Grant: Discovery Launch Supplement

Biodiversity conservation ranks among the top global priorities for sustaining Earth's ecosystems. Ongoing loss of biodiversity in forest ecosystems, occasioned by rapid land use and global climate change, has prompted concerns about the sustainability of forest ecosystems and the goods and services that they provide to humanity. Hence, biodiversity conservation has become a key focus for sustainable management of forests. The long-term goal of my research program is to contribute new knowledge and understanding of the impact of natural and anthropogenic disturbances on forest biodiversity and ecosystem function, with the aim of developing new conservation approaches that create resistance and resilience amidst local and global environmental changes. Building on my recent progress in post-disturbance forest biodiversity dynamics, I address three pressing contemporary issues of conservation concern, namely impoverishment of biodiversity, loss of ecological function, and the ever-growing threats of climate change in natural and human-modified forest ecosystems. The short-term objectives over the next five years are to 1) understand and predict the response of forest biodiversity to disturbances and the mechanisms involved, 2) assess thresholds in critical habitat provisioning in natural, degraded, or restored forest ecosystems, and 3) understand and test hypotheses on the impact of the interaction between climate change and physical disturbances on forest biodiversity and ecosystem function. This Discovery Grant will fund a student-led research program that covers urgent and controversial topics, such as the loss or degradation of ecosystem function following bark beetle outbreak that is rampaging in western Canada, and the related debate of whether to subject affected forest stands to salvage logging. The research findings will provide insights into critical habitat values and the concept of ecological thresholds in biodiversity conservation. Findings of this research will also build the capacity of resource managers to understand and predict the impact of climate change and equip decision makers with scientific evidence to enact policies to assist in minimizing the ecological impacts of resource extraction. The proposed research aligns with Canada's joint efforts to promote the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of our natural resources. The expected outcomes of this research will help inform sustainable management of Canada's expansive boreal and sub-boreal forests that support high levels of biodiversity and natural habitats. Through a combination of fieldwork, experimental, and theoretical quantitative approaches, the proposed projects will build the capacity of trainees, including graduate and undergraduate students, who will acquire key skills and knowledge to confront a range of biodiversity and conservation issues.