting black spruce at the right density to ensure early crown closure can help reduce the adverse effects of the shrubs through shading. The diagrams, developed in Canada only in the last five years, have already become a major component of advanced forest manager training.