Forest health monitoring in Ontario is conducted jointly by the Canadian Forest Service (CFS) and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) under a Memorandum of Agreement.
Through a systematic monitoring program including ground and aerial surveillance, field staff record and report on forest health conditions and the occurrence of biotic (e.g., insect, disease) and abiotic (e.g. severe weather, blowdown) disturbances or events. Forest health updates are provided throughout the field season to client groups including industry, government, public and other resource stakeholders. This report is based on the results of the 2006 monitoring program and the forest health updates. It includes major forest disturbances, invasive species and regional-level reporting on forest health issues.
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Forest Health Conditions in Ontario, 2006 (Published date - January 2007) (PDF, 3.0 MB 92 pages)
Forest Health Conditions in Ontario, 2006 - Highlights
This report is divided into sections representing provincially significant events, invasive species, and forest health conditions for each of the OMNR administrative regions (Northwest, Northeast, and Southern Regions).
Several major forest health issues have surfaced in recent years in Ontario. The jack pine budworm outbreak, which began in the Northwest region in 2005, continued to expand in 2006. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources conducted an insect pest management program for this pest beginning in 2006. The invasive species, emerald ash borer has continued to expand its area of infestation in southwestern Ontario. Other significant forest health issues in Ontario in 2006 included an expanding spruce budworm infestation in northeastern Ontario and a growing gypsy moth problem in southern Ontario. All these forest health issues have been compounded and influenced by a series of hot, dry summers and reduced average annual precipitation in Ontario contributing to abiotic stresses in our forests.
These and other forest health concerns are outlined in this report. The forest health monitoring partnership continues to monitor for these and other developing forest health issues, so that Ontario can be prepared and manage for forest disturbances.
There are many forest pests not reported on here that affected forests and trees in Ontario in 2006. These may not have been reported because they were relatively insignificant in this reporting year, small in spatial extent, or identification of the causal agent could not be confirmed. This report has been organized in sections with insects and diseases appearing in alphabetical order by scientific name. The table of contents can also be used to determine the location of a specific forest health issue within the report.
