Lisa J. Buse

Toward rigorous use of expert knowledge in ecological research

Practicing ecologists who excel at their work (“experts”) hold a wealth of knowledge. This knowledge offers a wide range of opportunities for application in ecological research and natural resource decision-making. While experts are often consulted ad-hoc, their contributions are not widely acknowledged. These informal applications of expert knowledge lead to concerns about a lack of transparency and repeatability, causing distrust of this knowledge source in the scientific community. Here, we address these concerns with an exploration of the diversity of expert knowledge and of rigorous methods in its use. The effective use of expert knowledge hinges on an awareness of the spectrum of experts and their expertise, which varies by breadth of perspective and critical assessment. Also, experts express their knowledge in different forms depending on the degree of contextualization with other information. Careful matching of experts to application is therefore essential and has to go beyond a simple fitting of the expert to the knowledge domain. The standards for the collection and use of expert knowledge should be as rigorous as for empirical data. This involves knowing when it is appropriate to use expert knowledge and how to identify and select suitable experts. Further, it requires a careful plan for the collection, analysis and validation of the knowledge. The knowledge held by expert practitioners is too valuable to be ignored. But only when thorough methods are applied, can the application of expert knowledge be as valid as the use of empirical data. The responsibility for the effective and rigorous use of expert knowledge lies with the researchers.

Spatial variability of stand-scale residuals in Ontario’s boreal forest fires

Knowledge of postfire residuals in boreal forest landscapes is increasingly important for ecological applications and forest management. While many studies provide useful insight, knowledge of stand-scale postfire residual occurrence and variability remains fragmented and untested as formal hypotheses. We examined the spatial variability of stand-scale postfire residuals in boreal forests and tested hypotheses of their spatial associations. Based on the literature, we hypothesized that preburn forest cover characteristics, site conditions, proximity to water and fire edge, and local fire intensity influence the spatial variability of postfire residuals. To test these hypotheses, we studied live-tree and snag residuals in 11 boreal Ontario forest fires, using 660 sample points based on high resolution photography (1:408) captured immediately after the fires. The abundance of residuals varied considerably within and among these fires, precluding attempts to generalize estimates. Based on a linear mixed-effe...

Simulation modeling of forest landscape disturbances

1. Simulation modeling of forest landscape disturbances: An overview Ajith H. Perera, Brian R. Sturtevant, and Lisa J. Buse 2. Modeling windthrow at stand and landscape scales Stephen J. Mitchell and Jean-Claude Ruel 3. Approaches to modeling landscape-scale drought-induced forest mortality Eric J. Gustafson and Douglas J. Shinneman 4. Modeling wildfire regimes in forest landscapes: Abstracting a complex reality Donald McKenzie and Ajith H. Perera 5. Modeling insect disturbance across forested landscapes: Insights from the spruce budworm Brian R. Sturtevant, Barry J. Cooke, Daniel D. Kneeshaw, and David A. MacLean 6. Individual-based modeling: Mountain pine beetle seasonal biology in response to climate Jacques Regniere, Barbara J. Bentz, Jim A. Powell, and Remi St-Amant 7. Southern pine beetle herbivory in the southern United States: Moving from external disturbance to internal process Andrew G. Birt and Robert N. Coulson 8. Exploring interactions among multiple disturbance agents in forest landscapes: Simulating effects of fire, beetles, and disease under climate change Robert E. Keane, Rachel Loehman, Jason Clark, Erica A.H. Smithwick, and Carol A. Miller 9. Simulating forest landscape disturbances as coupled human and natural systems Michael C. Wimberly, Terry L. Sohl, Zhihua Liu, and Aashis Lamsal 10. Simulating forest recovery following disturbances: Vegetation dynamics and biogeochemistry Robert M. Scheller and Mark E. Swanson 11. Simulation modeling of forest landscape disturbances: Where do we go from here? Ajith H. Perera, Brian R. Sturtevant, and Lisa J. Buse

Eliciting Expert Knowledge of Forest Succession Using an Innovative Software Tool

Professionals add a wealth of experiential knowledge to the application of scientific data and the implementation of procedures in many fields of work. In the forestry sector, expert knowledge is used in developing strategic plans for forest management, including large-scale land-use planning to manage the timber supply (OMNR 2010), or for conservation planning (McNay et al. 2005, 2006). Tactical applications of expert knowledge in forestry include landscape mapping (Walton and Meidinger 2006) and forest management operations (Willoughby and Thomson 2004; Bone et al. 2007). Despite the common use of expert knowledge in forestry applications, this use is neither formal nor rigorous, and the knowledge is often implicit and latent, with unknown characteristics and reliability.

Synthesis: What Are the Lessons for Landscape Ecologists?

The main goal of this book was to create an awareness of the need for knowledge transfer among forest landscape ecologists. To that end, we considered aspects of knowledge transfer and extension in general, critically examined the aspects of transfer that are unique to forest landscape ecology, and highlighted several examples of successful landscape ecological knowledge transfer. In the preceding chapters, we have explored various facets of the application of landscape ecology in forest policy and management from a North American perspective. In this chapter, we summarize the main messages contained in the book.