Adaptive Management

Adaptive management is a systematic process for continually improving management policies and practices by learning from the outcomes of operational programs.

Its most effective form–"active" adaptive management–employs management programs that are designed to experimentally compare selected policies or practices, by evaluating alternative hypotheses about the system being managed. This page connects users to research and monitoring tools being used in the Forest for Tomorrow Program to improve the program.

• Extension note 1 - Introduction to Adaptive Management (PDF)
• Adaptive Management Initiatives in the BC Forest Service

Synthesis Reports

A series of synthesis reports have been produced on a range of topics considered by FFT staff to be areas of key uncertainty for the program. These reports present key research findings to date. 

The individual synthesis reports are:

• Impact of falling (dead) trees on seedling survival (PDF): When stands are attacked by mountain pine beetle, and dead stands are under planted with seedlings, some of those seedlings may die as dead stems fall on them. 
• Overstory release in response to light (PDF): When stands are attacked by mountain pine beetle, some overstory trees survive.  It is likely that these surviving trees will ‘release’ to expand in crown size, diameter and height.  This release may shade seedlings, but may also increase stand volumes and provide crop trees earlier than expected.
• Managing snowshoe hare damage (PDF): High levels of snowshoe hare damage have been detected in plantations in, or adjacent to, standing dead lodgepole pine killed by mountain pine beetle.
• Viability of seed from dead lodgepole pine (PDF): Dead lodgepole pine stands have cones that contain seed that could contribute to regeneration.  How long does seed from dead pine remain viable and have acceptable germination success?  Seed viability affects both natural regeneration under stands attacked by mountain pine beetle and determines opportunity to collect seed from those stands.
• Response of BC conifers to light conditions created by overstory mortality or removal (PDF): Understanding conifer responses to light is key to making silvicultural decisions in stands in BC that have been attacked by mountain pine beetle.
• Management of pine grass competition (PDF): Pine grass (Calamagrostis rubsecens) is a major competitor with conifer seedlings in the southern and central Interior, especially in the IDF and is one of several factors that make the dry, grassy Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (var. glauca) forests in interior British Columbia difficult to regenerate.  There is concern that pinegrass will flourish in the increased light under stands killed by mountain pine beetle and make it difficult to successfully underplant these stands.
• Effect of the dwarf mistletoe on regeneration in beetle-killed lodgepole pine stands (PDF): Lodgepole pine dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium americanum) poses a potential risk to lodgepole pine regeneration in beetle-killed pine stands.  Dwarf mistletoe infecting live pine stems in the overstory of beetle-killed stands can proliferate and infect seedlings leading to growth losses.
• Effects of stems rusts and a stem canker on regeneration in beetle-killed lodgepole pine stands (PDF): Several species of rust and one species of canker pose a risk to lodgepole pine regeneration in beetle-killed pine stands.
• Risk of fire after mountain pine beetle (PDF):  Concern has been expressed that uncontrollable wildfires similar to those experienced in Yellowstone National Park in 1988 will follow pine beetle attacks.  Seedlings planted beneath dead stands may be at higher risk of mortality due to wildfire when compared to stock planted in clearcuts.
• Predicting Light Interception in Decaying MPB Stands (PDF) - by Dave Huggard
• Projected Growth of Seedlings Planted under Mountain Pine Beetle Stands (PDF) - by Dave Huggard