New technology helping plan the forests of the future in Sudbury
Sudbury's celebrated re-greening efforts are continuing to inspire Canadian researchers.
Scientists are using new technology to help plan forests, including a pilot project going on in Sudbury.
PlantR is an interactive tool created by Isabelle Aubin and her team at Great Lakes Forestry Centre in Sault Ste. Marie. Aubin said it’s a way to ensure new forests thrive by including the right plant species for that specific area.
“When we select species to plant, you know, it's an important ecological question but it's also an important question to make sure that we get the maximum of what we want from those trees we plant," she said.
"This tool (is) a virtual thinking tool that helps the forest managers to select the species to plant to get more of their restoration goals."
The interactive platform uses a data-rich algorithm to generate solutions for forest managers. Although still in the early stages, the initial response to its potential as a modelling tool has been promising.
“Personally I have played with it somewhat to try it out and see what kind of plants it might tell me to use," said Peter Beckett, chair of VETAC, Sudbury's regreening advisory panel.
"There are some we haven’t considered before and … some that might be adapted to ones we might have to use due to climate change in Sudbury because we know it's going to get warmer and perhaps more dry on the landscapes during the summer."
Despite making great strides in ecological recovery, Sudbury still has challenges when it comes to elevated water quality and the lack of organic soil matter.
That makes it the perfect place to test out the new technology.
“When the program first started way back in 1978, there were just a few grasses that could be used," said Beckett.
"But we used about 75 other species in the regreening effort in Sudbury based upon the characteristics of those species and the great thing about the app is that all of these characteristics are now in one place."
PlantR is already being put to good use through a joint project between Laurentian and College Boreal that has researchers looking at how abandoned gravel pits may be restored.
The hope is that eventually PlantR will be able to be used not only across northern Ontario, but Canada and beyond.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
BREAKING Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
2 military horses that broke free and ran loose across London are in serious condition
Two military horses that bolted and ran miles through the streets of London after being spooked by construction noise and tossing their riders were in a serious condition and required operations, a British government official said Thursday.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.