Utikuma Region Study Area (URSA) - Part 2: Aspen Harvest and Recovery Study

Abstract

The Hydrology Ecology And Disturbance (HEAD-1 and HEAD-2) research programs in the Western Boreal Plains of North-Central Alberta, has provided objective delineation and determination of landscape units characterized by geology and climate. From these landscape indices can be developed that provide information on the scale at which forest, wetland, and aquatic systems are linked to their surroundings and the potential response of an area to particular disturbances. In collaboration with industry, government and NGO planners and ecologists this work establishes a hydrologic risk planning process that evaluates the ecological risk and monetary costs of forest harvest on forest succession and water quality and quantity.