e-Bulletin

Great Lakes Forestry Centre (GLFC)

Issue 57, May 2026

• Comings and goings
• CFS-GLFC scientists appear within Stanford University’s list of top 2% of the world researchers
• Two GLFC Researchers receive recognition for their publications
• New web-based application provides bioclimatic mapping of over 4000 forest insect and disease species across Canada
• NRCan’s Inclusive Science Self-assessment Tool and the Interdepartmental Inclusive Science Initiative
• Developing an operational framework for measuring and responding to forest degradation in Canada
• How do biomass harvesting, site preparation intensity and wood ash applications alter plant community recovery?
• The State of Canada’s Forests – Annual Report 2025 is available
• Publications
• Subscribe/Unsubscribe

Comings and goings

After a 45-year career at the Canadian Forest Service (CFS), Great Lakes Forestry Centre (GLFC), we said a fond farewell to Dr. Rob Fleming, Research Scientist, Biophysical Processes, in February 2026. A summary of Dr. Fleming’s work will be presented in an upcoming issue of the e-Bulletin.

CFS-GLFC scientists appear within Stanford University’s list of top 2% of the world researchers

Stanford University annually rates the top 100,000 scientists using key citation metrics to determine the top 2% of the world’s researchers. Two separate lists focus on single-year achievements, which acknowledges citations received within the calendar year and career-long achievements, which considers historical citation data.

The most recent list from August 2025, for the 2024 calendar year, includes several active or retired CFS researchers from across the country. For GLFC specifically:

• Appearing on both the single year and career lists are Dan McKenney, Dan Thompson, David Kreutzweiser, and Mike Wotton.
• Ranking in the top 2% for 2024 (single year) are John Huber, Lisa Venier, John Pedlar, and William (Bill) de Groot.
• Ranking in the top 2% for 2024 (career) are Peter Newton, Kees van Frankenhuyzen, Douglas Pitt (Canadian Wood Fibre Centre (CWFC), and Arthur Groot [CWFC].

Congratulations to these researchers for their accomplishments!

Two GLFC Researchers receive recognition for their publications

In late 2024, Dr. Amanda Roe and her co-authors published “Catching invasives with curiosity: the importance of passive biosecurity surveillance systems for invasive forest pest detection” in the publication, Environmental Entomology.

This article identifies the importance of community science by highlighting the role of curious members of the public, rather than specialists or trained professionals, in the early detection and subsequent appearances in new locations of several prominent nonnative arthropod pests such as the Asian longhorned beetle and the spotted lanternfly.

Biodiversity monitoring platforms, such as iNaturalist, provide a focal point for community engagement and aggregate verified public observations. Embracing the public as active members of the surveillance community can be cost-effective and lead to the greatest gains in the proactive management of invasive species around the world. The article identifies several steps that regulatory agencies in North America can consider if they want to leverage the large and ever-growing collection of community photographs and curious observers in their fight against invasives.

This paper was chosen as the winner of Environmental Entomology’s People’s Choice award for 2025. Congratulations Amanda!

Dr. Chelene Hanes (GLFC) and associates from CFS-Northern Forestry Centre (Edmonton, AB), and Thompson Rivers University (Kamloops, BC) recently published in the 2025 volume of the Canadian Journal of Forest Research (CJFR). “Fire regime changes in Canada: an update,” builds on the original work that examined the period from 1959 to 2015 to include a comprehensive analysis of fire regime trends in Canada spanning from 1959 to 2024. The new study incorporates an improved area burned dataset produced by the CFS, applies updated analytical techniques, and includes additional regions, offering a more complete national perspective on long-term wildland fire patterns.

Results show that both the annual area burned and the number of large fires continue to rise across Canada. Importantly, regional analyses show that all parts of the country now exhibit either stable or increasing trends in area burned, with no regions showing the decreases detected in the previous study. The most significant increases are observed in western Canada. Also, findings show that very large fires (≥20,000 ha) are becoming even larger and represent an increasing share of total area burned, underscoring their growing role in shaping the national fire regime.

This paper was selected as January 2026’s Editors’ Choice article by the CJFR providing an expanded impact of CFS-based research since the article will remain in the Editor’s Choice Collection.

An article based on this work, “Canada’s wildfire paradox: fewer fires, greater destruction highlighted in new analysis” is also available from CBC News.

Congratulations to Chelene and co-authors!

New web-based application provides bioclimatic mapping of over 4000 forest insect and disease species across Canada

GLFC researchers John Pedlar, Dr. Dan McKenney, and Glenn Lawrence have introduced an innovative web-based tool that maps the climate niches of over 4,000 forest insect and disease species across Canada.

Using datasets that document where forest pests have historically been found, CFS scientists create detailed maps of current and future climate habitat that support risk assessment, harvesting decisions, replanting strategies, and climate‑change adaptation. The resulting models can be viewed on the Forest Insect and Disease Risk Maps web.

This website presents broad-scale, climate-based risk maps of native and non-native forest insects and diseases in Canada. This effort involves the collation of historical and recent field observations and the analysis of this data in relation to climate. Two modeling approaches, ANUCLIM and MAXENT, were used to generate bioclimate models, sometimes called 'climate envelopes.' These models help identify areas that are climatically suitable for a species, though actual species distributions may be somewhat smaller than their climate envelopes due to factors such as competition from other species, soils, and physical barriers to dispersal (e.g., mountains). A similar approach has been followed for plant species at Canada’s Plant Hardiness Site

Maps of climate suitability are available for both current and future time periods. Rapid climate change has the potential to significantly affect the distribution and abundance of native and non-native forest insect and disease species and their plant hosts. Therefore, developing an understanding of climate influences on their distributions is important.

For more information contact John Pedlar.

NRCan’s Inclusive Science Self-assessment Tool and the Interdepartmental Inclusive Science Initiative

In response to the Clerk’s Call to Action on Anti-racism, Equity and Inclusion in the Federal Public Service, NRCan instituted the Inclusive Science Initiative in 2023. Using both a dynamic stakeholder engagement approach and a comprehensive evidence synthesis approach, the initiative has developed tools and techniques to equip science employees to apply an inclusive science and relational research ethics lens in their work. NRCan’s Inclusive Science Self-assessment Tool (ISSAT) allows researchers, scientists, science program managers, and directors to self-reflect on their research activities and obtain practical strategies and resources to engage in inclusive scientific research. The ISSAT allows NRCan to set goals, measure progress, and ensure accountability in advancing anti-racism, equity, and inclusion in the federal public service.

Through the Interdepartmental Inclusive Science Initiative, NRCan and Canadian Food Inspection Agency have brought together 17 science-based departments and agencies (SBDAs) to share best practices, develop the inclusive science guidelines and organize an inclusive science dialogue. These guidelines represent the commitment of SBDAs to inclusive science through broader perspectives, richer collaborations, and more innovative solutions. They empower senior leaders, scientists, science employees, and policymakers to create inclusive teams, co-develop research and regulatory science objectives, and respectfully engage Indigenous partners.

Following the successful development of the Inclusive Science Guidelines, the SBDAs organized a hybrid national dialogue in June 2025 to introduce the newly developed Inclusive Science Guidelines, showcase tools and resources to help connect IDEA (also known as DEI – diversity, equity and inclusion), Gender-based Analysis Plus, and Indigenous Knowledge into scientific activities, and celebrate excellence in inclusive science practices across the federal public service. Approximately 100 people attended the event in person, with over a thousand virtual participants. The 2026 National Inclusive Science Dialogue is scheduled for May 2026.

For more information, contact Dr. Effah Antwi.

Developing an operational framework for measuring and responding to forest degradation in Canada

Forest degradation is a global concern that has been identified as a contributor to biodiversity loss, climate change, and reduced human health and well-being. As more pledges and commitments are made and regulatory measures and policies are implemented to halt and reverse forest degradation, it is important to develop robust approaches for measuring forest change, attributing causes of change, and quantifying degradation.

The most significant challenges associated with measuring and responding to degradation are the lack of an agreed upon definition, the attribution of indicator change to specific pressures, and the integration of multiple indicators. This paper examines how and why forest degradation definitions vary and describes considerations for selecting and characterizing reference conditions, as well as spatial and temporal scales for assessment. Potential hierarchical indicators of forest change and the availability of data to assess forest degradation are identified. How these indicators of forest change may be analyzed and modelled to generate measures of degradation and attribute the causes of forest change are discussed. The potential of ecosystem models to support holistic integration of multiple processes, including disturbances and changes in forest indicators to support the assessment of degradation and to provide an approach to explore societal trade-offs between degradation and ecosystem services is introduced. Using this analysis an operational framework for moving the measurement and reduction of degradation forward in Canada but with implications for a global audience is proposed.

Seven recommendations are made that will improve the capacity to measure and respond to degradation, including using a phased and adaptive process that integrates research with monitoring, and the integration of field-based research and remote sensing with ecosystem models to evaluate outcomes in relation to multiple policy scenarios. The outputs from this paper are expected to support Canada’s international commitments on environmental responsibility, and Canada’s domestic desire to halt and reverse forest degradation.

For more information contact Dr. Lisa Venier.

How do biomass harvesting, site preparation intensity and wood ash applications alter plant community recovery?

In this study, plant community composition, structure, and function was compared in response to a gradient of silvicultural practices in a second growth jack pine forest (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) in northern Ontario, Canada.

Five combinations of biomass harvest and site preparation disturbance intensities, including landings (wood processing area) from the previous harvest were compared six years after planting. Additionally, two wood ash amendment treatments were included to explore the ameliorative effects of ash application. It was found that more intensive treatments that had large amounts of biomass harvested, forest floor removal, and high soil compaction, changed plant community composition. The plant communities of the intensive treatments had low taxonomic and functional diversity, and were characterized by low vegetation cover, a high prevalence of short, shade intolerant species, and an underdeveloped vertical structure. The less intensive treatments, including tree-length harvest and the two ash amendment treatments, had similar taxonomic and functional composition to the full-tree harvest treatment and were comprised of vascular and non-vascular plant species typically associated with mature boreal forest communities.

The findings from the study underscore the importance of establishing biomass harvest guidelines that preserve ecologically significant conditions and attributes to safeguard biological legacies and facilitate ecosystem-level recovery, including minimizing forest floor disturbance and maintaining a balance of fine and coarse woody debris.

For more information contact Kierann Santala.

The State of Canada’s Forests – Annual Report 2025 is available

The 2025 State of Canada’s Forests (SoF) report offers trusted, science‑based information on the health of Canada’s forests and how they are managed sustainably. It uses data from national sources and aligns with international frameworks like the Montréal Process and the United Nations’ sustainability goals.

This year’s report presents a more data-focused structure and format, with emphasis on indicators and key data. The design has also been updated with a web-first approach to improve digital accessibility and enhance the user experience. This new format enables the release content throughout the year, offering more timely updates on topics of interest.

A national map showcasing Canada’s eight forest regions and their predominant tree species has just been released to complement this year’s report. The map illustrates how each region is defined by its characteristic vegetation and helps reinforce a key SoF message—the importance of planting the right tree in the right place for long-term forest health and climate resilience.

Publications

• To order copies of these publications, please contact the Great Lakes Forestry Centre publications assistant.
• Publications are available in English unless otherwise indicated.

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