North Pacific Temperate Rainforests

The North Pacific temperate rainforest, stretching from southern Alaska to northern California, is the largest temperate rainforest on earth. This book provides a multidisciplinary overview of key issues important for the management and conservation of the northern portion of this rainforest, located in northern British Columbia and southeastern Alaska.

This region encompasses thousands of islands and millions of acres of relatively pristine rainforest, providing an opportunity to compare the ecological functioning of a largely intact forest ecosystem with the highly modified ecosystems that typify most of the world's temperate zone. The book examines the basic processes that drive the dynamic behavior of such ecosystems and considers how managers can use that knowledge to sustainably manage the rainforest and balance ecosystem integrity with human use. Together, the contributors offer a broad understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by scientists, managers, and conservationists in the northern portion of the North Pacific rainforest that will be of interest to conservation practitioners seeking to balance economic sustainability and biodiversity conservation across the globe.

Gordon Orians is professor emeritus of biology at the University of Washington. John Schoen is a senior science advisor at Audubon Alaska. Other contributors include Paul Alaback, Bill Beese, Frances Biles, Todd Brinkman, Joe Cook, Lisa Crone, Dave D'Amore, Rick Edwards, Jerry Franklin, Ken Lertzman, Stephen MacDonald, Andy MacKinnon, Bruce Marcot, Joe Mehrkens, Eric Norberg, Gregory Nowacki, Dave Person, and Sari Saunders.

Preface and Acknowledgments / Gordon Orians and John Schoen

1. Introduction / Gordon H. Orians, John W. Schoen, Jerry F. Franklin, and Andy MacKinnon

2. Island Life: Coming to Grips with the Insular Nature of Southeast Alaska and Adjoining Coastal British

Columbia / Joseph A. Cook and Stephen O. MacDonald

3. Riparian Ecology, Climate Change, and Management in North Pacific Coastal Rainforests / Rick T. Edwards, David V. D'Amore, Erik Norberg, and Frances Biles

4. Natural Disturbance Patterns in the Temperate Rainforests of Southeast Alaska and Adjacent British Columbia / Paul Alaback, Gregory Nowacki, and Sari Saunders

5. Indigenous and Commercial Uses of the Natural Resources of the North Pacific Rainforest with a Focus on Southeast Alaska and Haida Gwaii / Lisa K. Crone and Joe R. Mehrkens

Photo Gallery

6. Succession Debt and Roads: Short- and Long-Term Effects of Timber Harvest on a Large-Mammal Predator-Prey Community in Southeast Alaska / David K. Person and Todd J. Brinkman

7. Concepts of Conservation Biology Applied to Wildlife in Old-Forest Ecosystems, with Special Reference to Southeast Alaska and Northern Coastal British Columbia / Bruce G. Marcot

8. Why Watersheds: Evaluating the Protection of Undeveloped Watersheds as a Conservation Strategy in Northwestern North America / Ken Lertzman and Andy MacKinnon

9. Variable Retention Harvesting in North Pacific Temperate Rainforests / William J. Beese

10. Synthesis / Gordon H. Orians, John W. Schoen, Jerry F. Franklin, and Andy MacKinnon

Literature Cited

Author Biographies

Index