Wetlands are essential for many animal and plant species. However, many of these ecosystems are being degraded. Wetland degradation affects the habitat of certain groups of species such as waterfowl, which use these environments at different stages of their life cycle. In this study, we assessed the quality of man-made wetlands, i.e., mine tailing ponds, in comparison to beaver ponds, which are natural wetlands used by waterfowl. We conducted repeated surveys of breeding waterfowl species present on 12 mining ponds and 38 beaver ponds in boreal western Quebec, Canada. We also conducted brood surveys and considered environmental variables at the sites that could affect their occupancy. Conditions at the mining ponds appear to be as favorable for the establishment of breeding waterfowl as those observed in beaver ponds. Using site occupancy models, we found that five out of the six species studied were as likely to occupy and breed in mining ponds as in beaver ponds: Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris), American Wigeon (Mareca americana), Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca), and Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus). Both adults and broods of Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) were more likely to use mining ponds than beaver ponds, but we did not find a direct relationship between goldeneye occupancy and environmental variables at our sites. Overall, the results of our study suggest that mining ponds have the potential to be managed for waterfowl and used by this group during the breeding season. However, further studies are required to assess the long-term effects of mining ponds on wildlife, particularly regarding contaminants such as heavy metals likely present at such sites.

Ecosystem-based management aims to preserve old-growth forest attributes using techniques mimicking natural disturbances. One such technique is irregular shelterwood logging, but its impacts on forest floor organisms are poorly known. Our objective was to quantify the effects of three different treatments of irregular shelterwood on population structure and the body condition of the eastern red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) 5–6 years following harvesting. A total of 64 sites in western Québec were sampled using artificial refugia and quadrat searches. Large salamanders (>32 mm) were more abundant in the gap treatment than in strip, uniform, or control treatments. Small salamanders (≤32 mm) followed the same pattern, although the differences were marginal. For a given treatment, small salamanders were as abundant as large salamanders. Salamander body condition differed between the 2 years of sampling but did not differ among treatments, regardless of salamander size. We conclude that environmental conditions in irregular shelterwood treatments 5–6 years following harvesting support populations of small vertebrates on the forest floor.

Citizen science (CS) currently refers to the participation of non-scientist volunteers in any discipline of conventional scientific research. Over the last two decades, nature-based CS has flourished due to innovative technology, novel devices, and widespread digital platforms used to collect and classify species occurrence data. For scientists, CS offers a low-cost approach of collecting species occurrence information at large spatial scales that otherwise would be prohibitively expensive. We examined the trends and gaps linked to the use of CS as a source of data for species distribution models (SDMs), in order to propose guidelines and highlight solutions. We conducted a quantitative literature review of 207 peer-reviewed articles to measure how the representation of different taxa, regions, and data types have changed in SDM publications since the 2010s. Our review shows that the number of papers using CS for SDMs has increased at approximately double the rate of the overall number of SDM papers. However, disparities in taxonomic and geographic coverage remain in studies using CS. Western Europe and North America were the regions with the most coverage (73%). Papers on birds (49%) and mammals (19.3%) outnumbered other taxa. Among invertebrates, flying insects including Lepidoptera, Odonata and Hymenoptera received the most attention. Discrepancies between research interest and availability of data were as especially important for amphibians, reptiles and fishes. Compared to studies on animal taxa, papers on plants using CS data remain rare. Although the aims and scope of papers are diverse, species conservation remained the central theme of SDM using CS data. We present examples of the use of CS and highlight recommendations to motivate further research, such as combining multiple data sources and promoting local and traditional knowledge. We hope our findings will strengthen citizen-researchers partnerships to better inform SDMs, especially for less-studied taxa and regions. Researchers stand to benefit from the large quantity of data available from CS sources to improve global predictions of species distributions.

The boreal forest is considered to be a low productivity forest due to its cold climate and poorly drained soils promoting paludification. These factors create conditions favouring accumulation of undecomposed organic matter, which causes declining growth rates of forest stands, ultimately converting mature stands into peatlands. Under these conditions, careful logging is conducted during winter, which minimizes soil disturbance in northwestern Quebec boreal forest. This results in water table rise, increased light availability and paludification. Our main objective was to evaluate the short-term effect of partial harvesting as an alternative method to careful logging in winter to mitigate water table rise on black spruce (Picea mariana [Mill.] B.S.P.) stands. We quantified tree stem diameter variation and daily variation in water table depth in mature spruce stands before and after partial harvest (basal area reduction of 40%) and girdling (same basal area reduction with delayed mortality) during 2016 and 2017 growing seasons. Water table variation prior to and following silvicultural treatments did not differ one year after treatment. Daily stem diameter variation in black spruce did not differ between treatments and control. Furthermore, temperature exerted a positive effect on variation in water table and on stem diameter. These results suggest that partial harvest could be more effective than clearcutting to mitigate negative effects of a high water table while limiting paludification.

Since the mid?twentieth century, fisher populations (Pekania pennanti) increased in several eastern jurisdictions of North America, particularly in the northern part of the species’ range. Changes in fisher distribution have led to increased overlap with the southern portion of the range of American marten (Martes americana), whose populations may be locally declining. This overlap occurs particularly in habitats undergoing natural and anthropogenic modification. The objective of our study was to determine the respective effects of habitat changes and climatic conditions on fisher and marten populations in Quebec, Canada, based on trapper knowledge. We analyzed annual fisher and marten harvest (number of pelts sold/100?km2) between the 1984–1985 and 2014–2015 trapping seasons using linear mixed models. Fisher harvest increased with the increased abundance of mixed forests >12?m tall, resulting from decades of forest harvesting. Fisher harvest decreased with increasing spring rains, which can affect survival when rearing young. Marten harvest decreased with increasing winter rains, which lower thermoregulation capacity and hamper movements by creating an ice crust on the snowpack, reducing access to subnivean areas. Decline in marten harvest during the 30?year study period coincided with an increase in fisher harvest, suggesting possible interspecific competition. Results highlight that managers should strive to maintain mixedwood stands taller than 12?m to maintain high quality habitat for fishers. Our study confirms the importance of working with trappers to assess furbearing population trends in response to habitat changes and climatic conditions. © 2019 The Wildlife Society.

Sudden changes in habitat quality during the breeding season may mislead individuals when selecting their nesting site and result in population declines. In such cases, even semi-natural and extensive agricultural lands may become ecological traps. We examined how the availability of six open habitat types (i.e. agricultural lands, open forests, alder swamps, young forests, regeneration, and wetlands) could be affecting the habitat selection process, as well as the hatching and fledging successes of American kestrels (Falco sparverius). We hypothesized that natural open habitats are less disturbed by anthropogenic activities than extensive agricultural lands and thus represent higher quality habitats for kestrels. We also considered weather conditions during the breeding season as possible factors affecting hatching and fledging successes. We monitored 200 pairs of American kestrels during 11 years (2006–2016) within a network of 155 nest box stations and we characterized landscape composition metrics within 800?m radii from each nest box. We used generalized linear mixed models and multimodel inference to quantify the effects of landscape composition metrics on the probabilities of using nesting site, hatching success, and fledging success of American kestrels. We also tested the effects of weather conditions and clutch initiation date on hatching and fledging successes of kestrels. We found that the probability of nesting site use increased with the amount of agricultural lands. Hatching success decreased with the amount of agricultural lands, whereas the fledging success of kestrels did not vary with the amount of agricultural lands. Both the probabilities of hatching and of fledging increased with the area of young forests. There was no evidence of a weather effect on hatching success. However, the probability of fledging success increased with mean temperature during the raising period of nestlings. Although fledging success alone does not determine fitness or population dynamics, our results suggest that kestrels nesting in this region at the northern limit of their range may be caught in an ecological trap by extensive agricultural lands. Indeed, kestrels were attracted by meadows when selecting nesting habitat, but the hatching and early nestling periods coincided with hay harvesting which could reduce the hunting success of breeding adults and suddenly alter food availability. Although the causes of recent kestrel declines remain unclear, our results suggest that harvesting practices, even those related to extensive perennial agriculture, may have a negative effect on the breeding success of the species compared to areas dominated by young forests.

In temperate and boreal mixedwood forests of eastern North America, partial disturbances such as insect outbreaks and gap dynamics result in the development of irregular forest structures. From a forest ecosystem management perspective, management of these forests should therefore include silvicultural regimes that incorporate medium- to high-retention harvesting. We present 12-year results of a field experiment undertaken to evaluate the effects of variable retention harvesting on stand structure, recruitment, and mortality. Treatments were gap harvesting (GAP), diameter-limit harvesting (DL), careful logging (CL), and careful logging followed by scarification (CL + SCAR), and an unharvested control. Although post-harvest basal area in the GAP treatment was significantly lower than that of controls, it maintained a diameter distribution profile and densities of balsam fir regeneration similar to those of pre-harvest conditions. Lower retention treatments (DL, CL, and CL + SCAR) tended to favor regeneration of pioneer, shade-intolerant species. Except for black spruce (for which mortality was highest in DL), stem mortality was similar among harvesting treatments. From an ecosystem management perspective, this study suggests that gap harvesting can maintain, in the short term, forest stand composition and structure similar to unharvested forests, and could be used where management objectives include the maintenance of late successional forest conditions.

Litter decomposition is a major driver of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles in forest ecosystems and has major implications for C sequestration and nutrient availability. However, empirical information regarding long-term decomposition rates of foliage and wood remains rare. In this study, we assessed long-term C and N dynamics (12–13 years) during decomposition of foliage and wood for three boreal tree species, under a range of harvesting intensities and slash treatments. We used model selection based on the second-order Akaike’s Information Criterion to determine which decomposition model had the most support. The double-exponential model provided a good fit to C mass loss for foliage of trembling aspen, white spruce, and balsam fir, as well as aspen wood. These litters underwent a rapid initial phase of leaching and mineralisation, followed by a slow decomposition. In contrast, for spruce and fir wood, the single-exponential model had the most support. The long-term average decay rate of wood was faster than that of foliage for aspen, but not of conifers. However, we found no evidence that fir and spruce wood decomposed at slower rates than the recalcitrant fraction of their foliage. The critical C:N ratios, at which net N mineralisation began, were higher for wood than for foliage. Long-term decay rates following clear-cutting were either similar or faster than those observed in control stands, depending on litter material, tree species, and slash treatment. The critical C:N ratios were reached later and decreased for all conifer litters following stem-only clear-cutting, indicating increased N retention in harvested sites with high slash loads. Partial harvesting had weak effects on C and N dynamics of decaying litters. A comprehensive understanding of the long-term patterns and controls of C and N dynamics following forest disturbance would improve our ability to forecast the implications of forest harvesting for C sequestration and nutrient availability. © 2017 Springer Science+Business Media New York

Beavers are ecosystem engineers that contribute to landscape heterogeneity in North American boreal forests. Despite the importance of beavers on landscapes, beaver distribution is still poorly understood, particularly at large spatial scales and in different ecoregions. The goal of our study was to determine the main environmental features affecting beaver dam abundance across ecoregions. We quantified the spatial distribution of beaver dams in Quebec forests using 257 systematically distributed provincial forestry maps, in which we sampled 1025 plots of 25 km2 in an area several orders of magnitude larger than in previous studies. The study area, covering over 300,000 km2, spanned over six ecoregions (Appalachians, Meridional Laurentians, Central Laurentians, Abitibi and James Bay Lowlands, Mistassini, and Anticosti Island). We constructed 17 candidate regression models using a negative binomial distribution with variables based on different hypotheses to explain beaver dam abundance. The mean stream gradient was the top variable influencing dam abundance, followed by the cover of non-forested land. However, there was substantial variability among ecoregions, as the models that included the random effect of hardwood cover and non-forested cover ranked higher than models without these variables. We conclude that such regional variation in factors affecting dam distribution patterns should be taken into account when establishing beaver management plans. © 2017, Society of Wetland Scientists.