Nova Scotia’s Old Growth Forests Field Assessment Score Sheet
Copied from https://novascotia.ca/natr/forestry/programs/ecosystems/scoresht.asp
[Copied here as historical documents that are replaced by new docs, policies etc. are hard to find on novascotia.ca or have been deleted.]
PART I – Species and Age Criteria
Old Growth Class 1
> 30 % crown closure, > 50 % of basal area in climax species typical of the landscape and > 30 % of the basal area > 125 years old.
Mature Climax Class 2
> 30 % crown closure, > 50 % of basal area in climax species typical of the landscape and > 30 % of the basal area > 80 years old.
Immature Climax Class 3
> 30 % crown closure, > 50 % of basal area in climax species typical of the landscape and > 30 % of the basal area < 80 years old.
Non-Climax Class 4
< 50 % of basal area in climax species typical of the landscape
PART II – Stand Composition – Pick the highest score that applies in each category – Maximum total score = 100
1. Age of oldest 30 % of the basal area
60 – 80 years Score 5 ____
81 – 100 years Score 10 ____
101 – 125 years Score 20 ____
126 – 175 years Score 30 ____
> 175 years Score 40 ____
2. Primal Forest Value
Extensive or recent logging evident Score 0 _____
Light evidence of old partial logging Score 5 – 10 _____
Past logging suspected but not evident Score 10 – 15 _____
Past logging unlikely Score 20 _____
3. Diameter of Living Trees
> 50 trees\ha have a diameter > 40 cm Score 3 ____
> 70 trees\ha have a diameter > 40 cm Score 6 ____
> 100 trees\ha have a diameter > 40 cm Score 9 ____
> 20 trees\ha have a diameter > 50 cm Score 12 ____
> 5 trees\ha have a diameter > 60 cm Score 15 ____
4. Total Bole Length of Standing and Fallen Dead Trees
400 m with diameter > 20 cm Score 3 ____
200 m with diameter > 30 cm Score 5 ____
200 m with diameter > 40 cm Score 10 ____
200 m with diameter > 50 cm Score 15 ____
5. Overstory Crown Closure
Uniform closure with little light penetration Score 2 ____
Uniform closure with a few small canopy openings (hardwood) Score 5 ____
OR
Mosaic of different densities (softwoods and mixwoods) Score 5 ____
6. Stand Structure
One Understory Score 2 ____
Multiple layers in the understory Score 5 ____
Old Forest Scoring
[Copied from: Nova Scotia’s Old Forest Policy 2012 on the Wayback Archive]
• The Old Forest Scoresheet (Appendix II) will be used to quantitatively evaluate old
forest conditions and provide a basis for stand selection. It provides a structured
approach to assess and rank stand characteristics. The score has three parts:
Part One identifies the stage of forest development as either old growth (1), mature climax (2), immature climax (3) or other (4).
Part Two scores stands based on the structural attributes that typically develop as stands evolve into old growth – age, primal forest value, tree diameter, quantity of dead woody material, canopy structure, and understory development. This part of
the scoring system allows comparison between stands of similar community types to help determine which has the best old forest qualities.Part Three ranks the collective patch size of adjacent old forest stands. Stands within 100 m of each other are considered adjacent, and thus part of the same patch. All stands in a patch have the same Part Three score.
• Scoring data will be entered by the field cruiser in the “old forest scoring program”
and the program’s data files will be forwarded to the Provincial Old Forest
Coordinator, along with copies of the field scoresheet and increment cores when
available.
• Old forest scoring data will be reviewed by the Provincial Old Forest Coordinator and
appended to the old forest scoring database maintained in Forestry Division’s GIS.