Key issues in disturbance dynamics in boreal forests: introduction

In 1989, when the idea of this workshop first seeded in our minds, our objective was to build bridges between researchers mainly from North America and northern Eurasia working in the boreal forest. The idea stemmed from the fact that a limited number of researchers were working in the boreal forest on both sides of the Atlantic, and that there was a need to attain a critical mass of scientists with a common interest in boreal ecosystems. We selected disturbance dynamics as the theme because it was clear at that time that disturbance was increasingly recognized as the driving ecological force in all ecosystems (Pickett & White 1985), and especially in boreal systems (Shugart et al. 1992). Since the first workshop (Engelmark & Bradshaw 1992; Engelmark et al. 1993), many developments can be seen which contribute to the success of our enterprise. The workshop papers (Bergeron & Frisque 1996) and this Special Feature include a large spectrum of research dealing with disturbances in the boreal forest. Some major themes emerge from this collection