Forest Restoration
Trees
Our forest restoration team is committed to restoring native Wabanaki-Acadian forest land to a natural, resilient state. We work with tree and shrub species native to the area, aiming to create microhabitats while boosting the ecosystem through diverse species assemblages and planning for a variety of structural and functional roles.
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We combine desktop research with field-based data collection to evaluate potential restoration sites and determine which tree species are most likely to thrive. Desktop research includes reviewing ecological land classification information, forest inventory, soil data, and hydrology mapping to identify site constraints and opportunities. In the field, we assess vegetation composition and age, investigate soil and moisture characteristics, and examine canopy cover, microtopography, and invasive species presence. This data helps us understand the site’s ecological context, including remnant plant communities, soil fertility, and successional stage.
Our planting plans are informed by these assessments, as well as by the site’s land use history, restoration goals, and unique challenges such as erosion, wind, wildlife browse, or soil degradation from past use. By incorporating species that match the site’s natural conditions, we aim to restore ecosystem structure and function, enhance biodiversity, and support long-term resilience.
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Our goal is to plant a diversity of tree and shrub species that fill different functional and structural roles, providing a variety of habitat niches and food sources while contributing to overall ecosystem health. For example, red oak (Quercus rubra) is a hard mast species, producing acorns that feed a wide range of wildlife, including bears, deer, birds, and small mammals. We often incorporate fruit-producing species into our planting plans to provide food sources for wildlife and help build soil, including black cherry (Prunus serotina), serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.), mountain ash (Sorbus americana), and viburnum (Viburnum spp.).
Early successional species like white birch (Betula papyifera) and alders (Alnus spp.) help restore soil fertility and create conditions that facilitate the establishment of later-successional species. Species like white spruce (Picea glauca) and striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum) provide partial canopy cover, creating the dappled light conditions preferred by species like sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and red spruce (Picea rubens), stabilizing microclimates for understory seedlings. Some species thrive best as part of a mixed-forest community; for example, white pine (Pinus strobus) is less prone to white pine weevil damage when grown under partial canopy or with nurse trees early in its life, demonstrating the importance of structural diversity in restoration plantings.
Incorporating trees with diverse growth habits, reproductive strategies, and successional associations into our planting plans enhances local biodiversity and ecosystem resilience.
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Studies are beginning to show the importance of species composition in the health of a forest ecosystem as the climate changes in the future. Our boreal conifer species are projected to migrate to the North, with Wabanaki-Acadian hardwoods taking their place.
This means that as the climate warms, softwood forests in Cape Breton-Unama’ki may no longer thrive where they grew for generations.
Through this lens and with an eye to the future, our planting plans incorporate tree species that are predicted to have a low to intermediate relative vulnerability to climate change, including red oak (Quercus rubra), red maple (Acer rubrum), white pine (Pinus strobus), and red spruce (Picea rubens).
Red oak (Quercus rubra) is one of the trees our team relies on to provide multiple benefits as part of a restored forest ecosystem. This long-lived species is a mast tree that provides a food source for wildlife in the form of acorns. As red oak trees mature, their spreading canopy and long branches provide perching and nesting locations, as well as microclimate regulation by shading soil and understory vegetation. With the potential to grow to a large size–up to 24 meters tall!–and forming an extensive root system, red oaks are ideal for sequestering and storing carbon.
Our site assessments and planting projects take the team to a variety of ecosystem conditions ranging from old farm fields, forestry harvest sites, former mine areas, riparian zones, and hurricane damaged forests.