Morgan D FEMC2007

Habitat Supply Modelling in British Columbia

Don Morgan, Ministry of Forests and Range, Research Branch, Bag 6000, Smithers, BC, V0J 2N7, Canada, Don.morgan@gov.bc.ca

Habitat supply research is being conducted across the province with the intention of advancing the understanding of species and their habitat use and to support decision making. The objective of this talk is to describe some current habitat supply modeling activities, successes and challenges, and the linkages between habitat supply and forest estate modelling.
There are six main areas of habitat supply modeling that will be discussed: 1) approaches to supporting habitat supply modeling, such as communication, cooperation and professional accountability; 2) indicators of habitat supply, how to integrate with general resource models; 3) modeling practice, including conceptual models, complexity, scaling, model formulation, tools, and verification; 4) modelling processes, applying models, use of scenario analysis, and informing decisions; 5) model verifications and quality assurance; and 6) the future of habitat supply modelling in BC. Examples from stand to landscape, and from across BC will be drawn upon to inform the discussion.