As dome repair efforts take shape in the coming weeks and months, and as climate change causes more and more frequent and frequent thunderstorms, a more resilient tree is needed to better withstand, say foresters and advocates of green spaces. A detailed picture of the damage has not yet been obtained, as the cleanup continues after this last storm, but it will not be long before it takes place. In 2017, a significant assessment of the tree canopy was carried out for the entire Region of the National Capital, creating an extremely detailed interactive map of the canopy as it was that year (results published in 2019). It showed that 31 percent of Ottawa was covered with trees, compared with 45 percent of the Gatineau area and 76 percent of the National Capital Commission (NCC) in and around the two cities (the land controlled by the NCC not included in Ottawa and Gatineau figures). It happens that the next detailed assessment – which takes place every five years – is scheduled to begin this month with air flights, as long as the weather works, according to Jason Pollard, director of department for the Ottawa Forest Service. It will take months to collect and process the data (a combination of aerial imagery and LED data that reflects everything on the Earth’s surface), but when it is done it will show us how devastating the tornadoes and tornadoes were throughout the region. among other changes. Windswept trees still partially block a path outside Goldfinch Drive in Canada on June 14, 2022. (Francis Ferland / CBC)
Some neighborhoods lost many trees
The city of Ottawa covers a huge area and a total tree fall of as much as one percent would represent “a huge number” of damaged trees, said Paul Johanis, president of the Greenspace Alliance of Canada’s Capital. The organization pushes the municipality to protect and expand the tree cover of the city. But zooming in to look at areas that have been severely affected, Johanis said neighborhoods that had about 50 percent tree cover could see it shrink by as much as 20 percent. “I think we’re going to see a lot of measurable impact … because at the neighborhood level, it really had a big impact on those who were very affected by the derecho,” Johanis said. “Obviously, this is unprecedented. I do not think we have ever seen anything like this in terms of damage.” Paul Johanis, president of the Greenspace Alliance of Canada’s Capital, says tools to improve the city’s tree are available, but more money is needed to support it and find more trees in the ground. (Francis Ferland / CBC) Pollard called derecho “the most significant weather-related forest disturbance in decades,” with damage varying in intensity across neighborhoods. Some of the hardest hit areas already had a little existing tree canopy, according to a 2017 assessment mapped by the Ottawa Neighborhood Survey to allow residents to search for tree canopy percentages specifically for their neighborhoods. Only 15 percent of Navan and Sarsfield were covered with trees in 2017, for example, and Stittsville had a canopy of just 21 percent. Blossom Park, Merivale Gardens and Greenbelt were also hit hard. They had some of the densest trees in town at about 44, 52 and 40 percent, respectively – and you can see those percentages falling.
What some of derecho’s damage looked like from above
This drone video shows extensive damage in Ottawa’s Blossom Park neighborhood after a severe storm swept through May 21st. (Video by David Johnson)
Researchers are expanding the area of damage caused by EF2 collapse
Meanwhile, researchers at Western University’s Northern Tornadoes Project have continued to assess damage in and around Ottawa from derecho and have found that winds from an EF2 tornado caused damage on a much larger route than originally thought. . Although no tornadoes fell in the city, an EF2 blast – with winds estimated to be around 190 km / h – struck southeast along a path that is now believed to be about 36 km long and five km wide. The entire EF2 collapse damage zone is now about 36 kilometers long and just under five kilometers wide, according to Western University Northern Tornadoes project. Yellow indicates intermittent fault EF2, green indicates intermittent fault EF1, and blue indicates intermittent fault EF0. (Northern Tornadoes Project) The EF2 Collapsed Damage Zone begins just east of Ottawa Airport around Blossom Park, continues east through rural Navan and Sarsfield, and ends after the Hammond community in neighboring Clarence-Rockland, Ont. Damage includes paths with most trees broken or uprooted, ancillary buildings and farm silos demolished, and broken hydroelectric poles. The surveys also recorded intermittent losses of EF0 (104-137 km / h) and EF1 (138-177 km / h) in a much wider area of eastern Ontario and western Quebec. They used satellite imagery taken shortly before and after the storm (May 18 and May 25) to look at changes in tree cover. Some dramatic differences could be seen in McCarthy Woods. the forest along the Rideau River on the west side of Ottawa Airport. a wooded area between Frank Kenny Road and Delson Drive in Navan. and along the northeastern edge of Mer Bleue Bog, among others. The researchers created this map of damage to the tree canopy that is visible via satellite in southeastern Ottawa and beyond after derecho. Each black X indicates recognizable changes in tree coverage and red indicates worse damage. (Northern Tornadoes Project)
Building a durable shelter in the face of climate change
Some plans have begun to emerge for what fell into derecho – many coniferous trees (many firs and large eastern white pines), as well as lindens, according to Pollard, the city’s forester. Plans to replace the felled trees have not yet been made with the clearing in progress, Pollard said, but discussions will take place in the coming weeks and months. “Maybe we should look for ways to increase the number of trees planted,” he said. “Once we get through this initial phase of removing the dangerous trees, then we will have some time to … look at staff in areas that need some targeted planting effort in response. We are not there yet.” Jason Pollard, director of the Ottawa City Department of Forest Services, says forest departments across Ontario need to build more durable shelters to withstand the effects of climate change. (Francis Ferland / CBC) Reforestation efforts should focus on strengthening tree canopies to better handle stronger and more frequent thunderstorms, he added. “In the future, I think for any municipal forest organization across Ontario … we all need to think about how to create a resilient forest in the face of climate change and more severe weather,” Pollard said. “This will include things like the diversity of the species, but also the diversity in the … age of the species and the age of the tree canopy.” It’s a matter of decades, really, to bring the canopy back to what it was.- Paul Johanis, Greenspace Alliance of Canada’s Capital Greenspace Alliance Johanis said the city was moving in the right direction in recent years with a strengthened tree law and a relatively new forest management plan, but that more money was needed to make those changes and find more trees on the ground. . “It’s a matter of decades, really, to get the dome back to what it was. And so … maybe, because this is a kind of event that seems to happen more often, we need to create better budget reserves to deal more effectively with dome replacement.” , said Johannis.
After derecho, a new challenge – how to make “more durable” forests
Jason Pollard, director of department at the Ottawa City Forest Service, says the severe storm in late May sparked concerns about how to protect the tree canopy from future weather.
How to replace trees
Do you want a free sapling to plant on a private property, perhaps to replace the one that fell in the storm? Ecology Ottawa is donating 20,000 seedlings this year and there are three gift events today and this coming weekend. After June, more gifts are planned for the fall planting season. The city of Ottawa is trying to plant about 100,000 trees in a normal year, according to Pollard. The spring planting season generally occurs between May 1 and June 30, but what was left of it was canceled after the storm to allow crews to focus on cleaning. All scheduled spring plantings have been moved to the fall. “While the postponement and cancellation of events is frustrating, I want to assure council members that we will carefully consider how to restore forest cover in the community once efforts to clear the storm are completed,” wrote Alain Gonthier, general manager. city’s. in a memorandum of 1 June to the Council. Ottawa City Arborists clean up demolished trees and branches in Aladdin Park in South Ottawa near the airport on June 17, 2022, almost a month after the May 21 derecho. Crews are still focusing on clean-up efforts and will later turn their attention to replanting efforts in severely affected areas. (Jacques Corriveau / Radio Canada) In the parks, staff are building a list of severely damaged trees to replace in 2023, according to the city. Anyone wishing to replace a city tree on their roadside property or plant a tree where there is space can apply electronically to plant a tree from the city. It is free, but there are conditions and criteria that must be met, including that property owners are committed to watering the newly planted trees …
title: “Increasingly Strong Storms Threaten The Ottawa Tree " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-11” author: “Dennis Silkenson”
But after the May derecho and the 2018 tornadoes that destroyed many thousands of trees in the area, it is not clear how soon this can be achieved. As dome repair efforts take shape in the coming weeks and months, and as climate change causes more and more frequent and frequent thunderstorms, a more resilient tree is needed to better withstand it, say foresters and proponents of green space. A detailed picture of the damage has not yet been obtained, as the cleanup continues after this last storm, but it will not be long before it takes place. In 2017, a significant assessment of the tree canopy was carried out for the entire Region of the National Capital, creating an extremely detailed interactive map of the canopy as it was that year (results published in 2019). It showed that 31 percent of Ottawa was covered with trees, compared with 45 percent of the Gatineau area and 76 percent of the National Capital Commission (NCC) in and around the two cities (the land controlled by the NCC not included in Ottawa and Gatineau figures). It happens that the next detailed assessment – which takes place every five years – is scheduled to begin this month, with flights if the weather works, according to Jason Pollard, director of department for the Ottawa Forest Service. It will take months to collect and process the data (a combination of aerial imagery and LED data that reflects everything on the Earth’s surface), but when it is done it will show us how devastating the tornadoes and tornadoes were throughout the region. among other changes. Windswept trees still partially block a path outside Goldfinch Drive in Canada on June 14, 2022. (Francis Ferland / CBC)
Some neighborhoods lost many trees
The city of Ottawa covers a huge area and a total tree fall of as much as one percent would represent “a huge number” of damaged trees, said Paul Johanis, president of the Greenspace Alliance of Canada’s Capital. The organization pushes the municipality to protect and expand the tree cover of the city. But zooming in to look at areas that have been severely affected, Johanis said neighborhoods that had about 50 percent tree cover could see it shrink by as much as 20 percent. “I think we’re going to see a lot of measurable impact … because at the neighborhood level, it really had a big impact on those who were very affected by the derecho,” Johanis said. “Obviously, this is unprecedented. I do not think we have ever seen anything like this in terms of damage.” Paul Johanis, president of the Greenspace Alliance of Canada’s Capital, says tools to improve the city’s tree are available, but more money is needed to support it and find more trees in the ground. (Francis Ferland / CBC) Pollard called derecho “the most significant weather-related forest disturbance in decades,” with damage varying in intensity across neighborhoods. Some of the hardest hit areas already had a small existing tree canopy, according to the 2017 Canopy Assessment, which allows residents to look for tree canopy percentages specifically for their neighborhoods. Only 15 percent of Navan and Sarsfield were covered with trees in 2017, for example, and Stittsville had a canopy of just 21 percent. Blossom Park, Merivale Gardens and Greenbelt were also hit hard. They had some of the densest trees in town at about 44, 52 and 40 percent, respectively – and you can see those percentages falling. CLOCKS Derecho Damage at Blossom Park:
What some of derecho’s damage looked like from above
This drone video shows extensive damage in Ottawa’s Blossom Park neighborhood after a severe storm swept through May 21st. (Video by David Johnson)
Researchers are expanding the area of damage caused by EF2 collapse
Meanwhile, researchers at Western University’s Northern Tornadoes Project have continued to assess damage in and around Ottawa from derecho and have found that winds from an EF2 tornado caused damage on a much larger route than originally thought. . While no tornado fell in the city, an EF2 blast — with winds estimated to reach 190 km / h — struck southeast along a path that is now believed to be about 36 kilometers long and five kilometers wide. The entire EF2 collapse damage zone is now about 36 kilometers long and just under five kilometers wide, according to Western University Northern Tornadoes project. Yellow indicates intermittent fault EF2, green indicates intermittent fault EF1, and blue indicates intermittent fault EF0. (Northern Tornadoes Project) The EF2 Collapsed Damage Zone begins just east of Ottawa Airport around Blossom Park, continues east through rural Navan and Sarsfield, and ends after the Hammond community in neighboring Clarence-Rockland, Ont. Damage includes paths with most trees broken or uprooted, farm auxiliary buildings and silos demolished and broken aqueducts. The researchers also recorded intermittent damage EF0 (104-137 km / h) and EF1 (138-177 km / h) over a much wider area of eastern Ontario and western Quebec. They used satellite imagery taken shortly before and after the storm (May 18 and May 25) to look at changes in tree cover. Some dramatic differences could be seen in McCarthy Woods. the forest along the Rideau River on the west side of Ottawa Airport. a wooded area between Frank Kenny Road and Delson Drive in Navan. and along the northeastern edge of Mer Bleue Bog, among others. The researchers created this map of damage to the tree canopy that is visible via satellite in southeastern Ottawa and beyond after derecho. Each black X indicates recognizable changes in tree coverage and red indicates worse damage. (Northern Tornadoes Project)
Building a durable shelter in the face of climate change
Some patterns have begun to appear on what fell into derecho – many conifers and eastern white pines as well as lindens, according to Pollard, the city’s forester. Plans to replace the felled trees have not yet been made with the clearing in progress, Pollard said, but discussions will take place in the coming weeks and months. “Maybe we should look for ways to increase the number of trees planted,” he said. “Once we get through this initial phase of removing the dangerous trees, then we will have some time to … look at staff in areas that need some targeted planting effort in response. We are not there yet.” Jason Pollard, director of the Ottawa City Department of Forest Services, says forest departments across Ontario need to build more durable shelters to withstand the effects of climate change. (Francis Ferland / CBC) Rehabilitation efforts should focus on better handling of stronger and more frequent storms, he added. “Looking to the future, I think for any municipal forest organization across Ontario … we all need to think about how to create a resilient forest in the face of climate change and more severe weather,” Pollard said. “This will include things like the diversity of the species, but also the diversity in the … age of the species and the age of the tree canopy.” It’s a matter of decades, really, to bring the canopy back to what it was.- Paul Johanis, Greenspace Alliance of Canada’s Capital Greenspace Alliance Johanis said the city was moving in the right direction in recent years with a strengthened tree law and a relatively new forest management plan, but that more money was needed to make those changes and find more trees on the ground. . “It’s a matter of decades, really, to get the dome back to what it was,” Johanis said. “And so… perhaps, because this is a kind of event that seems to happen more often, better budget reserves need to be created to tackle dome replenishment more effectively.” CLOCKS Some of the post-forestry considerations:
After derecho, a new challenge – how to make “more durable” forests
Jason Pollard, director of department at the Ottawa City Forest Service, says the severe storm in late May sparked concerns about how to protect the tree canopy from future weather.
How to replace trees
Do you want a free sapling to plant on a private property, perhaps to replace the one that fell in the storm? Ecology Ottawa is donating 20,000 seedlings this year and there are three gift events today and this coming weekend. After June, more gifts are planned for the fall planting season. The city of Ottawa is trying to plant about 100,000 trees in a normal year, according to Pollard. The spring planting season generally occurs between May 1 and June 30, but what was left of it was canceled after the storm to allow crews to focus on cleaning. All scheduled spring plantings have been moved to the fall. “While the postponement and cancellation of events is frustrating, I want to assure council members that we will carefully consider how to restore forest cover in the community once efforts to clear the storm are completed,” wrote Alain Gonthier, general manager. city’s. in a memorandum of 1 June to the Council. Ottawa City Arborists clean up demolished trees and branches in Aladdin Park in South Ottawa near the airport on June 17, 2022, almost a month after the May 21 derecho. Crews are still focusing on clean-up efforts and will later turn their attention to replanting efforts in severely affected areas. (Jacques Corriveau / Radio Canada) In the parks, staff are building a list of major trees that will be replaced in 2023, according to the city. Anyone wishing to replace a city tree on their roadside property or plant a tree where space is available can apply online to plant a tree in the city. It is free, but there are conditions and criteria that must be met, including that property owners are committed to watering the newly planted trees for …
