{"id":3934,"date":"2022-12-04T19:49:36","date_gmt":"2022-12-04T23:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/?page_id=3934"},"modified":"2023-05-13T07:14:32","modified_gmt":"2023-05-13T11:14:32","slug":"forests","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/?page_id=3934","title":{"rendered":"Forests"},"content":{"rendered":"

In regard to the types of forests in the Backlands, in our study of the Williams Lake Backlands<\/a> (now the Shaw Wilderness Park), Nick Hill and I distinguished 5 forest types in the uplands:<\/p>\n

\n

– Jack Pine\/Broom Crowberry Barrens<\/strong> (equivalent to NSFVT OW1<\/a>)<\/em>
\n – Red Pine-Jack Pine\/Broom Crowberry Coniferous Woodland<\/strong> (equivalent to NSFVT OW4<\/a>)<\/em>
\n – Paper Birch\u2013Red Maple\u2013Big-toothed Aspen Early Successional Forest<\/strong> (equivalent to NSFVT IH6<\/a>)<\/em>
\n – Red Oak\u2013Red Maple\/Witch-hazel Hardwood Forest<\/strong> (equivalent to NSFVT IH2<\/a>)<\/em>
\n – White Pine-Red Pine-Red Oak Mixed Forest<\/strong> (equivalent to NSFVTs SP3<\/a> and and SP4<\/a>)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

These classifications probably apply broadly to most of the Backlands. One area where more documentation is definitely\u00a0 required: the forests in the lower MacIntosh Run area, some of those forests, quite wet.<\/p>\n

Putative tree species composition of Backlands forests is given on the NS Landscape Viewer<\/a>; some screen captures are provided on this website under Flora, Fauna & Geology – DNRR Maps<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Is there ‘Old Growth’ is the Backlands?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Forest Development Class in
The Backlands<\/strong>
Older trees and\u00a0 patches of Old Growth
may occur some of the areas designated
as in Mature or Multi-aged\/Old Forest
development classes.<\/p><\/div>\n

It’s a question I am frequently asked. My thought: probably none of the forest stands in the backlands\u00a0 would meet the DNRR criteria<\/a> for classification as Old Growth. There may be patches<\/em> of Old Growth in some of the wetter areas that have not burned within the last 100+ years and have not been logged; some such patches,\u00a0 except for their size and\/or local anthropogenic disturbance or proximity to settled landscape, probably would meet the criteria for Old Growth.\u00a0But overall, significant stands of Old Growth would not be expected on this very fire-prone landscape.<\/p>\n

Outside of those wetter areas, however,\u00a0 there are Old Trees <\/em>\u00a0notably some red oaks, white pines and red pines that were big enough to have survived past fires; now landscapes with those old trees have some<\/em> components of Old Growth (such as large snags and fallen dead trees) and provide habitat for many Mature Forest<\/em> bird species* observed in the Williams Lake Backlands by Fulton Lavender<\/a>\u00a0and Joshua Barss Donham<\/a> such as Hermit Thrush, Ovenbird, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Hairy Woodpecker.
\n*See\u00a0\u00a0Betts et al., 2022<\/a><\/p>\n

But even without a lot of forest that would qualify formally as “Old Growth” there’s a lot\u00a0 that make the Backlands a very significant landscape ecologically!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Large, old white pine in Williams Lake Backlands<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

———-
\nPage posted by David Patriquin, Sep 23, 2022<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In regard to the types of forests in the Backlands, in our study of the Williams Lake Backlands (now the Shaw Wilderness Park), Nick Hill and I distinguished 5 forest types in the uplands: – Jack Pine\/Broom Crowberry Barrens (equivalent … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3869,"menu_order":35,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3934","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3934"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5023,"href":"https:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3934\/revisions\/5023"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}