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We=E2=80= --94eb2c092d22d39656054f0d45c7 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I used to get incensed at foresters who championed clearings as beneficial..as biodiversity havens..and it was my inability to spell out what was wrong in terms of life history strategies The three pointed strategy of grime.. with disturbance adapted..competitors and stress tolerators was useful. And England has shown how with intensifying land use their complement of plant spp is losing the slow growing stress tolerant plants. I think if we knew better how to objectively assign birds to strategy types...and you may know how. .we'd see it w birds. Barred owls might not be the best metric as didnt they disperse across the continent from planted woodland clumps to west coast? We know what we are losing....the slow growing and the specialists. There is talk about rhe landuse triad. ..about making decisions on an ecologically forested matrix and then on areas of plantation high productivity and probably fertilized and corridors of conserved untouched forest. While we may not like the hard decisions, this inexorable squeezing out of specialist organisms and proliferation of the weedy is going to keep on until we make land apportionment decisions other than biomass please. We need a plan that has a rationale. It has to be jobs production recreation tourism enjoyment culture and wildlife in a long-term management program. Nick On May 8, 2017 17:50, "John Kearney" <john.kearney@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote: > You=E2=80=99re right Paul. We are not doing enough to decrease our energy= needs. > > John > > > > *From:* naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [mailto:naturens-owner@ > chebucto.ns.ca] *On Behalf Of *rita.paul@ns.sympatico.ca > *Sent:* May-08-17 11:43 > *To:* naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > *Subject:* RE: [NatureNS] owl decline linked to forest decline > > > > Interesting John! > > One thing rarely mentioned is biomass is calculated > > as renewable energy - same as wind or solar. > > In this day when decreasing CO2 from non renewable energy > > takes on a political importance, it places a great strain on our > > forests as well as in lots of other countries. > > Its not only our forestry practices that need to be looked at > > but our energy practices that are driving the biomass bonaza! > > Enjoy the spring > > Paul > > > > > > On May 8, 2017 at 9:47 AM John Kearney <john.kearney@ns.sympatico.ca> > wrote: > > Hi Donna and all, > > Thank you, Donna, for posting the url of the global forest watch site. > I=E2=80=99ve been looking for a tool to try to measure the clearcutting t= hat takes > place after the construction of wind farms in Nova Scotia. While it is > claimed that wind energy has a small environmental foot print, this notio= n > does not account for the extreme clearcutting that often takes place in a= nd > around wind farms after the pre-and-post construction studies have been > completed. Wind farms require super-highway-like roads to traverse a fore= st > to transport the large cranes for construction, maintenance, and eventual > de-commissioning of wind farms. These forest highways allow pulp trucks t= o > travel deep into the forest which I suspect greatly decreases the labour > cost for removing timber while at the same time increasing the speed and > extent of forest harvest and extraction. > > > > Concerning the displacement of wildlife from clearcuts, I would like to > add a couple of points. As studies have shown, different species of birds > benefit from the different stages of forest succession. While clearcuttin= g > might be a disaster for Ovenbirds, Black-throated Green Warblers, and > Red-eyed Vireos in mature forests, it can become a bonanza for > White-throated Sparrows, Chestnut-sided Warblers, and Common Yellowthroat= s > in an early succession forest. The problem now, as you point out so well = in > your posts and articles, is the extent of forest disturbance. True, there > is a great problem for forest refugees that cannot find a home elsewhere. > But the wildlife that still have a home may be equally threatened by the > lack of forest connectivity. No animal is an island anymore than no perso= n > is an island. I hope that we can come to a better understanding of the > importance of forest connectivity in sustaining wildlife communities and > how our current forest practices maybe impacting this connectivity. > > > > John > > > > *From:* naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [mailto:naturens-owner@ > chebucto.ns.ca <naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>] *On Behalf Of *Donna > Crossland > *Sent:* May-07-17 07:54 > *To:* naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > *Subject:* RE: [NatureNS] owl decline linked to forest decline > > > > It=E2=80=99s a very long census night, when no owls are detected. > > > > A tool that could be used to compare owl habitat from year to year is > Global Forest Watch. Global Forest Watch maps tell the story of forest > losses from 2001-2014. This database is about to be updated to include > years 2015 and 2016. We=E2=80=99re likely going to see quite a stark cha= nge in > NS. We won=E2=80=99t have to wonder why we detect fewer owls. > > > > Link below. Takes a while to load. You can click on Forest cover > gain/loss. (Forest cover gain mainly shows areas where trees are growing > back after clearcutting.) It is very detailed if one =E2=80=9Czooms in= =E2=80=9D to a > particular owl survey area. > > > > http://www.globalforestwatch.org/map/8/44.88/-63.20/ALL/ > grayscale/loss,forestgain?tab=3Danalysis-tab&begin=3D2001-01-01& > end=3D2016-01-01&threshold=3D30&dont_analyze=3Dtrue > > > > I am guessing that Bird Studies Canada owl census data is available to > anyone from past years. It would make a good project to analyse owl > populations based on forest cover. > > > > Dr Bondrup-Neilson recently pointed out a long-standing *false* theory > that when habitat is destroyed the displaced wildlife simply move > =E2=80=9Csomewhere else=E2=80=9D. This was likely never true, as habitat= niches tend to be > already filled (even back in the days when we had much more forest). The > displaced species has to compete with individuals of the same species who > are already living there and well-established. The displaced species has > to learn where the new food supply is, a new landscape, etc. Often times= , > a slow death to displaced wildlife takes place, as they starve/cannot fin= d > required shelter. Even more upsetting is that Nova Scotia is running out > of =E2=80=9Csomewhere else=E2=80=9D, as forests are bei