Tumpline WHITE PINES CAN’T TAKE THE HEAT. PHOTO KEVIN CALLAN
Temperature Rising Researchers blame global warming for changes in the QUETICO FOREST
THE LAND OF THE SILVER BIRCH may soon become the land of the red maple if forest researchers are correct in their predictions for the boreal forest in On- tario’s Quetico Provincial Park and Min- nesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Te adjoining parks straddle the
1 6 n CANOE ROOTS fall 2006
Canada–U.S. border about 200 kilome- tres west of Tunder Bay and together attract more than 230,000 visitors each year, making the area one of the most popular canoeing destinations in the world. Tey lie in the transition zone between the boreal forests to the north and the primarily hardwood forests to the south. Te characteris- tic mixed forests that result, however, may be changing under the strain of global warming. Researchers on both sides of the bor-
der have found that maples, oaks and other southern deciduous species are on the march north while populations of black spruce, white birch and north- ern pines are all suffering. Lee Frelich, a researcher from the University of Minnesota who has studied the forest composition of the Boundary Waters area for 18 years, has concluded that global warming and encroaching inva- sive species are rapidly changing the composition of the forest.
Frelich says the combination of hot-
ter and wetter summers, in conjunction with warmer winters has tipped the competitive balance in favour of south- ern tree species. “We’re seeing a lot more red maple,” says Frelich. “Te climate used to be just too cold for red maple.” Worldwide levels of carbon diox-
ide and other greenhouse gases con- tinue to rise with few signs of action on either side of the border. Te Bush administration has refused to join international efforts to reduce emis- sions. Tough Canada, which comes in just behind the U.S. on lists of the top per-capita polluters, ratified the Kyoto climate change accord, the current Conservative government has hinted it might renege on Kyoto. Rachel Plotkin, of the Sierra Club of
Canada, says that if nothing is done to mitigate the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels predicted by En- vironment Canada, canoeists in and out of the Boundary Waters area will have to expand the scope of their tree- identification skills. “Large areas of the boreal forest
across Canada will no longer be in the climatic zone best suited for boreal for- ests,” says Plotkin. “Te forests will be under increasing strain.” —Jon Nelson
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