Reconstructing Historical Logging in the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Forests of Algonquin Provincial Park and Haliburton Forest, Ontario: An Analysis of Tree Core data

A Capstone submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Masters of Forest ConservationAlthough timber has been a key natural resource in Ontario for generations, the spatial extent and intensity of historic logging is poorly understood. This study was conducted to develop a method to use tree cores as a means of investigating the effects of silviculture on tree growth and to help identify past logging events in stands that have a previously unknown logging history before 1975, especially in presumptive old-growth stands. Using R programming software, we investigated tree growth based on changes in the basal area increment of sampled trees by year and by year and age. Using harvested areas with known year-of-harvest as references, we compared their growth against sites with unknown past logging histories. Observations of visible release, a spurt in growth patterns, supported the speculation that the last cuts in old-growth sites of Algonquin Provincial Park were around 1930, corresponding to historic high grading. An additional strong temporal trend in tree growth over the past 120 years was observed. A key objective of future investigations should be to investigate the role of climate, and in particular of anthropogenic climate change, in driving the long-term pattern. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on dendrochronological studies