Table 6. Judgments of forest practitioners on the importance of adaptation options to maintain health and vitality of forest ecosystems in the Champagne and Aishihik Traditional Territory for each of three scenarios: “current climate conditions,” “low scenario of future climate change by the 2050s,” and “high scenario of future climate change by the 2050s.” Scale of 1 to 10 (0 = no importance, 1 = low importance, 10 = high importance) or don’t know. Results shown are the average rank and standard deviation (s.d.) of participants who provided a ranking. The percentage of participants who agree or strongly agree with the statement “this management option is currently being practiced in the Yukon” is also provided. Adaptation options in bold are considered to be “no-regrets” (option is ranked 7 or higher across range of scenarios).
| |
| |
|
Adaptation Option |
Current Practice |
Current
Importance |
Importance Considering Projected Change 2050s
|
|
Low Scenario |
High Scenario |
|
(%) |
Average Rank
(s.d.) |
Average Rank
(s.d.) |
Average Rank
(s.d.) |
| |
|
Breed for pest resistance and for a wider tolerance to a
range of climate stresses and extremes in specific genotypes |
3 |
5.2 (3.2) |
6.1 (3.0) |
6.8 (3.1) |
|
Adjust harvest schedules to harvest stands most vulnerable
to natural disturbances (e.g., insect outbreaks or fire) |
50 |
5.8 (3.4) |
6.4 (3.2) |
7.3 (3.3) |
|
Reduce non-climate stresses to enhance ability of ecosystems
to respond to climate change by managing tourism, recreation, and grazing
impacts |
20 |
4.1 (3.2) |
5.0 (3.2) |
5.7 (3.4) |
|
Reduce non-climate stresses to enhance ability of ecosystems
to respond to climate change by regulating atmospheric
pollutants |
13 |
5.2 (3.8) |
6.0 (3.9) |
6.5 (4.0) |
|
Reduce non-climate stresses to enhance ability of ecosystems
to respond to climate change by restoring degraded areas to maintain genetic
diversity and promote ecosystem health |
27 |
5.4 (2.8) |
6.3 (2.9) |
6.9 (3.1) |
|
Plant genotypes that are tolerant of drought, insects, and/or
disease |
3 |
5.6 (3.0) |
6.3 (2.6) |
7.3 (2.4) |
|
Reduce disease losses through sanitation cuts that remove
infected trees |
20 |
4.8 (3.5) |
5.3 (3.3) |
5.6 (3.7) |
|
Used prescribed burning to encourage regeneration, reduce
fire risk, and reduce forest vulnerability to insect outbreaks |
7 |
6.8 (2.9) |
7.3 (2.7) |
7.7 (2.8) |
|
Employ silvicultural techniques to promote forest
productivity and increase stand vigor (i.e., partial cutting or thinning) to
lower the susceptibility to insect attack |
44 |
6.4 (2.6) |
7.2 (2.5) |
7.4 (2.6) |
|
Shorten the rotation length to decrease the period of stand
vulnerability to damaging insects and diseases and to facilitate change to more
suitable species |
7 |
3.6 (3.0) |
4.9 (3.4) |
5.0 (3.6) |
|
| |
|