Forest biomass

procurement as

silvicultural tool for

management in Quebec,

Canada

Evelyne Thiffault, ing.f. PhDAssociate professor, Laval University, Quebec (Canada)

Evelyne Thiffault

Ecosystem-based forest management in Quebec

Naturalness at the heart of management decisions

Naturalness: degree to which forest ecosystems are characterizedby natural processes and/or the absence of humaninfluence.

Advanced regeneration is protected during clearcut operations.Natural seedlings establish on the site during the following years.

Daniel Gouge

Evelyne Thiffault

No chemical control of competition in forest plantationsCompetition = accompanying species

Evelyne Thiffault

Claudie-Maude Canuel Claudie-Maude Canuel

Evelyne Thiffault

In landscapes with high naturalness, the forest industrial network needs to adapt to very variable wood quality

Evelyne Thiffault

Sawmills and pulpmills often have strict standards and requirements in terms of wood quality

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/789777/groupe-remabec-collaboration-formation-communaute-atikamekw-wemotaci

Spruce – Pine – Fir - LarchDurocher et al. 2019. Untapped volume of surplus forest growth as feedstock for bioenergy. Biomass Bioenergy, 120: 376-386.

Ratio of actual harvest on allowable annual cut%

No industrial takerfor low-quality boreal hardwoods

• Sound coniferous locked amongboreal hardwoods with no taker

• No industrial taker for degradedconiferous

Counterfactual case: Sound trees are harvested for sawnwood and pulpand degraded trees are left as residues

Evelyne Thiffault

Jonathan Beauséjour

Potential impacts on regeneration establishment and growth

Daniel Gouge

Can unloved trees serve as sustainable feedstock for bioenergy?

Evelyne Thiffault

Careful tree sorting and processing: degraded wood used for biofuels; sound wood used for lumber

Claudie-Maude Canuel Claudie-Maude Canuel

Sutherland et Foreman (1995)

Claudie-Maude Canuel Claudie-Maude Canuel

Quantity of woody debris –

Timber harvesting only - No biomass

procurement

Plot IDMass (oven-dry

metric tonne/ha)

10 61.2

12 26.7

15 43.3

13 45.0

Mean 44.1

Standard deviation 14.1

Quantity of woody debris –

Timber harvesting and biomass

procurement

Plot IDMass (oven-dry

metric tonne/ha)

9 19.4

11 25.5

14 21.1

16 22.3

Mean 22.1

Standard deviation 2.6

Source: Gouge et al. in preparation

Ecosystem-based forest management in Quebec: • Managed landscapes with high level of naturalness, but

with high variability in quality of wood supply• Abundance of unloved trees that do not meet standards

of conventional forest industries (sawntimber, pulp)

Unloved trees can serve as sustainable feedstock for bioenergy:• When they help to unlock stands with a proportion of sound trees for sawnwood

• Requires training of forest workers for improved tree sorting duringjoint procurement of wood for lumber and bioenergy, and improvedprocessing into products

• When their procurement serve as a silvicultural practice to improve establishment and growth of the new stand

• Requires training of forest managers for improved planning of silviculture

• When bioenergy is considered an integral part of forestry systems

Evelyne Thiffault

Evelyne Thiffault

Diversity in managed forest landscapes...

requires diversity in the forest industrial network...including takers of unloved woods...

which require improved training of forest workforce...

David Paré

Evelyne Thiffault

Marine Dupérat

and...

Forest bioenergy products need to be considered members of the forestry team

Liquid biofuelLumber

VeneerBioheat and Biopower Pulp

Oriented strand board

Biogas