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Spiritual but not religious
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"Spiritual but not religious" (SBNR) also known as "Spiritual but not affiliated" (SBNA) is a popular phrase and initialism used to self-identify a life stance of spirituality that takes issue with organized religion as the sole or most valuable means of furthering spiritual growth. Historically, the words religious and spiritual have been used synonymously to describe all the various aspects of the concept of religion,[1] but in contemporary usage spirituality has often been associated with the interior life of the individual,[2][1] placing an emphasis upon the well-being of the "mind-body-spirit",[3]:63while religion refers to organizational or communal dimensions.[1]
Contents
[hide]
1 Origins and demography
2 Characteristics of SBNR
2.1 Anti-institutional and personal
2.2 Categorization of SBNRs
2.3 Practices
3 Criticism
4 See also
5 Notes
6 References
7 Sources
Origins and demography[edit]
Historically, the words religious and spiritual have been used synonymously to describe all the various aspects of the concept of religion.[1] However, religion is a highly contested term with scholars such as Russell McCutcheon arguing that the term "religion" is used as a way to name a "seemingly distinct domain of diverse items of human activity and production".[4] The field of Religious Studies cannot even agree on one definition for religion and since spirituality overlaps with it in many ways it is difficult to reach a consensus for a definition for spirituality as well.[5][note 1]
Although the specific expression was used in one scholarly, anthropological paper back in 1960,[6] SBNR as a movement in America was first named and delineated by author Sven Erlandson in his 2000 book "Spiritual but not Religious".[7][8][9] The phenomenon possibly started to emerge as a result of a new Romantic movement that began in the 1960s, whereas the relationship between the two has been remotely linked to William James' definition of religious experience, which he defines as the "feelings, acts and experiences of individual their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine."[10] Romantic movements tend to lean away from traditional religion and resemble spiritual movements in their endorsement of mystical, unorthodox, and exotic ways.[11] Owen Thomas also states that the ambiguity and lack of structure present in Romantic movements are also present within spiritual movements.
According to a study conducted by Pew Research Center in 2012, the number of Americans who do not identify with any religion has increased from 15% in 2007 to 20% in 2012, and this number continues to grow. One fifth of the US public and a third of adults under the age of 30 are reportedly unaffiliated with any religion, however they identify as being spiritual in some way. Of these religiously unaffiliated Americans, 37% classify themselves as spiritual but not religious, while 68% say they do believe in God, and 58% feel a deep connection to the Earth.[12]
Increased popular and scholarly attention to "spirituality" has been related by scholars like Pargament to sociocultural trends towards deinstitutionalization, individualization, and globalization.[13]
Generational replacement has been understood as a significant factor of the growth of religiously unaffiliated individuals. Significant differences were found between the percentage of those considered younger Millennials (born 1990–1994) as compared with Generation Xers (born 1965–1980), with 34% and 21% reporting to be religiously unaffiliated, respectively.[12]
Demographically, research has found that the religiously unaffiliated population is younger, predominately male, and 35% are between the ages of 18 and 29. Conversely, only 8% of religiously unaffiliated individuals are 65 and older. Among those unaffiliated with organized religion as a whole, 56% are men and 44% are women.[12]
Another possible explanation for the emergence of SBNR is its linguistic. Owen Thomas highlights the fact that spirituality movements tend to be localized to English and North American cultures. The meaning of the term "spirit" is more narrow in English than that of other languages, referring to all of the uniquely human capacities and cultural functions.[14]
Yet, according to Siobhan Chandler, to appreciate the "god within" is not a twentieth century notion with its roots in 1960s counter culture or 1980s New Age, but spirituality is a concept that has pervaded all of history.[15]
Characteristics of SBNR[edit]
Anti-institutional and personal[edit]
According to Abby Day, some of those who are critical of religion see it as rigid and pushy, leading them to use terms such as atheist, agnostic to describe themselves.[16] For many people, SBNR is not just about rejecting religion outright, but not wanting to be restricted by it.[16]
According to Linda Mercadante, SBNRs take a decidedly anti-dogmatic stance against religious belief in general. They claim not only that belief is non-essential, but that it is potentially harmful or at least a hindrance to spirituality.[1]
According to Philip D. Kenneson, many of those studied who identify as SBNR feel a tension between their personal spirituality and membership in a conventional religious organization. Most of them value curiosity, intellectual freedom, and an experimental approach to religion. Many go as far to view organized religion as the major enemy of authentic spirituality, claiming that spirituality is private reflection and private experience—not public ritual.[17] To be "religious" conveys an institutional connotation, usually associated with Abrahamic traditions: to attend worship services, to say Mass, to light Hanukkah candles. To be "spiritual," in contrast, connotes personal practice and personal empowerment having to do with the deepest motivations of life.[17] As a result, in cultures that are deeply suspicious of institutional structures and that place a high value on individual freedom and autonomy, spirituality has come to have largely positive connotations, while religion has been viewed more negatively.[17]
According to Robert Fuller, the SBNR phenomenon can be characterized as a mix of intellectual progressivism and mystical hunger, impatient with the piety of established churches.[18]
According to Robert Wuthnow, spirituality is about much more than going to church and agreeing or disagreeing with church doctrines. Spirituality is the shorthand term used in Western society to talk about a person's relationship with God.[19] For many people, how they think about religion and spirituality is certainly guided by what they see and do in their congregations.[19] At a deeper level, it involves a person's self-identity—feeling loved by God, and these feelings can wax and wane.[19]
Categorization of SBNRs[edit]
Linda A. Mercadante categorizes SBNRs into five distinct categories:[20]
"Dissenters" are the people who, for the most part, make a conscious effort to veer away from institutional religion. "Protesting dissenters" refers to those SBNRs who have been 'turned off' religious affiliation because of adverse personal experiences with it. "Drifted Dissenters" refers to those SBNRs who, for a multitude of reasons, fell out of touch with organized religion and chose never to go back. "Conscientious objector dissenters" refers to those SBNRs who are overtly skeptical of religious institutions and are of the view that religion is neither a useful nor necessary part of an individual's spirituality.
"Casuals" are the people who see religious and/or spiritual practices as primarily functional. Spirituality is not an organizing principle in their lives. Rather they believe it should be used on an as-needed basis for bettering their health, relieving stress, and for emotional support. The spirituality of "Casuals" is thus best understood as a "therapeutic" spirituality that centers on the individual's personal wellbeing.
"Explorers" are the people who seem to have what Mercandante refers to as a "spiritual wanderlust". These SBNRs find their constant search for novel spiritual practices to be a byproduct of their "unsatisfied curiosity", their desire for journey and change, as well as feelings of disappointment. Explorers are best understood as "spiritual tourists" who take comfort in the destination-less journey of their spirituality and have no intentions of ultimately committing to a spiritual home.
"Seekers" are those people who are looking for a spiritual home but contemplate recovering earlier religious identities. These SBNRs embrace the "spiritual but not religious" label and are eager to find a completely new religious identity or alternative spiritual group that they can ultimately commit to.
"Immigrants" are those people who have found themselves in a novel spiritual realm and are trying to adjust themselves to this newfound identity and its community. "Immigrants" can be best understood as those SBNRs who are "trying on" a radically new spiritual environment but have yet to feel completely settled there. It is important to note that for these SBNRs, although they are hoping to become fully integrated in their newfound spiritual identities, the process of acclimation is difficult and often disconcerting.
Practices[edit]
See also: Spirituality and New Age
SBNR is related to feminist spiritual and religious thought and ecological spiritualities,[21] and also to Neo-Paganism, Wicca, Shamanic, Druidic, Gaian and ceremonial magic practices.[21] Some New Age spiritual practices include astrology, Ouija boards, Tarot cards, the I Ching, and science fiction.[21] A common practice of SBNRs is meditation, such as mindfulness and Transcendental Meditation.[21]
Criticism[edit]
Some representatives of organized religion have criticized the practice of spirituality without religiosity. Lillian Daniel, a liberal Protestant minister, has characterized the SBNR worldview as a product of secular American consumer culture, far removed from community and "right smack in the bland majority of people who find ancient religions dull but find themselves uniquely fascinating".[22] James Martin, a Jesuit priest, has called the SBNR lifestyle "plain old laziness",[23] stating that "spirituality without religion can become a self-centered complacency divorced from the wisdom of a community".[24]
Other critics[who?] contend that within the "Spiritual but not Religious" worldview, self-knowledge and self-growth have been problematically equated with knowledge of God, directing a person's focus inward. As a result, the political, economic, and social forces that shape the world are neglected and left untended.[25] Further, some scholars[who?] have noted the relative spiritual superficiality of particular SBNR practices. Classical mysticism within the world's major religions requires sustained dedication, often in the form of prolonged asceticism, extended devotion to prayer, and the cultivation of humility. In contrast, SBNRs in the Western world are encouraged[by whom?] to dabble in spiritual practices in a way that is often casual and lacking in rigor or any reorganization of priorities. Sociologist Robert Wuthnow suggests that these forms of mysticism are "shallow and inauthentic".[26] Other critics[who?] take issue with the intellectual legitimacy of SBNR scholarship. When contrasted with professional or academic theology, spiritual philosophies can appear unpolished, disjointed, or inconsistently sourced.[27]
Wong and Vinsky challenge SBNR discourse that posits religion as "institutional and structured" in contrast to spirituality as "inclusive and universal" (1346).[28] They argue that this understanding makes invisible the historical construction of "spirituality", which currently relies on a rejection of EuroChristianity for its own self-definition. According to them, Western discourses of "spirituality" appropriate indigenous spiritual traditions and "ethnic" traditions of the East, yet racialized ethnic groups are more likely to be labeled "religious" than "spiritual" by white SBNR practitioners.[28] Wong and Vinsky assert that through these processes, colonial othering is enacted through SBNR discourse.
See also[edit]
Perennial philosophy
Deism
Ietsism
Moralistic therapeutic deism
Non-overlapping magisteria
Spiritual naturalism
Secular spirituality
Ecospirituality
Agnosticism
Non-denominational
Notes[edit]
Jump up ^ According to Linda Mercandante, the concept of religion is a social construct, since in other eras, religion, culture, and even national identity were often inseparable. And as for spirituality, this is an old concept with a new usage.[1] Previous to today’s era, what people today call spirituality was often called piety.[1] Mercadante sees religion as a complex adaptive network of myths, symbols, rituals and concepts that simultaneously figure patterns of feeling, thinking, and acting and disrupt stable structures of meaning and purpose.[1] When understood in that way, religion not only involves ideas and practices that are manifestly religious but also includes a broad range of cultural phenomena not ordinarily associated with religion.[1] Many people use spirituality to refer to their interior life of faith and religion to mean the necessary communal and/or organizational part.[1] Mercadante sees both spirituality and religion as consisting of four basic components: beliefs, desire, rituals, and behavioural expectations, but across the field of Religious Studies the definitions vary.[1]
References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k Mercandante 2014.
Jump up ^ Carette and King, Selling Spirituality, 41.
Jump up ^ Paul Heelas (21 January 2009). Spiritualities of Life: New Age Romanticism and Consumptive Capitalism. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-4443-0111-3.
Jump up ^ McCutcheon, Russell T. (2010-12-01). "Will Your Cognitive Anchor Hold in the Storms of Culture?". Journal of the American Academy of Religion. 78 (4): 1182–1193. doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfq085. ISSN 0002-7189.
Jump up ^ SBNRnoxpub.com/2012/12/critical-theory-and-the-importance-of-religious-studies/ "Critical Theory and the Importance of Religious Studies" Check |url= value (help). Bulletin for the Study of Religion. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
Jump up ^ Publications in Anthropology, 1960.
Jump up ^ Erlandson, Sven (2000). Spiritual but Not Religious: A Call to Religious Revolution in America. Bloomington: iUniverse. ISBN 059501108X.
Jump up ^ https://www.tst.edu/about/spiritual-not-religious
Jump up ^ http://reflectorgsu.com/spiritual-but-not-religious-the-movement/
Jump up ^ Kenneson, Philip D. (July 2015). "What's in a Name? A Brief Introduction to the "Spiritual But Not Religious"". Liturgy. 30 (3): 8.
Jump up ^ Thomas, Owen (January 2006). "Spiritual but Not Religious: The Influence of the Current Romantic Movement". Anglican Theological Review. 88 (3): 397.
^ Jump up to: a b c Funk, Cary; Smith, Greg. ""Nones" on the Rise: One-in-Five Adults Have No Religious Affiliation" (PDF). pewforum.org. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
Jump up ^ Marler, Penny Long; Hadaway, C. Kirk (June 2002). ""Being Religious" or "Being Spiritual" in America: A Zero Sum Proposition?". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 41 (2). doi:10.1111/1468-5906.00117.
Jump up ^ Thomas, Owen (January 2006). "Spiritual but Not Religious: The Influence of the Current Romantic Movement". Anglican Theological Review. 88 (3): 398.
Jump up ^ Chandler 2013.
^ Jump up to: a b Day, Abby, ed. (2013). Social identities between the sacred and the secular (New edition. ed.). Burlington: Ashgate. ISBN 978-1-4094-5677-3.
^ Jump up to: a b c Kenneson 2015, p. 5.
Jump up ^ Fuller, Robert C. (2001). Spiritual, but not religious: Understanding unchurched America ([Nachdr.] ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 12. ISBN 0195146808.
^ Jump up to: a b c Wuthnow 2007.
Jump up ^ Mercadante 2014, p. 35-67.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Fuller 2001, p. 76-100.
Jump up ^ "Why Christians need the church: An interview with Lillian Daniel". On Faith & Culture. Retrieved 2015-11-09.
Jump up ^ "Are there dangers in being 'spiritual but not religious'?". CNN.com. 2010-06-09.
Jump up ^ Martin, James (2010-03-11). "Spiritual but not religious - Not so fast!: Making the case for moving beyond your own personal God". Busted Halo: an online magazine for spiritual seekers. Retrieved 2010-09-19. Spirituality without religion can become a self-centered complacency divorced from the wisdom of a community.
Jump up ^ Fuller, Robert (2001). Spiritual, but Not Religious: Understanding Unchurched America. New York: Oxford. pp. 158–159.
Jump up ^ Fuller, Robert (2001). Spiritual, but Not Religious: Understanding Unchurched America. New York: Oxford. p. 160.
Jump up ^ Fuller, Robert (2001). Spiritual, but Not Religious: Understanding Unchurched America. New York: Oxford. p. 161.
^ Jump up to: a b Wong, Yuk-Lin Renita; Vinsky, Jana (2009). "Speaking from the Margins: A Critical Reflection on the 'Spiritual-but-not-Religious' Discourse in Social Work". British Journal of Social Work: 1352–1354.
Sources[edit]
Chandler, Siobhan (2013), "The Way of the Spiritual Seeker", in Bryant, M. Darrol, Ways of the Spirit: Celebrating Dialogue, Diversity and Spirituality, Pandora Press
Fuller, Robert C. (2001), "Exotic Messages, Familiar Themes." Spiritual, but Not Religious: Understanding Unchurched America, Oxford University Press
Kenneson, Philip D. (2015), "What's in a Name? A Brief Introduction to the "Spiritual But Not Religious"", Liturgy, 12 May 2015, volume 30, issue 3, doi:10.1080/0458063X.2015.1019259
Mercandante, Linda A. (2014), Belief without borders: inside the minds of the spiritual but not religious, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0199931003
Wuthnow, Robert (2007), After the baby boomers how twenty- and thirty-somethings are shaping the future of American religion, Princeton: Princeton University Press, ISBN 9781400831227
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text:
Boreal forest of Canada
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Jump to: navigation, search
Boreal Forests occur in the more southern parts of the Taiga ecoregion that spreads across the northern parts of the world.
Distribution of taiga and boreal forests in North America (dark blue area in Canada and Alaska).
The Taiga Biome extends in a broad band across North America, Europe, and Asia.
Canada's Boreal forest comprises about one third of the circumpolar boreal forest that rings the Northern Hemisphere, mostly north of the 50th parallel.[1] Other countries with boreal forest, also called taiga, include Russia, which contains the majority, the United States in its northernmost state of Alaska, and the Scandinavian or Northern European countries (e.g. Sweden, Finland, Norway and small regions of Scotland). The boreal region in Canada covers almost 60% of the country’s land area.[2] The Canadian boreal region spans the landscape from the most easterly part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador to the border between the far northern Yukon and Alaska. The area is dominated by coniferous forests, particularly spruce, interspersed with vast wetlands, mostly bogs and fens. The boreal region of Canada includes eight ecozones. While the biodiversity of regions varies, each ecozone has a characteristic native flora and fauna.[3]
The boreal forest zone consists of closed-crown conifer forests with a conspicuous deciduous element (Ritchie 1987).[4] The proportions of the dominant conifers (white and black spruces, jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.), tamarack, and balsam fir) vary greatly in response to interactions among climate,[5] topography, soil, fire, pests, and perhaps other factors.
The Canadian boreal region represents a tract of land over 1,000 kilometres wide separating the tundra in the north and temperate rain forest and deciduous woodlands that predominate in the most southerly and westerly parts of Canada. Canada's boreal forest is also considered to be the largest intact forest on earth, with around 3 million square kilometres still undisturbed by roads, cities and industrial development.[6] Its high level of intactness has made the forest a particular focus of environmentalists and conservation scientists who view the untouched regions of the forest as an opportunity for large-scale conservation that would otherwise be impractical in other parts of the world.
The boreal region contains about 14% of Canada’s population. With its sheer vastness and forest cover, the boreal makes an important contribution to the rural and aboriginal economies of Canada, primarily through resource industries, recreation, hunting, fishing and eco-tourism. Hundreds of cities and towns within its territory derive at least 20% of their economic activity from the forest, mainly from industries like forest products, mining, oil and gas and tourism.[7] The boreal forest also plays an iconic role in Canada’s history, economic and social development and the arts.[8]
Contents
[hide]
1 Overview
1.1 General forest ecology
1.2 Ecosystems
1.3 Forest species
1.4 Inland water and wetlands
1.5 Deforestation
1.6 Wildlife
2 Boreal life cycles
2.1 Natural regeneration
2.2 Fire effects
3 Economic activities
3.1 Region-wide planning
3.2 Land ownership
3.3 Industrial activity
3.4 Aboriginal participation
3.5 Sustainable development
3.6 Certification for sustainable forest management
4 Protection
5 Boreal in culture and popular imagination
6 See also
7 References
8 Citations
9 External links
Overview[edit]
General forest ecology[edit]
The Canadian boreal forest in its current form began to emerge with the end of the last Ice Age. With the retreat of the Wisconsin Ice Sheet 10,000 years ago, spruce and northern pine migrated northward and were followed thousands of years later by fir and birch.[9] About 5000 years ago, the Canadian boreal began to resemble what it is today in terms of species composition and biodiversity. This type of coniferous forest vegetation is spread across the Northern Hemisphere. These forests contain three structural types: forest tundra in the north, open lichen woodland further south, and closed forest in more southern areas.[10] White spruce, black spruce and tamarack are most prevalent in the four northern eco-zones of the Taiga and Hudson Plains, while spruce, balsam fir, jack pine, white birch and trembling aspen are most common in the lower boreal regions. Large populations of trembling aspen and willow are found in the southernmost parts of the Boreal Plains.[11]
One dominant characteristic of the boreal is that much of it consists of large, even-aged stands, a uniformity that owes to a cycle of natural disturbances like forest fires, or outbreaks of pine beetle or spruce budworm that kill large tracts of forest with cyclical regularity.[10][12] For example, the many stands of white spruce, black spruce, and balsam fir are vulnerable to the cyclical outbreaks of a species of the spruce budworm, the Choristoneura fumiferana.[13][14] Since the melting of the great ice sheet, the boreal forest has been through many cycles of natural death through fire, insect outbreaks and disease, followed by regeneration. Prior to European colonization of Canada and the application of modern firefighting equipment and techniques, the natural burn/regeneration cycle was less than 75 to 100 years, and it still is in many areas.[15]
Terms like old growth and ancient forest have a different connotation in the boreal context than they do when used to describe mature coastal rain forests with longer-lived species and different natural disturbance cycles. However, the effects of forest fires and insect outbreaks differ from the effects of logging, so they should not be treated as equivalent in their ecological consequences. Logging, for example, requires road networks with their negative impacts,[16] and it removes nutrients from the site, which may deplete nutrients for the next cycle of forest growth.[10] Fire, on the other hand, recycles nutrients on location (except for some nitrogen), it removes accumulated organic matter and it stimulates reproduction of fire-dependent species.[17][18]
Ecosystems[edit]
Typical upland taiga in Quebec
Canada's boreal region can be divided into eight ecozones. These eight can be divided into two main groups. The northern regions of the boreal forest consists of four eco-zones – Taiga Cordillera, Taiga Plains, Taiga Shield and Hudson Plains – that are the most thinly treed areas where the growing season and average tree size progressively shrinks until the edge of the Arctic tundra is reached.[19] The southern tier of the boreal meanwhile consists of three other ecozones that form the largely uninterrupted or continuous forest in stretching as far south as Lake Superior in Ontario (as the Central Canadian Shield forests ecoregion) and the Manitoba-North Dakota border. These three southern zones are the Boreal Shield, at 1,630,000 square kilometres the largest of the eight zones, the Boreal Plains and Boreal Cordillera.[20] A typical ecoregion of this southern tier would be the Eastern Canadian Shield taiga that covers northern Quebec and most of Labrador. Finally the eighth zone is the balsam fir Abies balsamea forest that covers the higher elevations of the Laurentian Mountains and the northern Appalachian Mountains in eastern Quebec (especially the Gaspé Peninsula), on the island of Newfoundland, in the highlands of New Brunswick, and the Cape Breton Highlands on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.[21][22] Within the boreal region, there are about 1,890,000 square kilometres that are between 80% to 100% forested and another 650,000 square kilometres with 60% to 80% forest cover.[21]
Forest species[edit]
The Calypso orchid grows in the shade of boreal forest.
Most trees native to the Canadian boreal are conifers, with needle leaves and cones. These include: black spruce, white spruce, balsam fir, larch (tamarack), lodgepole pine, and jack pine. A few are broad-leaved species: trembling and large-toothed aspen, cottonwood and white birch, and balsam poplar.[23] There are large areas of black spruce, a species which is tolerant of shallow soil, permafrost and waterlogged substrates, although as a consequence they have relatively low biological productivity.[24] Owing to the short growing season, generally infertile soils, generally shallow soils, and frequent waterlogging, most of these forest types are slow-growing species, which generally tend to predominate in stressed habitats.[25] Similarly, many of the understory shrubs are in the Ericaceae, a family known to tolerate acid, infertile and flooded habitats: examples include Labrador tea, sheep-laurel and blueberry. Since nutrient levels are so low, overall, the productivity of forest trees is highly dependent on the rate at which mineral elements such as nitrogen and phosphorus are recycled by litterfall and decomposition.[10] After logging, the loss of nutrients may convert forested areas into shrub barrens dominated by shrubs such as sheep-laurel.[26] Many of the plant species are fire-dependent, since fire removes neighbouring plants, and recycles nutrients locked in organic matter.
Although there are rather few species of trees in the boreal forest, there is a considerable diversity of other kinds of plants. An accurate summary is difficult, since most compendia on plants are organized by political, rather than ecological boundaries; one exception addresses the flora of the Hudson Bay Lowland,[27] but much of this area is not forested. One portion of the boreal forest can be used to illustrate plant diversity; consider the Flora of the Yukon.[28] In this western part of the boreal forest, there are, for example 127 species of grass (Poaceae), 118 species of Asteraceae, 115 species of sedge (Cyperaceae), 93 species of crucifer (Brassicaceae), 52 species of Rosaceae, 37 species of Saxifragaceae and 36 members of the snapdragon family (Scrophulariaceae). Overall, the flora has 1112 species—there are even 15 species of orchids.
A Sphagnum bog with spruce trees on a forested ridge in the background
Inland water and wetlands[edit]
Canada’s boreal landscape contains more lakes and rivers than any comparably sized landmass on earth. It has been estimated that the boreal region contains over 1.5 million lakes with a minimum surface area of 40,000 square metres as well as some of Canada’s largest lakes. Soft water lakes predominate in central and eastern Canada and hard water lakes predominate in Western Canada. Most large boreal lakes have cold water species of fish like trout and whitefish, while in warmer waters, species may include northern pike, walleye and smallmouth bass.[29]
The boreal forest also has vast areas of wetland, particularly bogs and fens.[30] Two wetland areas, the Hudson Bay Lowland and the Mackenzie River basin, are among the ten largest wetlands in the world.[31] The boreal forest wetlands provide wildlife habitat (particularly for migratory birds), they maintain water flow in rivers, and they store significant amounts of carbon that otherwise would be released to the atmosphere.[32]
Deforestation[edit]
Sheep laurel grows in clearings and shallow soils. It can form extensive shrub barrens after logging.
In contemporary times, the boreal forest has suffered little deforestation, defined as the permanent conversion of forest area to non-forest due to activities associated with agriculture, urban or recreational development, oil and gas development, and flooding for hydroelectric projects. In Alberta, the province with the largest oil and gas industry, more trees are cut for agriculture or oil and gas exploration than for timber.[33] In eastern Canada, over 9,000 square kilometres of peatlands and forest have been flooded over the past four decades for hydroelectric projects. Canada as a whole has 91% of the forest cover that existed at the dawn of European settlement. More deforestation has occurred outside the boreal region, in more southerly areas of the country.[33] The forest sector annually harvests approximately ½ of 1% of the region. However, this is not considered deforestation by some, given that provincial laws are meant to ensure that areas harvested by the forest sector are replanted or regenerated naturally.[33] However, the resulting road network from logging has effects that persist long beyond the period of harvest; indeed, one can make the case that road construction is one of the most harmful and persistent effects of logging.[16]
The Canada warbler nests on the ground in boreal forests.
Wildlife[edit]
There may be as many as five billion landbirds, including resident and migratory species. The Canadian boreal region contains the largest area of wetlands of any ecosystem of the world, serving as breeding ground for over 12 million waterbirds and millions of land birds, the latter including species as diverse as vultures, hawks, grouse, owls, hummingbirds, kingfishers, woodpeckers and passerines (or perching birds, often referred to as songbirds).[34] It is estimated that the avian population of the boreal represents 60% of the landbirds in all of Canada and almost 30% of all landbirds in the United States and Canada combined.[35]
Many of the wildlife species, are, like the forests, dependent upon natural disturbance from fire and insect outbreaks. For example, at least three species of warbler (Cape May warbler, bay-breasted warbler and Tennessee warbler), have distributions and abundance related to spruce budworm outbreaks.[36] The black-backed woodpecker shows a preference for burnt over forests, where it forages for insects burrowing in the dead trees that remain standing.[37] Fireweed, as the name suggests, is a plant that similar thrives in recently burned areas. Blueberries and huckleberries are also stimulated by fires, probably benefiting from the removal of shade, and the nutrients released in ashes. The resulting berries are an important food source for boreal forest animals.
Few species of boreal wildlife are classified under government conservation regimes as being at risk of extinction. However, the decline of some major species of wildlife is a concern. Boreal woodland caribou, whose lichen-rich, mature forest habitat spans the boreal forest from the Northwest Territories to Labrador, is designated as a threatened by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.[38][39] The Newfoundland population of marten is threatened by habitat loss, accidental trapping and prey availability.[40]
Boreal life cycles[edit]
Natural regeneration[edit]
The particular mixture of tree species depends upon factors including soil moisture, soil depth, and organic content. Upland forests can be closely mixed with forested peatlands. The resulting conifer forests are produced by and dependent upon recurring disturbance from storms, fires, floods and insect outbreaks. Owing to the accumulated peat in the soil, and the predominance of coniferous trees, lightning-caused fire has always been a natural part of this forest. It is one of many ecosystems that depend upon such recurring natural disturbance.[41] For example, fire dependent species like lodgepole and jack pine have resin sealed cones. In a fire, the resin melts and the cones to open, allowing seeds to scatter so that a new pine forest begins (see also fire ecology). It has been estimated that prior to European settlement, this renewal process occurred on average every 75 to 100 years, creating even-aged stands of forest. Fire continues to cause natural forest disturbance,[42] but fire suppression and clear-cutting has interrupted these natural cycles, leading to significant changes in species composition.[43]
Boreal vegetation never attains stability because of interactions among fire, vegetation, soil–water relationships, frost action, and permafrost (Churchill and Hanson 1958, Spurr and Barnes 1980).[44][45] Wildfires produce a vegetation mosaic supporting an ever-changing diversity of plant and animal populations (Viereck 1973).[46] In the absence of fire, the accumulation of sphagnum peat on level upland sites would eventually oust coniferous vegetation and produce muskeg.
Fire effects[edit]
Fireweed is a native wildflower that grows after forest fires.
Despite today’s sophisticated and expensive fire-spotting and fire-fighting techniques, forest fires in Canada still burn, on average, about 28,000 square kilometres of boreal and other forest area annually. That average annual burn area is equivalent to more than three times the current annual industrial timber harvest. It can be many more times that in intense fire years.[47] However, although logging also removes trees, fire is not the same as logging, since fire has been a part of coniferous forests for millennia.[25] Fire not only stimulates regeneration of many plant species, it recycles phosphorus and removes accumulated organic matter. Fire is increasingly used as a management tool to maintain forest health in some parts of North America (see fire ecology). Different parts of the boreal have different burn cycles. The drier western region, which receives lower average rainfall, had higher natural fire frequencies. Hence, more area is burned annually on average in the west than in central and eastern Canada.[48] When natural burn cycles are interrupted by fire suppression, natural renewal is obstructed and species composition is changed. In addition, fire suppression causes fuel loads to increase so that fires, when they do occur, become more intense. One can argue that fire suppression actually creates a positive feed back loop, where ever more expensive fire suppression generates the conditions for ever larger fires. The negative effects of fire suppression are still under study, and not fully measured, but they need to be considered when making decisions about the future health of boreal forests.
Economic activities[edit]
Region-wide planning[edit]
Because parts of the boreal forest region are found in nearly every province and territory in Canada, there has not been much in the way of coordinated planning to develop the region. Prime Minister Diefenbaker talked of his "northern vision"[49] but little was done to see it come to pass. A proposal was authored by Richard Rohmer in 1967 called Mid-Canada Development Corridor: A Concept and was discussed by officials and politicians but was never implemented. In 2014, John van Nostrand attempted to revive the concept.[50]
In the absence of a nationwide plan, private industry and the provinces have pursued development in particular products or certain regions. These include the Athabasca Oil Sands in Alberta, the Ring of Fire (Ontario), and Quebec's Plan nord.
Land ownership[edit]
Main article: land ownership in Canada
Forest land in Canada is largely Crown land. Over 90% of the boreal forest is provincial Crown land; another 5% is federally controlled and includes national parks, First Nations reserves and national defence installations.[51]
Industrial activity[edit]
A skidder is used to clear forest and move logs.
About 1,400 communities within the Boreal region rely on resource industries for at least part of the livelihood and stability. Many of these communities were carved out of the forest to support a sawmill, pulp and paper mill, mine or railway maintenance facility. Boreal forestry activities support almost 400,000 direct and indirect jobs across Canada. Forestry, pulp and paper, mining, and oil and gas exploration and development are the largest industries along with tourism, trapping, recreation, light manufacturing and the services to support industry and communities. The forest products sector is one of Canada’s largest export industries, representing approximately 3% of GDP, with about half of the annual wood harvest coming from the boreal forest.[52]
Roughly one quarter of the boreal forest is managed for industrial forestry. The remaining three-quarters is either in parks, conservation areas, model forests or is considered non-timber-productive, generally defined as unsuitable for managed forestry or inaccessible. As recently as 2003, it was estimated that the annual harvest in the boreal was about 7,500 square kilometres per year, equivalent to about 0.2% of the total Canadian boreal forest.[53] The sharp downturn in the market for lumber because of the collapse of the housing market in the United States that began in 2006, coupled with import tariff and tax barriers, have knocked the bottom out of Canada's forest industry. In Ontario, Canada's most populous province, where most forestry activity is in the boreal, government statistics suggest that the harvest declined 18% from 2005 to 2006.[54] Given the high number of mill closings from 2005 onward, mostly in Ontario and Quebec, it is a trend that most likely persisted through 2007 and 2008.[55] Most of Canada's conventional onshore oil and gas production, including the rapidly expanding oil sands production in Alberta, is located in the boreal region as is Canada’s largest uranium producing zone in northern Saskatchewan and Quebec’s largest hydroelectric generating facilities in the La Grande watershed.
Aboriginal participation[edit]
About eighty percent of Canada's Aboriginal population resides[when?] in forested areas – including one million in over five hundred First Nations and Métis settlements in boreal zones. Of that amount, over 17,000 work in the forest products industry, mostly in silviculture and woodlands operations in the boreal and other forest regions.[56]
Sustainable development[edit]
Since the early 1990s, a strong impetus has been created to focus on conserving Canada's boreal legacy and sustainably managing economic activity within the entire region. The Canadian boreal is largely intact and available for multiple uses like timber harvest, recreation and hunting. Forestry companies have come to adopt the management practices known as eco-system based management, which takes into consideration criteria and indicators for sustainability – social, economic and environmental. A number of key principles have come to underpin Canadian forestry practices as mandated by forestry legislation, including the obligation for forestry companies operating on public lands to fully regenerate all areas harvested for timber and to consult the public on the preparation of forest management/harvest plans submitted to the relevant provincial authorities.
Certification for sustainable forest management[edit]
As a result of growing public concern with sustainable development and conserving the integrity of the boreal forests, conservation initiatives are progressing on various fronts. The area in national and provincial parks and protected conservation areas is approximately 10% of the total boreal area.[57] Most large forest products companies have certified their boreal forestry operations to one of three third-party, independently audited standards for sustainable forest management:
The Forest Stewardship Council's FSC Boreal Standard;
The Canadian standard CAN/CSA Z809;
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative.[58]
Sustainable Forest Management refers to managing a forest ecosystem in a manner that maintains and enhances its long-term health.
Protection[edit]
In July 2008 the Ontario government announced plans to protect 225,000 kilometres of the Northern Boreal lands.[59] In February 2010 the Canadian government established protection for 5,300 square miles (14,000 km2) of boreal forest by creating a new reserve of 4,100 square miles (11,000 km2) in the Mealy Mountains area of eastern Canada and a waterway provincial park of 1,200 square miles (3,100 km2) that follows alongside the Eagle River from headwaters to sea.[60] A report issued in 2011 by the Pew Environment Group described the Canadian boreal forest as the largest natural storage of freshwater in the world.[61][62]
Boreal in culture and popular imagination[edit]
The boreal forest is deeply ingrained in the Canadian identity and the images foreigners have of Canada. The history of the early European fur traders, their adventures, discoveries, aboriginal alliances and misfortunes is an essential part of the popular colonial history of Canada. The canoe, the beaver pelt, the coureur des bois, the voyageurs, the Hudson's Bay Company and the North-West Mounted Police, the construction of Canada’s transcontinental railways – all are symbols of Canadian history familiar to school children that are inextricably linked to the boreal forest.
The forest – and boreal species such as the caribou and loon – are or have been featured on Canadian currency. Another iconic and enduring image of the boreal was created by 20th-century landscape painters, most notably from the Group of Seven, who saw the uniqueness of Canada in its boreal vastness. The Group of Seven artists largely portrayed the boreal as natural, pure and unspoiled by human presence or activity and hence only partly a reflection of reality.[63]
See also[edit]
Geography of Canada portal
Environment of Canada
References[edit]
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Jump up ^ State of Canada’s Forests: 2004-2005, p. 45, Map "Canada's Boreal Forest" inside back cover
Jump up ^ Ritchie, J.C. 1987. Postglacial Vegetation of Canada. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, U.K. 178 p.
Jump up ^ "Global Warming Cited as Wildfires; Increase in Fragile Boreal Forest Scientists say the near-destruction of Fort McMurray last week by a wildfire is the latest indication that the vital boreal forest is at risk from climate change". NYT. May 10, 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
Jump up ^ Analysis produced by Global Forest Watch Canada, 2012.
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^ Jump up to: a b c d Archibold, O. W. 1995. Ecology of World Vegetation. London: Chapman and Hall.
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Jump up ^ Ludwig, D., D. D. Jones, and C. S. Holling. 1978. Qualitative analysis of insect outbreak systems: the spruce budworm and forest. Journal of Animal Ecology 47: 315–332.
Jump up ^ Swaine, J.M.; Craighead, F.C.; Bailey, J.W. 1924. Studies on the spruce budworm Cacoecia fumiferana Clem. Can. Dep. Agric., Ottawa ON, Tech. Bull. 37 (N.S.).
Jump up ^ Balch, R.E.; Webb, F.E.; Morris, R.F. 1954. Results of spraying against spruce budworm in New Brunswick. Can. Dep. Agric., For. Biol. Div., Ottawa ON, Bi-mo. Progr. Rep. 10(1).
Jump up ^ "The Nature of Forest Fires," State of Canada's Forests, 2003–2004, ISBN 0-662-37602-1, p. 47.
^ Jump up to: a b Forman, R. T. T., D. Sperling, J. Bissonette, A. P. Clevenger, C. D. Cutshall, V. H. Dale, L. Fahrig, R. France, C. R. Goldman, K. Heanue, J. A. Jones, F. J. Swanson, T. Turrentine, and T. C. Winter. 2002. Road Ecology: Science and Solutions. Washington: Island Press.
Jump up ^ Rowe, J. S. and G. W. Scotter. 1973. Fire in the boreal forest. Quaternary Research 3: 444–464.
Jump up ^ Heinselman, M. L. 1981. Fire and succession in the conifer forests of northern North America. pp. 374–405. In D. C. West, H.H. Shugart, and D. B. Botkin (eds.) Forest Succession: Concepts and Applications. New York: Springer-Verlag.True facterino
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^ Jump up to: a b State of Canada’s Forests: 2004-2005, Map "Canada's Boreal Region", inside back cover
Jump up ^ "Eastern Canadian forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
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Jump up ^ C. Michael Hogan. 2008. Black Spruce: Picea mariana, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg, November 2008 Archived October 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine..
^ Jump up to: a b Keddy, P.A. 2007. Plants and Vegetation: Origins, Processes, Consequences. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 666 p.
Jump up ^ Weetman, G. F. 1983. Forestry practices and stress on Canadian forest land. pp. 260–301. In W. Simpson-Lewis, R. McKechnie, and V. Neimanis (eds.) Stress on Land in Canada. Ottawa: Lands Directorate, Environment Canada.
Jump up ^ Riley, J.L. 2003. Flora of the Hudson Bay Lowland and its Postglacial Origins.NRC Research Press, Ottawa, Canada. 236 p.
Jump up ^ Cody, W.J. 1996. Flora of the Yukon Territory.NRC Research Press, Ottawa, Canada. 643 p.
Jump up ^ "Boreal fresh waters", State of Canada's Forests 2004-2005, pp. 70-71
Jump up ^ National Wetlands Working Group. 1988. Wetlands of Canada.Jesse Graham Likes to party Canada Committee on Ecological Land Classification, Environment Canada. 452 p.
Jump up ^ Fraser, L.H. and P.A. Keddy (eds.). 2005. The World's Largest Wetlands: Ecology and Conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Jump up ^ Vitt, D.H., L.A. Halsey and B.J. Nicholson. 2005. The Mackenzie River basin. Pp. 166–202 in L.H. Fraser and P.A. Keddy (eds.). The World’s Largest Wetlands: Ecology and Conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
^ Jump up to: a b c State of Canada's Forests 2004–2005, p 40
Jump up ^ "Birds in Canada's Boreal Forest: New paradigms for paradise found", State of Canada’s Forests 2005–2006, p 72
Jump up ^ Peter Blancher, "Importance of Canada’s Boreal Forest to Landbirds", Canadian Boreal Initiative and Boreal Songbird Initiative, May 2003, p. ii, "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-05-21. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
Jump up ^ Cadman, M.D., P.F.J. Eagles, and F.M. Helleiner. Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario. University of Waterloo Press, Waterloo. p. 376
Jump up ^ Cadman, M.D., P.F.J. Eagles, and F.M. Helleiner. Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario. University of Waterloo Press, Waterloo. p. 244
Jump up ^ Natural Resources Canada 2000, p. 14.
Jump up ^ Culling & Culling 2006, p. 1.
Jump up ^ “Forest Associated Species at Risk”, State of Canada’s Forests 2004-2005, pp 77-79; http://www.newfoundlandmarten.com/page.php?pid=21
Jump up ^ Keddy, P.A. 2007. Plants and Vegetation: Origins, Processes, Consequences. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 666 p.
Jump up ^ "Fire in the Forest", State of Canada's Forests, 2003-2004, p. 47
Jump up ^ Carleton, T. J. and P. MacLellan. 1994. Woody vegetation responses to fire versus clear-cutting logging: a comparative survey in the central Canadian boreal forest. Ecoscience 1: 141–152.
Jump up ^ Churchill, E.D.; Hanson, H.C. 1958. The concept of climax in arctic and alpine vegetation. Bot. Rev. 24:127–191.
Jump up ^ Spurr, S.H.; Barnes, B.V. 1980. Forest ecology, 3rd ed. Wiley, New York NY. 687 p.
Jump up ^ Viereck, L.A. 1973. Wildfire in the taiga of Alaska. Quaternary Res. 3:465–495.
Jump up ^ “Disturbances and Renewal in the Forest”, State of Canada’s Forests, 2003–2004, p. 74
Jump up ^ State of Canada’s Forests 2003–2004, p 69
Jump up ^ http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/documents/Primeministers/diefenbaker/docs-thenorthernvision.htm
Jump up ^ http://thewalrus.ca/if-we-build-it-they-will-stay/
Jump up ^ State of Canada's Forests 2004-2005, p. 49
Jump up ^ State of Canada's Forests 2004–2005, p. 57
Jump up ^ State of Canada's Forests 2004–2005, p. 48
Jump up ^ Natural Resources Canada, statistical data, http://canadaforests.nrcan.gc.ca/statsprofile
Jump up ^ "Mill Closures and Mill Investments in the Canadian Forest Sector", State of Canada’s Forests, 2005–2006, pp 46–55.
Jump up ^ "Aboriginal Partnerships in the Forest", State, The State of Canada's Forests, 2007, National Resources Canada, ISBN 978-0-662-46538-6, p. 21; Canadian Boreal Initiative, Borealcanada.ca/boreal-did-you-know-e.php; "Aboriginal Issues in Canada's Boreal Forest", Summary, National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy.
Jump up ^ "Sustainable Forest Management in Canada", State of Canada's Forests, 2007, p. 6
Jump up ^ Canadian Sustainable Forestry Certification Coalition - Coalition canadienne pour la certification de la foresterie durable
Jump up ^ "Protecting a Northern Boreal region one-and-a-half times the size of the Maritimes". Office of the Premier. 2008-07-14. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
Jump up ^ Braun, David (February 7, 2010). "Boreal landscapes added to Canada's parks Boreal landscapes added to Canada's parks". NatGeo News Watch: News Editor David Braun's Eye on the World. National Geographic Society. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
Jump up ^ Pew Environment Group. A Forest of Blue: Canada's Boreal Forest. March 16, 2011
Jump up ^ Munro, Margaret (March 16, 2011). "Canada urged to protect water in boreal forests". The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
Jump up ^ “The boreal muse of the Group of Seven; Creating a national identity from a palette of boreal colours”, Canadian Geographic, Jan/Feb 2004, "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-02-21. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
Citations[edit]
Culling, Diane E.; Culling, Brad A. (May 2006), Ecology and seasonal habitat selection of boreal caribou in the Snake-Sahtaneh watershed, British Columbia: 2000 to 2004 (PDF), Fort St. John, British Columbia, archived from the original (PDF) on 21 December 2013, retrieved 19 December 2013
"State of Canada's Forests 1999-2000: Forests in the New Millennium" (PDF), Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, 2000, ISBN 0-662-29069-0, retrieved 19 December 2013
External links[edit]
Media related to Boreal forest of Canada at Wikimedia Commons
Map of Canadian Ecozones.
The Alberta Centre for Boreal Studies
Boreal Songbird Initiative
Map of world's largest wetlands.
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