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Northern Alberta A16 - Wildfire Restoration

Location
Northern Alberta
disturbance
Wildfire in 2021
Application year
2022
hectares
20.1
Species
White Spruce, Jack Pine
seed pods used
seeding density
target pod:tree ratio
target stocking
1,400
target trees
28,112
assessment year
2024
achieved stocking
1,582
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Project Overview

Partnered with a Northern Alberta forest products partner. The area is mostly flat with smaller areas of slight south exposure. The site consisted of burned, white spruce-dominant upland forest with impressive tree sizes in parts.

Flagged Transect Summary (Permanent Plot)

In the first year, ten plots of flagged rows were distributed across A16 with pods planted directly adjacent to flags. These permanent plots allowed us to assess early germination rates and ratios of White Spruce and Jack Pine before circular plots could be established. The flagged plots consisted of rows of embedded pods and dropped pods, plus new recipes and two different species. We used a sampling density of 1 plot / 2 hectares for this site.

Circular Plot Summary (Temporary Plot)

In the second year, nine circular plots were distributed at A16. These circular plots have an area of 55 m² with seedlings counted within the circle area. Before planting, the silviculture team also assessed natural regeneration and excluded sites with high regen from planting efforts to eliminate naturals from our seedling count. The only species assessed were White Spruce and Jack Pine, as those are what the company planted. No assessment of deciduous trees was conducted.

Findings: Temporary Plot Assessments at Year 2

‍Plot - #Seedlings Counted

1 - 15+

2 - 15+

3 - 6

4 - 1

5 - 0

6 - 15+

7 - 3

8 - 11

9 - 15+

Seedling Count for Entire Site - >31,769

Average Stems Per Hectare - >1,582

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Species Mix (Year 1 permanent plots)

Jack Pine - 12%

White Spruce - 88%

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Takeaways

  1. Permanent plots showed high germination rates in the first 3 months. If these were used to predict average germinants across the entire site it would amount to roughly 2,950 per hectare.
  2. Cool conditions at the site helped prevent significant germinant mortality. Between the mid-summer and late fall assessment in year 1, only 21% of germinants died (record low).
  3. Fortunately, there was no additional mortality between fall 2022 and fall 2023. In fact, permanent plots showed many Jack Pine seedlings germinate in year 2.
  4. The temporary plots indicated that the site was sufficiently stocked by the end of year 2. This is due to Flash Forest’s pods and likely some natural regeneration.
  5. Additionally, we have observed the growth of deciduous trees at this site, which will convert the stand to a mixed-wood forest. This is likely due to a low burn severity.
  6. There was variability between the temporary plots, ranging from 0 to more than 15 seedlings per plot, partially attributable to microsite differences in shade, sunlight, slope direction, soil type, and water table.
  7. Microsite differences have been accounted for in our machine learning model, which will be used to adjust planting densities within a block to ensure more even distribution in future planting.

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