A Dim Future for Boreal Waters and Landscapes

I n the past 30 years, a combination of human activity and natural events has resulted in both dramatic and subtle changes to forests, wetlands, lakes, and streams in the boreal regions of North America. Consequently, future generations will not see natural boreal assemblage of plants, animals, and landscapes. In this article, I document some of the changes that have occurred and discuss how these changes may cause severe malfunctioning of boreal communities and ecosystems in the future. Despite increasing public concern for the world's forests and waters, the boreal zone is seldom mentioned. At 1.3 x 109 ha, the boreal forest is second in size only to the moist tropical forests (Olson et al. 1983). Furthermore, boreal lakes are the most numerous on Earth. Although the exact number has never been compiled, there are over 700,000 lakes in temperate areas of eastern Canada alone (Minns et al. 1990). I estimate that Canada may contain from 1.5 to 2 million lakes. The vast areas of water in boreal Eurasia may double this number. Molot and Dillon (1996) estimate that, globally, lakes cover 1.25 x 106 km2, or 100/0 of the total boreal area. The boreal region