baumzaehlen - Primeval Forests & Their Trees

Parts of the park area (3874 km²) have been logged before the creation of the park, but there are unlogged wilderness areas in the northern part. The park is located between altitudes 488–732 m. Lying south of the Canadian Shield, it is covered by thick glacial till sediments¹; bare rock can scarcely be seen anywhere. Annual precipitation is approx. 450 mm with a summer maximum and average annual temperature approx. 0°C ¹.

Before 1890, the fire cycle in the northern part was as short as 15 years. Then it became longer and since 1945 there have been practically no fires; the change may derive from fire suppression or from climate change. Fires were usually stand-replacing. The largest known fire burned approx. 2000 km² within the park in 1890. Since 1765, the entire park has burned at least once. 7 % of the northern part of the park has been fire free since 1845, and 45 % since 1895.²

Tree species diversity is low and the species are easy to identify. In gently sloping North American boreal forest landscapes, long fire-free periods allow so much organic matter to accumulate that succession is often towards low boggy Picea mariana (black spruce) forest or even true bogs and fens³. Picea glauca (white spruce) and Abies balsamea (balsam fir) are more shade-tolerant than P. mariana³, but the latter tolerates better the difficult conditions of boggy forest⁴. In addition to P. mariana, old forests contain P. glauca, Populus tremuloides (quaking aspen), Populus balsamifera (balsam poplar) and Pinus banksiana (jack pine). There is dense A. balsamea regeneration in places but mature A. balsamea is a very rare sight. In the absence of fires, the proportion of A. balsamea will probably increase; it is the most shade-tolerant and regenerates most successfully on undisturbed humus but it is fire-sensitive⁵. Larix laricina (tamarack larch) grows on bogs in addition to P. mariana. The tallest tree species is P. glauca, which can attain 35 metres. Of the broadleaf trees, P. tremuloides is the tallest with maximum height of about 30 metres.

There are no marked hiking trails in the northern wilderness of the park. Off-trail hiking is not easy: in more lush forests there is often dense A. balsamea regeneration, in old P. mariana forests there are half-fallen trees tumbled everywhere, and much of the area is boggy. Camping outside the designated places is allowed further than two kilometres from any public highway or designated campground with the exception of some popular big lakes.

References:

1       Acton, D. F., Padbury, G. A. & Stushnoff, C. T. (1998): The Ecoregions of Saskatchewan. Canadian Plains Research Center.

2       Weir, J. M. H., Johnson, E. A. & Miyanishi, K. (2000): Fire frequency and the spatial age mosaic of the mixed-wood boreal forest in western Canada. Ecological Applications 10(4), 1162-1177.

3       Heinselman, M. L. (1981): Fire and Succession in the Conifer Forests of Northern North America. In West, D. C., Shugart, H. H. & Botkin, D. B. (eds.): Forest Succession. Concepts and Application. Springer.

4       Henry, J. D. (2002): Canada’s Boreal Forest. Smithsonian.

5       Thorpe, J. P. (1992): Patterns of diversity in the boreal forest. In Kelty, M. J. (ed.): The Ecology and Silviculture of Mixed-Species Forests. Kluwer.

Official site:

http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/sk/princealbert/index.aspx

Video clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbMMnTicPsY