When this happens, there are things that we can go and measure. It's like taking a blood sample in humans to diagnose illness. Like humans, trees exhibit stress and fatigue in their appearance. Height and growth rate, the form of branches and foliage, and cone production are all indicators of arboreal health.
Healthy trees are in turn vital to Canada's well-being.
As a source of wood, paper and other resources, the forest maintains the vitality of over 330 Canadian communities, and is home to some 140,000 species. We have developed the philosophy that if we try to understand how nature does things and emulate these processes as closely as possible, than maybe we can actually work with nature instead of against nature. For example, the SFM Network team has found that a good way of encouraging natural regeneration is to cut only the mature trees in a given area, and preserve the younger, smaller ones. In addition to eventually replacing the trees that have been cut, the younger, uncut trees will provide shade for growing seedlings and a habitat for wildlife, and help protect the soil from erosion. Since the success of this method depends largely on how well the young trees adapt to their new conditions, researchers with the SFM Network are also compiling a set of indicators that foresters can use to determine the health of the remaining trees.