Post-fire vegetation recovery and forest resilience in Jasper National Park

[Samuel F. Bartels (PI), Landon Shepherd (collaborator), Parks Canada]

Recent large, high-severity wildfires in Jasper National Park, an ecosystem that has historically experienced minimal human disturbance, provide a critical opportunity to examine post-fire vegetation trajectories, ecosystem resilience, and the capacity of affected forests to recover or reorganize under accelerating climate change. Determining whether post-fire regeneration is keeping pace with environmental change is essential for identifying ecosystems capable of persisting under increasingly variable fire regimes. 

This project evaluates how historical and contemporary wildfires, intensified by climate change, are shaping vegetation recovery and resilience across Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada. The study’s objectives are to quantify rates of post-fire vegetation recovery and assess the potential for ecosystem shifts under varying burn severities and projected climate scenarios. High-resolution remote sensing data paired with contemporary field records enable robust integration of multiple data sources. Field methods include systematic sampling of the existing research plot network and the establishment of new permanent plots stratified by elevation, forest type, and burn severity to capture ecological variability. These field data will be combined with pre- and post-fire multispectral imagery and spectral recovery indices to detect regeneration patterns and evaluate landscape-scale variability in post-fire trajectories. 

Insights from this research are expected to provide Parks Canada with actionable guidance for ecological monitoring, targeted restoration, and adaptive fire management. By improving understanding of post-fire resilience pathways, this work will support long-term conservation and climate-adaptive management across one of Canada’s most iconic national parks.

Safeguarding forest biodiversity and function in an era of rapid change

[Samuel F. Bartels (PI), Natural Science & Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant (Funded)]

Rapid land-use change and accelerating climate impacts are driving widespread biodiversity loss in forest ecosystems, raising urgent concerns about the long‑term sustainability of the ecological functions and services forests provide. This project addresses three major conservation challenges: declining biodiversity, increasing ecological disruption from invasive species, and the erosion of ecosystem function under intensifying climate stress. The overarching goal is to generate new knowledge on how forest biodiversity and ecosystem processes respond to natural and anthropogenic disturbances, and to develop conservation approaches that enhance resistance and resilience in both managed and natural systems.

The research focuses on three objectives: (1) predicting the responses of forest biodiversity, including sensitive and potentially at-risk taxa to disturbances such as harvesting, wildfire, and climate-driven heat and drought; (2) identifying thresholds in critical habitat provisioning across managed, degraded, and restored forests; and (3) testing hypotheses on how shifting disturbance regimes interact with climate change to shape biodiversity and ecosystem function. The resulting insights will inform conservation planning and climate-adaptive forest management.

The Cutblock Biodiversity Initiative

[Samuel F. Bartels (PI); Bridge Grant (Funded), BC Conservation & Biodiversity Awards (pending)]

The cutblock biodiversity initiative focuses on retaining ecological structures and biological legacies, particularly downed woody debris, to support rare and endangered deadwood‑dependent forest floor species, including mosses, liverworts, lichens, fungi, and invertebrates. This work aligns with British Columbia’s emerging framework for safeguarding biodiversity and ecosystem health. The project involves extensive field sampling across young, mature, and old‑growth stands to quantify the amount, variability, and condition of downed woody debris, including ground coverage, size, decay class, and moisture content, alongside surveys of dependent flora and fauna. 

By working at the cutblock scale, the initiative aims to identify ecological thresholds for deadwood retention following harvest, providing the first quantitative guidance on how much material is needed to conserve sensitive forest floor species. Initial efforts focus on compiling existing datasets to build a comprehensive database of structural attributes and associated species, with later phases expanding sampling across additional forest types. The resulting benchmarks will inform forest management and policy decisions on biological legacy retention in managed ecosystems .

Advancing the biodiversity benefits and ecological impacts of innovative silviculture in British Columbia

[Samuel F. Bartels (PI), Silviculture Innovation Program (pending)]

This project seeks to advance understanding of how innovative silviculture practices can be deployed to promote multiple forest values within a biodiversity, habitat protection, and conservation framework. Through a comprehensive meta-analysis and synthesis of existing and historical research trials in British Columbia, the study will gather, assess, and analyze empirical evidence on the benefits and impacts of innovative silviculture. The goal is to bridge key knowledge gaps, clarify priorities, and inform policy and operational implementation.

The project will provide an evidence‑based assessment of the current state of knowledge on innovative silviculture in BC, with a specific focus on its alignment with biodiversity conservation and habitat protection objectives. By integrating findings across decades of research, the study will evaluate how these practices contribute to ecological resilience, habitat quality, and long-term sustainability. The outcomes will support extension, stewardship, and informed decision-making related to innovative silviculture. The resulting synthesis is expected to guide policy development, enhance operational uptake, and strengthen the role of innovative silviculture in meeting provincial conservation and habitat protection goals. 

Validation and characterization of old growth forests values from an Indigenous perspective in the southern Coast Mountain region

[Hayden W. Leo (student), Samuel F. Bartels, MITACS Indigenous Research Award (Funded)]

Old‑growth forests support diverse plant and animal communities, provide habitat for species at risk, and deliver essential ecosystem services such as clean water, recreation, biodiversity, and long‑term carbon storage. They also hold deep cultural and spiritual significance for Indigenous Peoples, who rely on these forests for food and medicine gathering, hunting, trapping, and ceremonial practices. Because of their ecological, cultural, and social importance, efforts to identify and conserve old‑growth forests in British Columbia have increased. However, current provincial mapping relies heavily on outdated vegetation resource inventory data, creating risks of misidentification in a rapidly changing landscape.

This project centers community‑based stewardship by integrating the knowledge and priorities of the Lil’wat Nation in old‑growth management and conservation. It will identify culturally and spiritually significant areas, define priority zones for protection, and assess wildlife habitat, medicinal plant abundance, and opportunities for cultural practices. The project also aims to build Indigenous youth capacity in forest mensuration and research data collection.

Ecological restoration of wildlife forage in monoculture pine plantation in Central-Interior B.C.

[Samuel F. Bartels (PI), Julia Bizon (student), Brandon Geldart (collaborator), Jeff Werner (collaborator); Society of Ecosystem Restoration in Northern B.C. (Funded)]

This project evaluated stand thinning and artificial canopy gaps as potential restoration treatments to enhance wildlife forage and native plant biodiversity in planted monoculture lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta ssp. latifolia) forests near Vanderhoof in northern British Columbia. The study focused on the early (1–3 year) understory response to these treatments, with particular attention to species cover, richness, and diversity. Treatments included thinning to 200, 400, and 600 stems/ha compared with an unthinned control, as well as artificial canopy gaps of 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 ha in a ~25-year-old pine plantation.

Preliminary analyses indicated limited recruitment of target wildlife forage species such as willow, birch, aspen, and other shrubs following treatment implementation. Herbaceous species richness increased in the 600 stems/ha thinning treatment and in canopy gaps relative to the control, yet herbaceous cover and diversity were not significantly affected by either thinning or gap creation. Shrub-layer diversity was higher in larger gaps three years post‑treatment. Understory species richness exhibited a nonlinear relationship with stem density, peaking at approximately 1500 stems/ha, while understory diversity showed negative relationships with basal area and canopy cover.

A complementary greenhouse seedling emergence trial revealed poor germination from the soil seedbank, suggesting that soils in these stands lack viable propagules of key wildlife forage species. Taken together, these findings indicate that passive restoration treatments alone may be insufficient. Active interventions, such as seeding or planting target forage species, will likely be required to restore wildlife habitat and native plant biodiversity in this heavily modified landscape.

Remeasurements of the group shelterwood silvicultural systems trial (EP 1361) in the Fort Nelson region

[Samuel F. Bartels, Richard Kabzems (collaborator); BC Ministry of Forests, Northeast Region (Funded)]

This project provided a preliminary assessment of a long‑term group shelterwood silvicultural trial in the Fort Nelson District, British Columbia. The study revisited two experimental gap openings (1.0 ha and 0.13 ha) across four sites in the Boreal White and Black Spruce biogeoclimatic subzone to evaluate the survival and performance of planted and naturally regenerated white spruce (Picea glauca) and trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) more than two decades after the last measurements. Initial field observations indicated acceptable stocking levels of both species, with higher regeneration in planted treatments than in natural regeneration plots. Height and diameter growth were greater in the larger gaps, suggesting that gap size influences regeneration success. Differences between plot interiors and edge environments also highlighted contrasting habitat suitability for spruce and aspen. Operational challenges, including limited site access and incomplete documentation, underscored the need for improved long‑term plot maintenance. A more comprehensive remeasurement phase is expected to provide robust data to evaluate the long‑term viability of the shelterwood system.