1 00:00:01,349 --> 00:00:06,354 ♪ 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 4 00:00:10,010 --> 00:00:18,192 ♪ [voices harmonizing] 5 00:00:18,322 --> 00:00:19,454 Just go. 6 00:00:19,584 --> 00:00:23,327 ♪ EVERGREEN, OH, EVERGREEN ♪ 7 00:00:23,458 --> 00:00:28,419 ♪ HOW FAITHFUL ARE YOUR BRANCHES ♪ 8 00:00:28,550 --> 00:00:32,597 ♪ EVERGREEN, OH, EVERGREEN ♪ 9 00:00:32,728 --> 00:00:37,124 ♪ HOW FAITHFUL ARE YOUR BRANCHES ♪ 10 00:00:37,254 --> 00:00:42,259 ♪ GREEN BENEATH THE SUMMER'S GLOW ♪ 11 00:00:42,390 --> 00:00:45,741 ♪ YOU BLOSSOM IN THE WINTER SNOW ♪ 12 00:00:45,871 --> 00:00:49,179 ♪ WHEN ALL THE DAYS 13 00:00:49,310 --> 00:00:51,225 ♪ ARE DARK AND COLD 14 00:00:51,355 --> 00:00:55,664 ♪ YOU ARE A HOPE WE CAN BEHOLD ♪ 15 00:00:55,794 --> 00:00:59,972 ♪ EVERGREEN, OH, EVERGREEN ♪ 16 00:01:00,103 --> 00:01:05,065 ♪ WHAT JOY I FEEL TO GREET YOU ♪ 17 00:01:05,194 --> 00:01:09,286 ♪ EVERGREEN, OH, EVERGREEN ♪ 18 00:01:09,417 --> 00:01:14,074 ♪ WHAT JOY I FEEL TO GREET YOU ♪ 19 00:01:14,204 --> 00:01:16,728 ♪ WHEN ALL THE DAYS 20 00:01:16,859 --> 00:01:18,078 ♪ ARE DARK AND COLD 21 00:01:18,208 --> 00:01:22,343 ♪ YOU ARE A HOPE WE CAN BEHOLD ♪ 22 00:01:22,473 --> 00:01:27,652 ♪ THE EVERGREEN WILL ALWAYS STRIVE ♪ 23 00:01:27,783 --> 00:01:32,353 ♪ AND EVER KEEP OUR FAITH ALIVE ♪ 24 00:01:32,483 --> 00:01:36,661 ♪ EVERGREEN, OH, EVERGREEN ♪ 25 00:01:36,792 --> 00:01:41,144 ♪ YOU CHEER US WITH YOUR PROMISE ♪ 26 00:01:41,275 --> 00:01:45,322 ♪ EVERGREEN, OH, EVERGREEN ♪ 27 00:01:45,453 --> 00:01:51,154 ♪ YOU CHEER US WITH YOUR PROMISE ♪ 28 00:01:51,285 --> 00:01:56,333 ♪ [voices harmonizing] AH... ♪ 29 00:01:56,464 --> 00:02:06,430 ♪ 30 00:02:06,561 --> 00:02:20,270 ♪ 31 00:02:20,401 --> 00:02:30,324 [wind gusts] 32 00:02:30,454 --> 00:02:39,289 [wind gusts] 33 00:02:39,420 --> 00:02:42,553 [Diana] The trees in the Boreal forest... 34 00:02:42,684 --> 00:02:49,386 take oblique sunlight and make oxygen. 35 00:02:49,517 --> 00:02:51,692 It's like a miracle for the planet. 36 00:02:51,823 --> 00:03:02,094 ♪ [ethereal] 37 00:03:02,225 --> 00:03:08,057 ♪ [ethereal] 38 00:03:08,188 --> 00:03:13,236 [Edmund] We have a certain relationship with the trees... 39 00:03:13,367 --> 00:03:17,762 Because of their living essence. 40 00:03:17,893 --> 00:03:27,250 ♪ 41 00:03:27,381 --> 00:03:31,428 The tree has been here for a long time, 42 00:03:31,559 --> 00:03:35,824 standing in the same spot, but watching. 43 00:03:35,954 --> 00:03:39,349 Being blessed with time. 44 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:42,656 ♪ 45 00:03:42,787 --> 00:03:45,703 [birds chirping] 46 00:03:49,925 --> 00:03:54,712 There are older relations. 47 00:03:54,843 --> 00:03:57,585 We're just little things flipping around, you know, 48 00:03:57,715 --> 00:04:00,805 showing a different person here and there. 49 00:04:00,936 --> 00:04:10,902 ♪ 50 00:04:11,033 --> 00:04:17,257 ♪ 51 00:04:17,387 --> 00:04:22,479 ♪ [rumbling drum] 52 00:04:22,610 --> 00:04:32,576 ♪ 53 00:04:32,707 --> 00:04:42,151 ♪ 54 00:04:42,282 --> 00:04:46,503 We're very happy and secure... 55 00:04:46,634 --> 00:04:48,940 that they're there, that they're still standing, 56 00:04:49,071 --> 00:04:50,899 watching over us. 57 00:04:51,029 --> 00:04:53,728 ♪ 58 00:04:53,858 --> 00:04:56,557 Some of us have heard them sing, 59 00:04:56,687 --> 00:04:59,951 which happened to me one time. 60 00:05:00,082 --> 00:05:02,345 ♪ 61 00:05:02,476 --> 00:05:06,871 A combination of sounds in the natural environment and, 62 00:05:07,002 --> 00:05:08,743 the wind on the trees... 63 00:05:08,873 --> 00:05:12,442 made for a song that I haven't been able to forget. 64 00:05:12,573 --> 00:05:14,531 It's still with me. 65 00:05:14,662 --> 00:05:20,885 ♪ [ethereal] 66 00:05:21,016 --> 00:05:24,628 [Diana] The design of nature is music. 67 00:05:24,759 --> 00:05:37,772 ♪ [bird calls] 68 00:05:37,902 --> 00:05:44,996 If you listen to the trees, you will hear a song. 69 00:05:45,127 --> 00:05:51,699 ♪ 70 00:05:51,829 --> 00:05:54,354 And some people actually hear 71 00:05:54,484 --> 00:05:57,922 an individual song for certain species. 72 00:05:58,053 --> 00:06:08,019 ♪ 73 00:06:08,150 --> 00:06:13,285 ♪ 74 00:06:13,416 --> 00:06:16,027 As a scientist, I should say, "No, that's not possible." 75 00:06:16,158 --> 00:06:18,595 But as a human being, 76 00:06:18,726 --> 00:06:21,685 I understand what these people are saying. 77 00:06:21,816 --> 00:06:31,826 ♪ 78 00:06:31,956 --> 00:06:41,836 ♪ 79 00:06:41,966 --> 00:06:51,846 ♪ 80 00:06:51,976 --> 00:07:01,812 ♪ 81 00:07:01,943 --> 00:07:15,391 ♪ 82 00:07:15,522 --> 00:07:18,742 [Edmund] Within that moment, the environment was 83 00:07:18,873 --> 00:07:23,704 a community, a village, a living thing. 84 00:07:23,834 --> 00:07:33,757 ♪ 85 00:07:33,888 --> 00:07:43,767 ♪ 86 00:07:43,898 --> 00:07:51,471 ♪ 87 00:07:51,601 --> 00:07:53,516 [birds chirping] 88 00:07:53,647 --> 00:07:55,387 [Diana] The trees of the Boreal, 89 00:07:55,518 --> 00:07:58,042 you just have to respect them just because they survive. 90 00:07:58,173 --> 00:08:05,615 [birds chirping] 91 00:08:05,746 --> 00:08:08,792 It's the general respect for all things that 92 00:08:08,923 --> 00:08:11,882 are on the margins of life. 93 00:08:13,797 --> 00:08:16,496 [bird chirping continues] 94 00:08:25,069 --> 00:08:28,203 [Christian] The Boreal Forest region is one of the 95 00:08:28,332 --> 00:08:29,509 last regions in this world 96 00:08:29,639 --> 00:08:35,732 where nature dominates, prevails. 97 00:08:35,863 --> 00:08:41,782 Still in many, many places very wild. 98 00:08:41,912 --> 00:08:43,653 [Gerry] It's a land of extremes. 99 00:08:43,784 --> 00:08:48,832 We can go from very cold to very hot, 100 00:08:48,963 --> 00:08:55,665 dry summer days and the Boreal Forest survives. 101 00:08:55,796 --> 00:09:04,674 ♪ 102 00:09:04,805 --> 00:09:12,029 ♪ 103 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:16,817 [birds chirping] 104 00:09:16,947 --> 00:09:21,125 The trees and the animals have found a way to 105 00:09:21,256 --> 00:09:23,650 deal with that rhythm. 106 00:09:23,780 --> 00:09:28,829 The processes that allow them to do so can be complicated. 107 00:09:28,959 --> 00:09:33,964 But they're also mystically amazing. 108 00:09:34,095 --> 00:09:40,101 ♪ 109 00:09:40,231 --> 00:09:48,892 [rushing water] 110 00:09:49,023 --> 00:10:04,516 ♪ 111 00:10:04,647 --> 00:10:12,612 [birds chirping] 112 00:10:12,742 --> 00:10:17,617 [thunderclap] 113 00:10:19,749 --> 00:10:31,456 [wind gusts & birds chirping] 114 00:10:31,587 --> 00:10:36,636 [Diana] I am in awe of the design of the forest. 115 00:10:36,766 --> 00:10:39,900 In awe of the magnitude of it. 116 00:10:40,030 --> 00:10:45,688 Its eternal ability to replicate itself. 117 00:10:52,739 --> 00:10:55,959 [rolling thunder] 118 00:10:56,090 --> 00:10:59,528 [Edmund] Thunderbird, we call it "Okema Bieso" 119 00:10:59,659 --> 00:11:02,009 in our language, "Okema Bieso". 120 00:11:02,139 --> 00:11:06,840 He's the one that shoots fire down to the earth. 121 00:11:06,970 --> 00:11:11,932 The forest needs to regrow, needs to replenish, you know. 122 00:11:12,062 --> 00:11:21,985 [rolling thunder] 123 00:11:22,116 --> 00:11:28,296 [rolling thunder] 124 00:11:28,426 --> 00:11:36,043 [thunderclap] 125 00:11:36,173 --> 00:11:42,919 [crackling] 126 00:11:43,050 --> 00:11:45,487 [Mike] These are the three types of fires. 127 00:11:45,617 --> 00:11:48,664 There's surface fires. 128 00:11:48,795 --> 00:11:50,884 They start and spread along the surface. 129 00:11:51,014 --> 00:11:53,756 And flames can be from anywhere from a millimetre 130 00:11:53,887 --> 00:11:56,846 to many, many, many metres. 131 00:11:56,977 --> 00:12:01,851 [crackling flames] 132 00:12:01,982 --> 00:12:03,287 And then there's what we call ground fires. 133 00:12:03,418 --> 00:12:07,248 And they're smouldering fires that burn into the ground, 134 00:12:07,378 --> 00:12:09,772 common in peat bogs. 135 00:12:09,903 --> 00:12:15,169 And these fires can burn for weeks, months, years. 136 00:12:15,299 --> 00:12:24,265 [crackling flames] 137 00:12:24,395 --> 00:12:30,880 [crackling flames] 138 00:12:31,011 --> 00:12:33,013 There are crown fires... 139 00:12:33,143 --> 00:12:36,016 which engulf the crowns of the trees and 140 00:12:36,146 --> 00:12:41,282 can be hundreds of metres in height. 141 00:12:41,412 --> 00:12:46,766 [loud, roaring flames continue] 142 00:14:00,970 --> 00:14:03,886 [Mike] Very energetic fires inject material just like 143 00:14:04,017 --> 00:14:06,106 a volcano into the stratosphere. 144 00:14:06,236 --> 00:14:11,502 And it will take months for it to get back down. 145 00:14:11,633 --> 00:14:14,070 And once the fire is up and running, 146 00:14:14,201 --> 00:14:16,246 it self-perpetuates. 147 00:14:16,377 --> 00:14:18,945 It's called pyro cumulonimbus, 148 00:14:19,075 --> 00:14:21,991 so it's a fire generated thunderstorm. 149 00:14:22,122 --> 00:14:26,343 ♪ 150 00:14:26,474 --> 00:14:29,912 [thunderclap] 151 00:14:30,043 --> 00:14:44,884 ♪ [suspenseful] 152 00:14:45,014 --> 00:14:54,937 ♪ 153 00:14:55,068 --> 00:15:04,991 ♪ 154 00:15:05,121 --> 00:15:15,001 ♪ 155 00:15:15,131 --> 00:15:24,314 ♪ 156 00:15:24,445 --> 00:15:27,361 [croaking] 157 00:15:27,491 --> 00:15:37,066 ♪ 158 00:15:39,242 --> 00:15:43,638 [rolling thunder] 159 00:15:43,768 --> 00:15:47,120 [rainfall patter] 160 00:15:47,250 --> 00:15:50,732 [Gerry] After the fire, that organic material that was 161 00:15:50,862 --> 00:15:57,086 on the forest floor had been fuel and has now consumed, 162 00:15:57,217 --> 00:16:01,003 leaving these exposed skeletons of roots. 163 00:16:01,134 --> 00:16:04,876 That was a biological community... 164 00:16:05,007 --> 00:16:07,923 composed of the building blocks of life. 165 00:16:24,374 --> 00:16:26,202 [Diana] In the carbon cycle, they're reduced down 166 00:16:26,333 --> 00:16:30,554 to carbon again, but that's a good thing. 167 00:16:30,685 --> 00:16:32,121 Carbon is never lost. 168 00:16:32,252 --> 00:16:36,256 It is the greatest element on Earth. 169 00:16:36,386 --> 00:16:40,434 It is the basis of all life, really on Earth. 170 00:16:48,398 --> 00:16:58,278 [howling wind] 171 00:16:58,408 --> 00:17:12,596 [howling wind] 172 00:17:12,727 --> 00:17:16,035 [bird cawing] 173 00:17:17,732 --> 00:17:24,217 [bird calls] 174 00:17:24,347 --> 00:17:33,617 [bird calls & insects buzzing] 175 00:17:33,748 --> 00:17:43,671 ♪ 176 00:17:43,801 --> 00:17:53,681 ♪ 177 00:17:53,811 --> 00:18:03,560 ♪ 178 00:18:03,691 --> 00:18:13,570 ♪ 179 00:18:13,701 --> 00:18:23,276 ♪ 180 00:18:23,406 --> 00:18:26,540 [Stan] You know, many might view fires as this sort of 181 00:18:26,670 --> 00:18:29,456 devastating disturbance to the Boreal Forest and, 182 00:18:29,586 --> 00:18:31,458 how do organisms cope with it? 183 00:18:31,588 --> 00:18:34,765 The ability of these animals to get out of the area 184 00:18:34,896 --> 00:18:38,508 is actually astounding. 185 00:18:38,639 --> 00:18:42,382 [Mike] Our Boreal Forests have survived and thrived in 186 00:18:42,512 --> 00:18:49,824 this regime of semi-regular stand renewing fire. 187 00:18:52,522 --> 00:18:57,484 ♪ 188 00:18:57,614 --> 00:19:01,270 [bird calls] 189 00:19:01,401 --> 00:19:02,706 ♪ 190 00:19:02,837 --> 00:19:06,580 [Diana] The Jack Pine cones will only open on fire. 191 00:19:06,710 --> 00:19:10,105 The resin needs to be melted off the cone and then 192 00:19:10,236 --> 00:19:12,455 they shed their seeds. 193 00:19:12,586 --> 00:19:15,371 ♪ 194 00:19:15,502 --> 00:19:17,286 [Gerry] Spruce, on the other hand, 195 00:19:17,417 --> 00:19:22,378 most of those cones are right at the top of the tree. 196 00:19:22,509 --> 00:19:24,728 And there's enough heat to open the cones, 197 00:19:24,859 --> 00:19:27,296 but not enough heat to burn them up. 198 00:19:27,427 --> 00:19:37,393 ♪ 199 00:19:37,524 --> 00:19:43,660 ♪ 200 00:19:43,791 --> 00:19:48,012 [Gerry] White Birch, you look at it following fire, 201 00:19:48,143 --> 00:19:51,059 it looks like it's dead. 202 00:19:51,190 --> 00:19:53,017 And when you look around the base, 203 00:19:53,148 --> 00:19:56,107 you'll find stump sprouts. 204 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:03,811 [Mike] Another example is Aspen. 205 00:20:03,941 --> 00:20:05,987 Fire goes through and above ground, 206 00:20:06,117 --> 00:20:08,250 trees are killed, but the roots survive and then 207 00:20:08,381 --> 00:20:11,427 sends up thousands of new suckers. 208 00:20:11,558 --> 00:20:15,301 ♪ 209 00:20:15,431 --> 00:20:17,128 [Diana] The Aspen can survive because 210 00:20:17,259 --> 00:20:19,783 they can live underground. They can clone. 211 00:20:19,914 --> 00:20:22,438 One Aspen can produce a forest. 212 00:20:22,569 --> 00:20:34,102 ♪ 213 00:20:34,233 --> 00:20:39,412 [Gerry] You're also amazed that species like Fireweed... 214 00:20:39,542 --> 00:20:41,588 where did those seeds come from? 215 00:20:41,718 --> 00:20:43,546 How did they take off so quick? 216 00:20:43,677 --> 00:20:54,514 ♪ 217 00:20:54,644 --> 00:21:05,264 ♪ 218 00:21:05,394 --> 00:21:09,268 [Diana] It's a regeneration of the forest. 219 00:21:09,398 --> 00:21:10,747 The new saplings come in... 220 00:21:10,878 --> 00:21:13,272 and then it takes 17 to 20 years for them 221 00:21:13,402 --> 00:21:17,580 to reach a certain height. 222 00:21:17,711 --> 00:21:21,454 [Gerry] You see the initiation of a complex 223 00:21:21,584 --> 00:21:24,457 story of succession, which is going to be unfolding 224 00:21:24,587 --> 00:21:27,460 over the next hundred years. 225 00:21:27,590 --> 00:21:30,245 [insects chirping] 226 00:21:30,376 --> 00:21:33,640 Jack Pine gets off to a really good start. 227 00:21:33,770 --> 00:21:36,077 It's a sprinter. 228 00:21:37,731 --> 00:21:40,211 The Black Spruce are starting to come in and 229 00:21:40,342 --> 00:21:44,128 growing much slower, but might very well be there 230 00:21:44,259 --> 00:21:50,134 long after some of the Jack Pine have started to die out. 231 00:21:50,265 --> 00:21:55,531 ♪ [ethereal] 232 00:21:55,662 --> 00:21:58,708 The strategy that Birch and Aspen use is to 233 00:21:58,839 --> 00:22:03,800 maximize the exposure that the leaves have to sunlight. 234 00:22:03,931 --> 00:22:06,716 ♪ 235 00:22:06,847 --> 00:22:09,632 That gives them the greatest ability to 236 00:22:09,763 --> 00:22:11,591 conduct photosynthesis, 237 00:22:11,721 --> 00:22:15,725 to produce food and grow quickly. 238 00:22:15,856 --> 00:22:20,382 ♪ [ethereal] 239 00:22:20,513 --> 00:22:21,949 [Diana] That base of the food chain is 240 00:22:22,079 --> 00:22:25,431 manufactured in the leaf that farms the sun. 241 00:22:25,561 --> 00:22:30,131 The leaf is a green molecular machine. 242 00:22:30,261 --> 00:22:35,528 The green chlorophyll recognizes the light of the sun... 243 00:22:35,658 --> 00:22:39,445 and it can manufacture all kinds of chemicals. 244 00:22:39,575 --> 00:22:42,796 ♪ 245 00:22:42,926 --> 00:22:44,885 On the under part of the leaf, 246 00:22:45,015 --> 00:22:47,583 you have rows and rows of stoma... 247 00:22:47,714 --> 00:22:51,674 and those are all little breathing mouths. 248 00:22:51,805 --> 00:22:53,154 ♪ 249 00:22:53,284 --> 00:22:57,463 Stoma on a leaf is exactly the same as your mouth. 250 00:22:57,593 --> 00:22:59,726 There are all kinds of things coming and 251 00:22:59,856 --> 00:23:01,728 going out of that mouth. 252 00:23:01,858 --> 00:23:07,473 [Gerry] They're taking in carbon dioxide from the air, 253 00:23:07,603 --> 00:23:12,042 producing oxygen, producing carbohydrates 254 00:23:12,173 --> 00:23:17,396 that help keep the tree alive during the growing season. 255 00:23:17,526 --> 00:23:22,879 ♪ 256 00:23:23,010 --> 00:23:24,881 [Diana] It is pumping oxygen 257 00:23:25,012 --> 00:23:30,713 and you and I right now are breathing that oxygen. 258 00:23:30,844 --> 00:23:43,422 [rustling leaves] 259 00:23:43,552 --> 00:23:46,599 [Gerry] As the new forest grows, 260 00:23:46,729 --> 00:23:49,558 it changes its environment. 261 00:23:49,689 --> 00:23:51,734 ♪ [piano] 262 00:23:51,865 --> 00:23:56,347 That log that's laying on top of the rock... 263 00:23:56,478 --> 00:23:59,568 forms a substrate on which various lichen species and 264 00:23:59,699 --> 00:24:03,746 moss species can become established. 265 00:24:03,877 --> 00:24:06,662 ♪ 266 00:24:06,793 --> 00:24:09,404 They get their moisture from the air. 267 00:24:09,535 --> 00:24:14,148 They don't have roots and therefore they can live in 268 00:24:14,278 --> 00:24:19,066 areas where virtually no other plants can live and thrive. 269 00:24:19,196 --> 00:24:28,075 ♪ [choir singing] 270 00:24:28,205 --> 00:24:34,603 ♪ [choir singing] 271 00:24:34,734 --> 00:24:37,737 ♪ 272 00:24:37,867 --> 00:24:40,914 It can develop an environment within which 273 00:24:41,044 --> 00:24:46,180 trees can grow and reoccupy what was previously 274 00:24:46,310 --> 00:24:51,838 exposed bedrock after the fire. 275 00:24:51,968 --> 00:24:53,883 [Edmund] This is what the mice see. 276 00:24:54,014 --> 00:24:57,147 This is where they live, under the moss. 277 00:24:57,278 --> 00:25:01,500 ♪ 278 00:25:01,630 --> 00:25:04,024 You find all these roots... 279 00:25:04,154 --> 00:25:07,941 radiating and touching each other. 280 00:25:08,071 --> 00:25:12,598 And these are what I call 'holding hands'. 281 00:25:12,728 --> 00:25:16,253 They share nutrients. They give nutrients. 282 00:25:16,384 --> 00:25:17,559 ♪ 283 00:25:17,690 --> 00:25:19,735 This is what the forest floor is doing. 284 00:25:19,866 --> 00:25:24,697 It's just saying, "Here, let me hold your hand. 285 00:25:24,827 --> 00:25:27,961 Hold your hand so that I can support your living. 286 00:25:28,091 --> 00:25:31,791 Let's live together. Let's use what we can get. 287 00:25:31,921 --> 00:25:35,011 And we'll share it with one another." 288 00:25:35,142 --> 00:25:43,019 ♪ [choir singing] 289 00:25:43,150 --> 00:25:47,415 [rustling leaves] 290 00:25:47,546 --> 00:25:50,636 [Nadir] The trees cannot survive by themselves. 291 00:25:50,766 --> 00:25:53,595 They always associate with the community. 292 00:25:53,726 --> 00:25:56,424 They also associate with understory plant species, 293 00:25:56,555 --> 00:25:58,687 mainly mycorrhizal fungi. 294 00:25:58,818 --> 00:26:02,038 ♪ 295 00:26:02,169 --> 00:26:05,215 [Sandy] There's fungal mycorrhizal networks that are 296 00:26:05,346 --> 00:26:10,699 under there to allow trees to exchange chemical compounds. 297 00:26:10,830 --> 00:26:14,529 ♪ 298 00:26:14,660 --> 00:26:16,966 [Diana] So the mycorrhiza produce long, 299 00:26:17,097 --> 00:26:20,143 tangly arms called hyphae. 300 00:26:20,274 --> 00:26:25,671 And they can get all kinds of goodies out of the soil. 301 00:26:25,801 --> 00:26:30,153 The tree tries to get minerals in exchange for the sugars, 302 00:26:30,284 --> 00:26:32,808 for the mycorrhizal fungi. 303 00:26:32,939 --> 00:26:36,812 ♪ 304 00:26:36,943 --> 00:26:40,642 [Isabelle] They're massive fungal networks, 305 00:26:40,773 --> 00:26:42,905 essentially, like the Internet in a way 306 00:26:43,036 --> 00:26:46,866 where it's allowing information to pass through, 307 00:26:46,996 --> 00:26:49,433 but then it's also allowing physical things like 308 00:26:49,564 --> 00:26:51,392 nutrients to be moved from one tree to another, 309 00:26:51,522 --> 00:26:55,526 one plant to another. 310 00:26:55,657 --> 00:26:59,139 [Diana] Their conversation is chemistry. 311 00:26:59,269 --> 00:27:10,280 [rustling leaves & wind gusts] 312 00:27:10,411 --> 00:27:14,720 [geese honking] 313 00:27:14,850 --> 00:27:22,553 [wind gusts] 314 00:27:22,684 --> 00:27:24,207 [geese honking] 315 00:27:24,338 --> 00:27:27,646 [birds & insects chirping] 316 00:27:27,776 --> 00:27:29,299 [Gerry] Through the life of the tree, 317 00:27:29,430 --> 00:27:34,130 as the tree goes from being a seedling to a sapling and 318 00:27:34,261 --> 00:27:36,959 into maturity... 319 00:27:37,090 --> 00:27:40,484 carbon dioxide has been taken in by the tree. 320 00:27:40,615 --> 00:27:43,792 Oxygen has been released. 321 00:27:43,923 --> 00:27:46,665 The by-products of that carbon that has been 322 00:27:46,795 --> 00:27:50,103 captured by the tree goes into the construction of 323 00:27:50,233 --> 00:27:52,453 the tree itself. 324 00:27:56,196 --> 00:27:58,198 [Kajar] The young forest, the young trees, 325 00:27:58,328 --> 00:28:00,243 they are taking a lot of carbon in to grow because 326 00:28:00,374 --> 00:28:04,639 the small trees, they need to grow a lot because otherwise, 327 00:28:04,770 --> 00:28:06,815 they will just not survive. 328 00:28:06,946 --> 00:28:10,340 There is a huge competition inside the young forest. 329 00:28:10,471 --> 00:28:13,692 [birds chirping] 330 00:28:13,822 --> 00:28:16,782 [Gerry] As the trees grow, together, 331 00:28:16,912 --> 00:28:22,657 they're intersecting the light before it reaches further down. 332 00:28:22,788 --> 00:28:25,834 They've been seeking out the moisture. 333 00:28:25,965 --> 00:28:28,010 They've been seeking out the nutrients, 334 00:28:28,141 --> 00:28:30,578 battling each other for the few resources that 335 00:28:30,709 --> 00:28:33,015 are available on the site. 336 00:28:33,146 --> 00:28:38,760 [insect buzzing] 337 00:28:38,891 --> 00:28:41,589 [Diana] For some species like your Aspen, 338 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:45,071 it just sits and waits. 339 00:28:45,201 --> 00:28:49,162 Paper Birch have the ability to actually survive under 340 00:28:49,292 --> 00:28:53,035 great shade and shadow, and they will wait and wait and 341 00:28:53,166 --> 00:28:56,343 wait until that tree dies and then it grows like hell. 342 00:28:56,473 --> 00:29:02,566 [bird calls continue] 343 00:29:02,697 --> 00:29:03,785 [Gerry] Over the next 10 or 20 years, 344 00:29:03,916 --> 00:29:08,007 we'll see a lot of these trees die. 345 00:29:08,137 --> 00:29:10,836 And the remaining trees will fight for resources 346 00:29:10,966 --> 00:29:13,316 all over again. 347 00:29:16,842 --> 00:29:19,061 This is the fight for survival with the trees 348 00:29:19,192 --> 00:29:24,588 as they start becoming a more mature forest. 349 00:29:32,335 --> 00:29:35,338 [bird cawing] 350 00:29:35,469 --> 00:29:40,039 [loon calls] 351 00:29:40,169 --> 00:29:41,692 [Diana] Up in the Boreal north, 352 00:29:41,823 --> 00:29:43,303 because it's so mean and tough and because the 353 00:29:43,433 --> 00:29:45,566 land is not rich at all, you really shouldn't have 354 00:29:45,696 --> 00:29:48,874 trees growing up there. 355 00:29:49,004 --> 00:29:50,919 They're almost desert species up there. 356 00:29:51,050 --> 00:29:56,838 They get lean and tight with water. 357 00:30:00,146 --> 00:30:02,191 [David S.] The Boreal is in a very close 358 00:30:02,322 --> 00:30:05,020 water balance, actually. 359 00:30:05,151 --> 00:30:08,067 Most of it has precipitation, 360 00:30:08,197 --> 00:30:14,638 which is only a little bit higher than evaporation. 361 00:30:14,769 --> 00:30:18,077 [Ted] One of the things that we've looked at is the question 362 00:30:18,207 --> 00:30:22,081 of how does the vegetation feedback on the weather. 363 00:30:22,211 --> 00:30:25,127 So, what we often see is that in early May, 364 00:30:25,258 --> 00:30:28,304 we get very little rainfall. It's quite dry. 365 00:30:28,435 --> 00:30:32,047 And then when the Aspen leaf out and other types of 366 00:30:32,178 --> 00:30:37,836 green vegetation, you know, the humidity goes up. 367 00:30:37,966 --> 00:30:47,323 ♪ 368 00:30:47,454 --> 00:30:52,024 [David S.] They're sucking water up with their roots and 369 00:30:52,154 --> 00:30:56,245 it's going up carrying nutrients and water to 370 00:30:56,376 --> 00:31:00,423 the leaves and needles and so forth. 371 00:31:00,554 --> 00:31:01,642 [Sandy] They have a phloem system and 372 00:31:01,772 --> 00:31:09,171 a xylem system that's moving water up, nutrients down. 373 00:31:09,302 --> 00:31:11,043 [Diana] If there's very little water for the tree, 374 00:31:11,173 --> 00:31:13,697 the tree will stay closed. 375 00:31:13,828 --> 00:31:16,352 If there's a lot of water in the tree, 376 00:31:16,483 --> 00:31:20,530 it can open its mouth at any time it wants to. 377 00:31:20,661 --> 00:31:31,280 ♪ 378 00:31:31,411 --> 00:31:36,198 [David S.] They let water loose into the atmosphere and 379 00:31:36,329 --> 00:31:40,376 it can be as great or greater of an evaporation. 380 00:31:40,507 --> 00:31:49,995 ♪ [ethereal] 381 00:31:50,125 --> 00:31:51,300 [thunderclap] 382 00:31:51,431 --> 00:31:53,085 [David P.] That has two consequences. 383 00:31:53,215 --> 00:31:55,957 It drops the temperature and that moisture has to 384 00:31:56,088 --> 00:31:58,655 come down as precipitation somewhere else. 385 00:31:58,786 --> 00:32:01,354 ♪ 386 00:32:01,484 --> 00:32:11,364 ♪ [rainfall patter continues] 387 00:32:11,494 --> 00:32:19,241 ♪ [rainfall patter continues] 388 00:32:19,372 --> 00:32:22,549 ♪ 389 00:32:22,679 --> 00:32:29,251 [rushing water] 390 00:32:29,382 --> 00:32:34,213 ♪ 391 00:32:34,343 --> 00:32:39,348 [David S.] Things rot in the forest and fall down, 392 00:32:39,479 --> 00:32:40,262 and things that are decomposing 393 00:32:40,393 --> 00:32:45,006 slowly break down in aquatic systems, 394 00:32:45,137 --> 00:32:47,748 producing bacteria which are in turn 395 00:32:47,878 --> 00:32:54,233 eaten by small crustaceans and rotifers and things. 396 00:32:54,363 --> 00:32:57,584 Work their way up the food chain. 397 00:32:57,714 --> 00:33:08,421 ♪ 398 00:33:08,551 --> 00:33:12,033 [Diana] Without the trees, there would be no great 399 00:33:12,164 --> 00:33:13,687 feeding foundation in the ocean and 400 00:33:13,817 --> 00:33:16,472 the whales wouldn't exist. 401 00:33:16,603 --> 00:33:25,003 ♪ 402 00:33:25,133 --> 00:33:26,308 [snorting] 403 00:33:26,439 --> 00:33:41,236 ♪ 404 00:33:58,732 --> 00:34:05,086 [bird calls] 405 00:34:15,661 --> 00:34:20,667 [trickling] 406 00:34:20,797 --> 00:34:28,370 ♪ 407 00:34:28,501 --> 00:34:32,373 [loon calls] 408 00:34:32,505 --> 00:34:36,987 [Edmund] There is a certain way of activity 409 00:34:37,118 --> 00:34:42,601 for the maintenance of a system. 410 00:34:42,732 --> 00:34:45,605 They all have their function. 411 00:34:45,735 --> 00:34:51,132 [creaking & crunching] 412 00:34:51,263 --> 00:34:55,266 To survive as long as they can, 413 00:34:55,397 --> 00:35:01,055 but also to have the reward of nourishing somebody else. 414 00:35:01,186 --> 00:35:08,410 [creaking & cracking] 415 00:35:08,541 --> 00:35:11,152 ♪ 416 00:35:11,283 --> 00:35:15,504 [squeaking & grumbling] 417 00:35:15,635 --> 00:35:23,121 ♪ 418 00:35:23,251 --> 00:35:24,470 [birds chirping] 419 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:28,909 [David S.] These levees that contain all these ponds, 420 00:35:29,039 --> 00:35:36,830 some of those are sealed off from the river by beavers. 421 00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:40,616 Now, those pools maintain a surprising variety of things 422 00:35:40,747 --> 00:35:45,186 from fish to waterfowl of various kinds. 423 00:35:45,317 --> 00:35:49,495 It's a whole niche that wouldn't be there if it were dry. 424 00:35:49,625 --> 00:35:58,547 [birds chirping] 425 00:35:58,678 --> 00:36:01,550 [squeaking] 426 00:36:01,681 --> 00:36:05,119 [croaking] 427 00:36:05,250 --> 00:36:15,173 [birds chirping] 428 00:36:15,303 --> 00:36:24,312 ♪ [faint bird chirping continues] ♪ 429 00:36:24,443 --> 00:36:34,496 ♪ 430 00:36:34,627 --> 00:36:47,770 ♪ 431 00:36:47,901 --> 00:36:48,771 [Nadir] Plants have a memory. 432 00:36:48,902 --> 00:36:51,426 I'm a really strong believer of that. 433 00:36:51,557 --> 00:36:53,863 Memory means their experiences make them 434 00:36:53,994 --> 00:36:57,563 who they are, what they are. 435 00:36:57,693 --> 00:36:59,173 That's a part of evolution. 436 00:36:59,304 --> 00:37:00,783 That's a part of the survival mechanisms. 437 00:37:00,914 --> 00:37:04,874 They learn. 438 00:37:05,005 --> 00:37:07,529 The things about the trees, at their different life stages, 439 00:37:07,660 --> 00:37:10,228 they are attacked with the different enemies. 440 00:37:10,358 --> 00:37:13,927 When they're young, they might be attacked by rabbits. 441 00:37:14,057 --> 00:37:15,276 But when the tree becomes tree, 442 00:37:15,407 --> 00:37:17,626 they're not attacked by rabbits, 443 00:37:17,757 --> 00:37:18,932 they are attacked by something else. Right? 444 00:37:19,062 --> 00:37:22,631 They all have a different mechanism to dealing with 445 00:37:22,762 --> 00:37:24,459 all the different enemies of the plants. 446 00:37:24,590 --> 00:37:28,811 Remember the plants, they cannot run away. 447 00:37:28,942 --> 00:37:33,599 [chewing] 448 00:37:37,559 --> 00:37:47,352 [howling wind] 449 00:37:47,482 --> 00:37:52,095 [birds chirping] 450 00:37:52,226 --> 00:37:57,710 [Stan] So, Spruce Trees are the typical evergreen trees. 451 00:37:57,840 --> 00:38:01,235 It takes many, many years to become a mature tree, 452 00:38:01,366 --> 00:38:07,459 and they produce their seed in these cones. 453 00:38:07,589 --> 00:38:09,243 [squeaking] 454 00:38:09,374 --> 00:38:12,899 Red squirrels really rely heavily on conifer seed 455 00:38:13,029 --> 00:38:16,555 produced by the Spruce Trees. 456 00:38:16,685 --> 00:38:18,296 The Spruce produce these cones and the seeds are 457 00:38:18,426 --> 00:38:21,908 locked inside the cones under these, 458 00:38:22,038 --> 00:38:22,865 each bract of that cone. 459 00:38:22,996 --> 00:38:25,477 [squeaking] 460 00:38:25,607 --> 00:38:27,740 The squirrels are really efficient at husking them, 461 00:38:27,870 --> 00:38:32,701 and it's just like you eating a corn on the cob. 462 00:38:32,832 --> 00:38:34,181 [squeaking] 463 00:38:34,312 --> 00:38:39,099 When the cones are mature, the seed is ready to be dropped. 464 00:38:39,229 --> 00:38:40,927 The squirrels clip the cones before that happens, 465 00:38:41,057 --> 00:38:44,800 drop them to the ground. 466 00:38:44,931 --> 00:38:48,761 The squirrels dig holes and shove the cones down 467 00:38:48,891 --> 00:38:51,546 inside there and cones and stay nice and moist and 468 00:38:51,677 --> 00:38:55,855 cool down there and then they don't open. 469 00:38:59,598 --> 00:39:02,470 And over the years, they husk the cones 470 00:39:02,601 --> 00:39:05,821 to get at the inner seeds, which is what 471 00:39:05,952 --> 00:39:07,649 they use for the food. 472 00:39:07,780 --> 00:39:11,349 [squeaking] 473 00:39:11,479 --> 00:39:14,264 Clearly, the tree is not too keen on the squirrel chewing 474 00:39:14,395 --> 00:39:16,179 all this seed up before it can drop to the ground and 475 00:39:16,310 --> 00:39:20,009 produce more baby trees. 476 00:39:20,140 --> 00:39:22,185 ♪ 477 00:39:22,316 --> 00:39:25,363 So, the trees synchronize when they produce 478 00:39:25,493 --> 00:39:27,626 big crops of cones. 479 00:39:27,756 --> 00:39:29,845 When that synchronization takes place, 480 00:39:29,976 --> 00:39:34,197 we call it a mast year. 481 00:39:34,328 --> 00:39:36,243 They make so many cones that even the 482 00:39:36,374 --> 00:39:38,854 best-equipped squirrels can't clip all of them and 483 00:39:38,985 --> 00:39:41,901 store them before the cones open. 484 00:39:42,031 --> 00:39:47,689 So a lot of the seed escapes. 485 00:39:47,820 --> 00:39:49,865 But once that seed is shed from the cone, 486 00:39:49,996 --> 00:39:56,481 the squirrels are totally inefficient at harvesting it. 487 00:39:56,611 --> 00:39:59,397 They can't go around the ground and scoop up 488 00:39:59,527 --> 00:40:01,747 every little individual seed and consume it. 489 00:40:01,877 --> 00:40:02,965 They're just not built that way. 490 00:40:03,096 --> 00:40:06,447 [squeaking] 491 00:40:06,578 --> 00:40:08,449 However, the squirrel says, "Well, just hold on here, 492 00:40:08,580 --> 00:40:10,843 I'm going to try and combat that." 493 00:40:10,973 --> 00:40:12,714 [squeaking] 494 00:40:12,845 --> 00:40:17,458 The mothers can sense that a big mast is coming and 495 00:40:17,589 --> 00:40:19,417 they crank up their reproduction 496 00:40:19,547 --> 00:40:21,027 before they get access to those cones. 497 00:40:21,157 --> 00:40:29,557 [squeaking & chirping] 498 00:40:29,688 --> 00:40:32,604 And so, they're back and forth, 499 00:40:32,734 --> 00:40:34,910 these two species playing games with each other over 500 00:40:35,041 --> 00:40:40,742 a lot of evolutionary time to try and outwit each other. 501 00:40:40,873 --> 00:40:42,788 [squeaking] 502 00:40:42,918 --> 00:40:44,442 The trees, for the most part, 503 00:40:44,572 --> 00:40:45,747 I must admit, win. 504 00:40:45,878 --> 00:40:55,104 ♪ 505 00:40:55,235 --> 00:41:06,202 ♪ [ethereal] 506 00:41:06,333 --> 00:41:11,599 ♪ [ethereal] 507 00:41:11,730 --> 00:41:15,473 [Isabelle] The forest provides food. 508 00:41:15,603 --> 00:41:19,128 The forest provides medicine. 509 00:41:19,259 --> 00:41:25,613 ♪ 510 00:41:25,744 --> 00:41:28,137 Solitude, peace of mind. 511 00:41:28,268 --> 00:41:31,663 [birds chirping] 512 00:41:31,793 --> 00:41:34,666 It's just this abundant living, 513 00:41:34,796 --> 00:41:40,976 beautiful organism that offers us whatever we really need. 514 00:41:41,107 --> 00:41:42,978 Spruce, because of the essential oils, 515 00:41:43,109 --> 00:41:46,895 the sap is used as an aromatherapy tool. 516 00:41:47,026 --> 00:41:49,681 Bunchberry. 517 00:41:49,811 --> 00:41:53,859 They have an antiseptic anti-inflammatory property. 518 00:41:53,989 --> 00:41:55,643 So this is a lichen. 519 00:41:55,774 --> 00:41:58,733 There's a lot of lichens that grow on Spruce Trees. 520 00:41:58,864 --> 00:42:01,562 You could brew it into a tea and use it to 521 00:42:01,693 --> 00:42:04,696 treat strep throat specifically. 522 00:42:04,826 --> 00:42:07,046 And then wild strawberries, which are obviously 523 00:42:07,176 --> 00:42:10,179 just delicious and for eating. 524 00:42:10,310 --> 00:42:19,754 [birds continue chirping] 525 00:42:19,885 --> 00:42:22,452 [Diana] All species on the margins of life produce 526 00:42:22,583 --> 00:42:24,629 the greatest amount of medicine. 527 00:42:24,759 --> 00:42:29,721 So the greatest medicines we have are found in the Boreal. 528 00:42:37,206 --> 00:42:39,252 [Thomas] These medicines are like all over the forests, 529 00:42:39,382 --> 00:42:44,866 all over the bush. 530 00:42:44,997 --> 00:42:47,739 This is clean, you know. 531 00:42:47,869 --> 00:42:50,393 This is the cleanest place. 532 00:42:55,703 --> 00:42:57,400 When you sleep here, you sleep good. 533 00:42:57,531 --> 00:42:59,098 You know, you're... 534 00:42:59,228 --> 00:43:02,667 you're smelling all that medicine and all that clean air. 535 00:43:02,797 --> 00:43:07,062 You smell like trees, you know. 536 00:43:09,761 --> 00:43:11,980 [Tuukka] If you walk in a forest, 537 00:43:12,111 --> 00:43:14,766 you smell the forest. 538 00:43:14,896 --> 00:43:20,598 Trees are emitting vapours as a side product of photosynthesis. 539 00:43:20,728 --> 00:43:25,820 And the smell of the forest is coming from these vapours. 540 00:43:25,951 --> 00:43:28,606 For example, Pine Tree is mostly emitting 541 00:43:28,736 --> 00:43:31,217 a compound called alpha-Pinene. 542 00:43:31,347 --> 00:43:32,958 There's many purposes. 543 00:43:33,088 --> 00:43:35,917 One of them is to repel insects. 544 00:43:36,048 --> 00:43:40,095 ♪ 545 00:43:40,226 --> 00:43:41,836 [insects buzzing] 546 00:43:41,967 --> 00:43:44,143 [Roger] Every species has its nemesis. 547 00:43:44,273 --> 00:43:47,799 The mountain pine beetle is the primary pest affecting 548 00:43:47,929 --> 00:43:49,888 Lodgepole Pine and Jack Pine. 549 00:43:50,018 --> 00:43:57,983 ♪ 550 00:43:58,113 --> 00:44:01,769 [Sandy] So, the female beetle comes in and 551 00:44:01,900 --> 00:44:02,857 she starts chewing. 552 00:44:02,988 --> 00:44:06,818 She sends chemical signals out to attract 553 00:44:06,948 --> 00:44:08,907 other males and other females. 554 00:44:09,037 --> 00:44:12,824 Trees can defend themselves fairly well. 555 00:44:12,954 --> 00:44:16,697 With conifers, the first and the basic strategy is 556 00:44:16,828 --> 00:44:20,919 resin production to prevent them from getting in. 557 00:44:21,049 --> 00:44:24,270 [gurgling] 558 00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:25,706 If they can produce enough resin, 559 00:44:25,837 --> 00:44:30,580 they can pitch out or suffocate beetles that are attacking. 560 00:44:30,711 --> 00:44:36,761 [fluttering wings] 561 00:44:36,891 --> 00:44:39,111 [creaking] 562 00:44:39,241 --> 00:44:42,549 [Tuukka] Coming from the damages that the insect 563 00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:46,814 has been doing, the tree starts to emit more vapours. 564 00:44:46,945 --> 00:44:53,386 ♪ 565 00:44:53,516 --> 00:44:58,826 [Diana] They deal in chemistry. 566 00:44:58,957 --> 00:45:02,917 The conversation is based on alarm and response. 567 00:45:03,048 --> 00:45:05,833 They're giving a message to their siblings that 568 00:45:05,964 --> 00:45:10,055 there is trouble on the way. 569 00:45:10,185 --> 00:45:13,798 [Nadir] That means that those unattacked healthy trees 570 00:45:13,928 --> 00:45:17,279 have already stronger defences build up 571 00:45:17,410 --> 00:45:22,458 before beetles arrive. 572 00:45:22,589 --> 00:45:24,156 [Roger] So they can produce an extra amount of resin to 573 00:45:24,286 --> 00:45:28,813 really pitch out these mass attacks when they occur. 574 00:45:28,943 --> 00:45:31,119 They'll pitch those beetles out, no problem. 575 00:45:31,250 --> 00:45:34,732 And it won't really affect the tree. 576 00:45:34,862 --> 00:45:37,430 ♪ 577 00:45:37,560 --> 00:45:39,214 [Nadir] They can't even release anything-- they die. 578 00:45:39,345 --> 00:45:42,522 Because the compound is so toxic. 579 00:45:42,652 --> 00:45:49,007 ♪ 580 00:45:49,137 --> 00:45:50,051 [Isabelle] When I walk into the forest and 581 00:45:50,182 --> 00:45:53,968 I realize that these trees are communicating, 582 00:45:54,099 --> 00:45:56,188 that's so affirming to me that 583 00:45:56,318 --> 00:45:59,408 we're not alone in this experience. 584 00:45:59,539 --> 00:46:13,335 ♪ 585 00:46:13,466 --> 00:46:18,906 [bird calls] 586 00:46:19,037 --> 00:46:29,003 ♪ 587 00:46:29,134 --> 00:46:34,922 ♪ 588 00:46:35,053 --> 00:46:40,623 [wind gusts] 589 00:46:40,754 --> 00:46:43,365 [Gerry] As it approaches fall, 590 00:46:43,496 --> 00:46:48,414 the trees receive a signal from the shorter day length 591 00:46:48,544 --> 00:46:51,069 to start going into dormancy. 592 00:46:51,199 --> 00:47:01,775 ♪ 593 00:47:01,906 --> 00:47:07,999 The tree stops producing chlorophyll... 594 00:47:08,129 --> 00:47:12,177 making it appear as if something new is happening. 595 00:47:12,307 --> 00:47:16,007 It's actually just the green disappearing, 596 00:47:16,137 --> 00:47:19,140 which has revealed the yellow that was there previously. 597 00:47:19,271 --> 00:47:29,977 ♪ 598 00:47:30,108 --> 00:47:36,810 ♪ 599 00:47:36,941 --> 00:47:40,466 It is this annual falling of the leaves from the 600 00:47:40,596 --> 00:47:44,122 deciduous trees that helps to recycle 601 00:47:44,252 --> 00:47:48,300 the nutrients very quickly. 602 00:47:48,430 --> 00:47:53,653 The brilliant colours are as much a pledge of things 603 00:47:53,783 --> 00:47:59,441 to come as they are of a thing that once were. 604 00:47:59,572 --> 00:48:09,538 ♪ 605 00:48:09,669 --> 00:48:19,548 ♪ 606 00:48:19,679 --> 00:48:29,558 ♪ 607 00:48:29,689 --> 00:48:42,528 ♪ 608 00:48:42,658 --> 00:48:48,186 [rustling] 609 00:48:48,316 --> 00:49:02,330 ♪ 610 00:49:08,684 --> 00:49:11,296 When a Boreal Forest gets old, 611 00:49:11,426 --> 00:49:13,515 what you have are the trees that have managed to 612 00:49:13,646 --> 00:49:20,000 escape fire for many years, maybe several hundred years. 613 00:49:20,131 --> 00:49:22,394 Those are mostly Black Spruce, 614 00:49:22,524 --> 00:49:28,226 the Jack Pine are getting old and ragged looking. 615 00:49:28,356 --> 00:49:31,272 Jack Pine and Black Spruce needles help acidify 616 00:49:31,403 --> 00:49:38,976 the landscape and slow down the decomposition. 617 00:49:39,106 --> 00:49:42,370 So we have an old Boreal Forest, 618 00:49:42,501 --> 00:49:48,028 you have ground fuel and you've got fuel in the crown. 619 00:49:51,989 --> 00:49:54,339 And given the right source of ignition like a 620 00:49:54,469 --> 00:50:02,303 lightning strike, the old Boreal Forest is ready to burn. 621 00:50:02,434 --> 00:50:03,565 And we don't know when that's going to happen. 622 00:50:03,696 --> 00:50:05,306 Could be tomorrow. 623 00:50:05,437 --> 00:50:09,615 It could be 30 or 40 years down the road. 624 00:50:13,619 --> 00:50:21,148 ♪ 625 00:50:21,279 --> 00:50:24,934 But over time, in the absence of fire, 626 00:50:25,065 --> 00:50:28,851 there becomes less and less nutrients available for the 627 00:50:28,982 --> 00:50:34,118 support and growth of those Boreal Forest conifer trees. 628 00:50:34,248 --> 00:50:36,903 Many of the mosses on the forest floor are 629 00:50:37,034 --> 00:50:40,820 ready to take advantage of that. 630 00:50:40,950 --> 00:50:45,999 And they build up a moss layer on the forest floor, 631 00:50:46,130 --> 00:50:49,611 which is the bank in which these nutrients and 632 00:50:49,742 --> 00:50:53,180 some of the forest carbon is stored. 633 00:50:53,311 --> 00:50:58,403 ♪ 634 00:50:58,533 --> 00:51:01,101 Sphagnum mosses can gradually build upon themselves 635 00:51:01,232 --> 00:51:05,540 and accumulate to many metres of depth. 636 00:51:05,671 --> 00:51:06,715 It's called peat. 637 00:51:06,846 --> 00:51:18,553 ♪ [ethereal] 638 00:51:18,684 --> 00:51:21,382 [David P.] And of course, the peat tends to freeze 639 00:51:21,513 --> 00:51:23,080 in the far north. 640 00:51:23,210 --> 00:51:27,562 Large areas of northern Canada is permafrost, 641 00:51:27,693 --> 00:51:30,217 frozen organic soil. 642 00:51:30,348 --> 00:51:32,698 Peat accumulates over thousands of years to be very, 643 00:51:32,828 --> 00:51:38,007 very large stores of peat and other organic material. 644 00:51:38,138 --> 00:51:43,361 A layer of moss and other vegetation provides insulation, 645 00:51:43,491 --> 00:51:46,581 which means that the permafrost itself is protected from melting 646 00:51:46,712 --> 00:51:52,370 in warm years because that layer of sphagnum moss and 647 00:51:52,500 --> 00:51:54,676 maybe the shading provided by the trees 648 00:51:54,807 --> 00:51:57,244 help to keep the temperature below zero. 649 00:51:57,375 --> 00:52:02,467 ♪ 650 00:52:02,597 --> 00:52:05,557 [Kajar] We have been working a lot on permafrost areas. 651 00:52:05,687 --> 00:52:08,125 When fire occurs, the temperatures inside 652 00:52:08,255 --> 00:52:12,303 the flame can be 700, 800, 900 degrees. 653 00:52:12,433 --> 00:52:14,261 But if you are going a couple of centimetres below the ground 654 00:52:14,392 --> 00:52:18,178 into the soil, there is almost no changes 655 00:52:18,309 --> 00:52:19,701 inside the temperature. 656 00:52:19,832 --> 00:52:22,182 So actually the permafrost doesn't know that 657 00:52:22,313 --> 00:52:24,619 it burns up there. 658 00:52:24,750 --> 00:52:38,242 ♪ 659 00:52:41,854 --> 00:52:46,119 [Isabelle] I like the calm that comes over everything 660 00:52:46,250 --> 00:52:50,471 as it's preparing to go to sleep. 661 00:52:50,602 --> 00:53:00,568 ♪ [choir singing] 662 00:53:00,699 --> 00:53:10,535 ♪ [choir singing] 663 00:53:10,665 --> 00:53:23,374 ♪ [choir singing] 664 00:53:23,504 --> 00:53:29,423 [Gerry] We call conifer trees, evergreens. 665 00:53:29,554 --> 00:53:34,515 And they are indeed always green as long as they're healthy. 666 00:53:34,646 --> 00:53:38,389 [Diana] They have the ability in their genome to 667 00:53:38,519 --> 00:53:43,132 withstand great cold, which makes them unique 668 00:53:43,263 --> 00:53:44,656 because they are still photosynthesizing and 669 00:53:44,786 --> 00:53:52,490 they're still sequestering at very low temperatures. 670 00:53:52,620 --> 00:53:55,797 [Gerry] There is a great advantage to the architecture 671 00:53:55,928 --> 00:53:59,366 of coniferous trees having branches that 672 00:53:59,497 --> 00:54:02,456 readily shed snow. 673 00:54:02,587 --> 00:54:16,949 ♪ 674 00:54:17,079 --> 00:54:21,519 Trees are incredibly adaptable. 675 00:54:21,649 --> 00:54:24,739 Poplar and Birch both have white bark. 676 00:54:24,870 --> 00:54:30,267 The white bark reflects sunlight as a form of insulation 677 00:54:30,397 --> 00:54:33,531 against premature thawing of the tree. 678 00:54:33,661 --> 00:54:46,979 ♪ 679 00:54:47,109 --> 00:54:52,419 [rustling branches] 680 00:54:52,550 --> 00:54:54,639 [Isabelle] All winter long, there's still berries that 681 00:54:54,769 --> 00:55:02,081 have frozen and they just stay beautiful and bright and red. 682 00:55:02,211 --> 00:55:05,606 And then they have these perfect layerings of snow. 683 00:55:05,737 --> 00:55:10,307 The snow is so soft, and pillowy, and insulating... 684 00:55:10,437 --> 00:55:13,614 It creates this wonderful, cozy feeling. 685 00:55:13,745 --> 00:55:23,668 ♪ [ethereal] 686 00:55:23,798 --> 00:55:33,678 ♪ [ethereal] 687 00:55:33,808 --> 00:55:43,470 ♪ [ethereal] 688 00:55:43,601 --> 00:55:46,647 [Edmund] There's a peace there and 689 00:55:46,778 --> 00:55:49,650 there is a presence there. 690 00:55:49,781 --> 00:55:55,047 They're very gentle, they're very kind and 691 00:55:55,177 --> 00:56:01,401 they're very understanding and very happy when they see you. 692 00:56:01,532 --> 00:56:04,796 Everybody has a certain personality, 693 00:56:04,926 --> 00:56:07,451 and so, the same thing with the world. 694 00:56:07,581 --> 00:56:11,411 The elements within the environment, 695 00:56:11,542 --> 00:56:16,503 they have their own rules to follow and their own needs. 696 00:56:22,161 --> 00:56:23,771 [Gerry] That's something that we need to be thinking about 697 00:56:23,902 --> 00:56:28,385 when we start talking about how we as humans 698 00:56:28,515 --> 00:56:31,431 interact with the forest. 699 00:56:31,562 --> 00:56:32,389 [snorts] 700 00:56:32,519 --> 00:56:47,099 [roaring snow machine engine] 701 00:56:53,801 --> 00:57:02,070 [bird calls] 702 00:57:02,201 --> 00:57:04,682 [insect buzzing] 703 00:57:18,086 --> 00:57:20,262 [Ben] I am a trapper. 704 00:57:20,393 --> 00:57:23,483 I use the forest for other forms of recreation like 705 00:57:23,614 --> 00:57:27,400 fishing, hunting and berry picking. 706 00:57:28,923 --> 00:57:33,145 All kinds of things that I do in the forest. 707 00:57:33,275 --> 00:57:36,714 I'm a big user. 708 00:57:41,545 --> 00:57:47,115 [snow machine engine rumbling in the distance] 709 00:57:49,509 --> 00:57:53,165 [creaking trees] 710 00:57:55,167 --> 00:58:00,868 [bird calls] 711 00:58:06,178 --> 00:58:10,791 When you come here on a nice day and it's so beautiful... 712 00:58:10,922 --> 00:58:13,838 you seem to forget about all the problems in the world, 713 00:58:13,968 --> 00:58:15,927 the killing and the mass murders. 714 00:58:16,057 --> 00:58:19,713 The mass shootings. I'm not gonna get bombed. 715 00:58:19,844 --> 00:58:21,585 I feel safe here. 716 00:58:21,715 --> 00:58:23,500 [creaking] 717 00:58:28,766 --> 00:58:32,596 [animal calls] 718 00:58:38,471 --> 00:58:44,651 I've noticed a decline in certain species over the years. 719 00:58:44,782 --> 00:58:46,871 But that's understandable because of 720 00:58:47,001 --> 00:58:49,917 the harvesting of the forest. 721 00:58:50,048 --> 00:58:53,834 [indistinct buzzing & bird chiriping] 722 00:58:53,965 --> 00:58:56,707 [loud crack followed by flapping wings] 723 00:58:56,837 --> 00:58:59,971 [indistinct thud & buzzing] 724 00:59:00,101 --> 00:59:10,677 [chainsaw & rumbling machinery] 725 00:59:10,808 --> 00:59:12,940 [loud rumble & boom] 726 00:59:13,071 --> 00:59:21,949 [chainsaw] 727 00:59:22,080 --> 00:59:26,780 [crash] 728 00:59:26,911 --> 00:59:38,139 ♪ 729 00:59:38,270 --> 00:59:43,231 [saw buzzing] 730 00:59:43,362 --> 00:59:49,063 ♪ [suspenseful] 731 00:59:49,194 --> 00:59:53,764 [saw buzzing] 732 00:59:53,894 --> 00:59:57,419 [bang] 733 00:59:57,550 --> 01:00:07,908 ♪ [suspenseful] 734 01:00:08,039 --> 01:00:13,087 [chainsaw buzzing] 735 01:00:13,218 --> 01:00:17,483 [creak & crash] 736 01:00:17,614 --> 01:00:23,141 ♪ [suspenseful] 737 01:00:23,271 --> 01:00:29,103 [machine clang] 738 01:00:29,234 --> 01:00:34,195 [saw buzzing & grinding] 739 01:00:34,326 --> 01:00:38,635 ♪ 740 01:00:38,765 --> 01:00:46,860 [rumbling & creaking of metal] 741 01:00:46,991 --> 01:00:53,432 ♪ 742 01:00:58,611 --> 01:01:01,092 [Robert] So, the primary conifer species in this area 743 01:01:01,222 --> 01:01:03,834 are Black Spruce and Jack Pine. 744 01:01:03,964 --> 01:01:06,097 The average age is, I want to say, 745 01:01:06,227 --> 01:01:08,099 85 years of age. 746 01:01:08,229 --> 01:01:12,407 And that's generally where the forest will reach the 747 01:01:12,538 --> 01:01:17,195 highest quality of timber and the most amount of timber. 748 01:01:46,137 --> 01:01:52,709 ♪ 749 01:01:52,839 --> 01:01:59,106 The round logs were processed into two-by-four studs. 750 01:01:59,237 --> 01:02:01,848 Of course, there's also full tree chipping. 751 01:02:01,979 --> 01:02:05,199 Those chips are sent to a nearby pulp mill. 752 01:02:05,330 --> 01:02:09,987 Pulp is used for everything from the paper you write on 753 01:02:10,117 --> 01:02:14,034 to material used in diapers. 754 01:02:14,165 --> 01:02:17,995 [saw buzzing] 755 01:02:18,125 --> 01:02:20,998 [creaking] 756 01:02:21,128 --> 01:02:25,785 [saw grinding] 757 01:02:25,916 --> 01:02:29,180 [rumbling & boom] 758 01:02:29,310 --> 01:02:32,270 [saw grinding] 759 01:02:32,400 --> 01:02:35,360 [rumbling & boom] 760 01:02:35,490 --> 01:02:39,407 ♪ [somber] 761 01:02:39,538 --> 01:02:43,194 After a harvest we'll assess what competition there might be 762 01:02:43,324 --> 01:02:49,243 there for conifer species that we want to regenerate. 763 01:02:49,374 --> 01:02:52,029 We do use glyphosate. 764 01:02:52,159 --> 01:02:55,641 The herbicide targets deciduous species: 765 01:02:55,772 --> 01:03:00,037 Poplar, Birch as well, competing vegetation 766 01:03:00,167 --> 01:03:04,258 such as raspberry. 767 01:03:04,389 --> 01:03:09,176 The herbicide is absorbed in the leaf and into 768 01:03:09,307 --> 01:03:13,224 the plant system, and then it dies. 769 01:03:13,354 --> 01:03:25,410 ♪ 770 01:03:25,540 --> 01:03:28,848 [Edmund] We are very careless. 771 01:03:28,979 --> 01:03:31,329 I suppose that when the trees look at us, 772 01:03:31,459 --> 01:03:35,289 they say we're very careless. 773 01:03:35,420 --> 01:03:38,423 We throw things around. 774 01:03:38,553 --> 01:03:48,476 ♪ 775 01:03:48,607 --> 01:03:58,486 ♪ 776 01:03:58,617 --> 01:04:08,453 ♪ 777 01:04:08,583 --> 01:04:18,463 ♪ 778 01:04:18,593 --> 01:04:28,473 ♪ 779 01:04:28,603 --> 01:04:38,483 ♪ 780 01:04:38,613 --> 01:04:48,493 ♪ 781 01:04:48,623 --> 01:04:55,804 ♪ 782 01:04:55,935 --> 01:05:01,288 [bell chiming] 783 01:05:01,419 --> 01:05:04,422 [Isabelle] There are so many roads 784 01:05:04,552 --> 01:05:07,904 and they go for... 785 01:05:08,034 --> 01:05:10,210 I don't even know where they stop. 786 01:05:10,341 --> 01:05:15,999 It seems like they just continue forever. 787 01:05:16,129 --> 01:05:22,222 ♪ 788 01:05:22,353 --> 01:05:26,879 [David S.] There's roads, there's seismic lines... 789 01:05:27,010 --> 01:05:27,967 there's well pads, 790 01:05:28,098 --> 01:05:31,623 there's lines to connect the well pads... 791 01:05:31,753 --> 01:05:34,321 roads to service them. 792 01:05:34,452 --> 01:05:35,583 A toxic waste treatment centre right in 793 01:05:35,714 --> 01:05:37,498 the middle of the Boreal. 794 01:05:37,629 --> 01:05:43,156 And then the oil sands, which are all in Boreal areas. 795 01:05:43,287 --> 01:05:46,333 ♪ 796 01:05:46,464 --> 01:05:50,468 [Ben] You see more development, subdivisions. 797 01:05:50,598 --> 01:05:54,951 You wonder sometimes if they're going to run out of bush. 798 01:05:55,081 --> 01:05:56,953 But I mean, the way I look at it, 799 01:05:57,083 --> 01:06:01,261 we're all users of the forest. 800 01:06:01,392 --> 01:06:02,480 ♪ 801 01:06:02,610 --> 01:06:11,576 ♪ [suspenseful] 802 01:06:11,706 --> 01:06:15,362 [truck honking] 803 01:06:15,493 --> 01:06:24,719 ♪ [suspenseful] 804 01:06:24,850 --> 01:06:40,126 ♪ [energetic] 805 01:06:40,257 --> 01:06:47,307 [cameras clicking] 806 01:06:47,438 --> 01:06:50,310 [truck honking] 807 01:06:50,441 --> 01:07:02,279 ♪ 808 01:07:02,409 --> 01:07:04,150 [Mike] People love to be in the woods. 809 01:07:04,281 --> 01:07:09,286 People love wildlife, and this is normal. 810 01:07:09,416 --> 01:07:12,463 [Erin] People want to buy or build and be directly 811 01:07:12,593 --> 01:07:17,033 adjacent or close to the forest. 812 01:07:17,163 --> 01:07:23,517 [indistinct radio broadcast] 813 01:07:23,648 --> 01:07:26,042 [Mike] But recognize that, you know, 814 01:07:26,172 --> 01:07:28,566 some of these areas are extremely fire prone. 815 01:07:28,696 --> 01:07:31,264 [thunder] 816 01:07:31,395 --> 01:07:38,706 [lawnmower whirring & indistinct chatter] 817 01:07:38,837 --> 01:07:41,883 [Erin] I knew that there was potential for forest fires. 818 01:07:42,014 --> 01:07:46,366 I never personally thought that it would breach the city limits. 819 01:07:46,497 --> 01:07:50,805 [thunderclap] 820 01:07:56,724 --> 01:08:03,166 ♪ 821 01:08:03,296 --> 01:08:04,993 [Christine] At the beginning of May, 822 01:08:05,124 --> 01:08:10,260 the fire started several kilometres to the west of us. 823 01:08:10,390 --> 01:08:17,309 The fire spread very rapidly towards the community. 824 01:08:17,441 --> 01:08:19,006 [Erin] We ended up losing everything, 825 01:08:19,138 --> 01:08:21,619 our house, our personal belongings, 826 01:08:21,749 --> 01:08:24,317 the trees, everything. 827 01:08:24,448 --> 01:08:32,456 ♪ 828 01:08:32,585 --> 01:08:35,502 [Christine] As a biologist, I understand that 829 01:08:35,633 --> 01:08:40,333 the wildlife and the plants need fire. 830 01:08:40,464 --> 01:08:43,423 But the community was really devastated by the fire. 831 01:08:43,554 --> 01:08:48,428 Some of them are still suffering, mentally. 832 01:08:48,559 --> 01:08:50,474 [Erin] We still look around and see burnt forest 833 01:08:50,603 --> 01:08:53,259 every single day that we're here. 834 01:08:53,389 --> 01:08:58,656 ♪ 835 01:08:58,786 --> 01:09:12,278 [helicopter chuff] 836 01:09:12,408 --> 01:09:14,541 [Mike] We found that the warmer it gets, 837 01:09:14,672 --> 01:09:16,413 the more fire we have. 838 01:09:16,542 --> 01:09:17,196 There's three reasons for this. 839 01:09:17,327 --> 01:09:20,068 The first is the warmer it is, 840 01:09:20,199 --> 01:09:22,375 the longer the fire season. 841 01:09:22,505 --> 01:09:25,943 The warmer it gets, the more lightning we see. 842 01:09:26,074 --> 01:09:29,295 As we warm, the atmosphere's ability to suck moisture 843 01:09:29,425 --> 01:09:35,171 out of the fuel increases almost exponentially. 844 01:09:35,300 --> 01:09:37,521 We're seeing more fire because of 845 01:09:37,651 --> 01:09:39,218 human caused climate change. 846 01:09:39,349 --> 01:09:41,307 And we're going to see a lot more fire. 847 01:09:41,438 --> 01:09:46,443 ♪ 848 01:09:46,573 --> 01:09:49,532 [Erin] I think you can kind of get opinions from both sides. 849 01:09:49,663 --> 01:09:52,100 People who believe that the climate change is 850 01:09:52,231 --> 01:09:55,755 what helped create this fire. 851 01:09:55,887 --> 01:09:58,933 But there's so much reclamation happening 852 01:09:59,064 --> 01:10:01,327 around the community in the oil and gas industry as well, 853 01:10:01,458 --> 01:10:03,677 trying to make it green. 854 01:10:03,808 --> 01:10:07,202 ♪ 855 01:10:07,333 --> 01:10:17,343 [hum of machinery] 856 01:10:17,474 --> 01:10:19,258 [Jessica] This was formerly the mine. 857 01:10:19,389 --> 01:10:23,827 It was mined out about 40 metres deep. 858 01:10:23,958 --> 01:10:26,700 Oil sands were removed 859 01:10:26,831 --> 01:10:31,575 and now we use it to pour composite tailings into. 860 01:10:31,705 --> 01:10:35,666 Once a tailings deposit is up to an elevation where 861 01:10:35,796 --> 01:10:37,014 we're ready for reclamation, we come in and 862 01:10:37,145 --> 01:10:40,758 we do landform grading. 863 01:10:40,888 --> 01:10:42,541 Create the hills and the valleys, 864 01:10:42,673 --> 01:10:47,155 and streams and channels. 865 01:10:47,286 --> 01:10:50,855 We need to mimic what Mother Nature's done. 866 01:10:50,985 --> 01:11:04,085 [digital feedback] 867 01:11:04,216 --> 01:11:07,219 And then this is seven years after planting. 868 01:11:07,350 --> 01:11:11,702 It's a young forest-wetland complex. 869 01:11:11,832 --> 01:11:14,835 We hope our research will help us to learn 870 01:11:14,966 --> 01:11:17,838 how to build wetlands and peatlands. 871 01:11:17,969 --> 01:11:25,933 ♪ [electronic] 872 01:11:26,064 --> 01:11:30,808 Some of our researchers that do climate change research... 873 01:11:30,938 --> 01:11:32,592 specifically carbon research, 874 01:11:32,723 --> 01:11:35,421 they're monitoring the ability for reclaimed sites 875 01:11:35,552 --> 01:11:37,858 to sequester carbon. 876 01:11:37,989 --> 01:11:40,339 ♪ 877 01:11:40,469 --> 01:11:41,645 Carbon is sequestered when plants grow. 878 01:11:41,775 --> 01:11:45,300 Young plants grow much faster than older plants. 879 01:11:45,431 --> 01:11:48,521 So a mature forest is actually sequestering 880 01:11:48,652 --> 01:11:52,264 less carbon on a yearly basis then a new forest. 881 01:11:52,395 --> 01:11:55,615 So we're actually doing well because 882 01:11:55,746 --> 01:11:56,921 our forests are so young. 883 01:11:57,050 --> 01:12:12,284 ♪ [ethereal] 884 01:12:17,811 --> 01:12:20,031 [David S.] Scientists worry that they don't know exactly 885 01:12:20,161 --> 01:12:23,817 where the tipping point is, where you've got enough CO2 886 01:12:23,948 --> 01:12:27,734 added to the atmosphere, that it will trigger those 887 01:12:27,865 --> 01:12:31,912 natural carbon cycles to where they'll accelerate 888 01:12:32,043 --> 01:12:34,567 what's going on. 889 01:12:34,698 --> 01:12:38,266 The burning of forest is one classical one. 890 01:12:38,397 --> 01:12:41,922 Another is the melting of permafrost. 891 01:12:42,053 --> 01:12:49,495 [wind gusts] 892 01:12:49,626 --> 01:12:52,193 [Kajar] Soils are getting warmer. 893 01:12:52,324 --> 01:12:53,499 Now, constantly warmer soils 894 01:12:53,630 --> 01:12:58,722 will actually start to melt the permafrost. 895 01:12:58,852 --> 01:13:00,811 [Sam] When the permafrost melts, 896 01:13:00,941 --> 01:13:02,682 everything sinks. 897 01:13:02,813 --> 01:13:08,558 ♪ 898 01:13:08,688 --> 01:13:13,824 You will find fields of trees that are dead... 899 01:13:13,954 --> 01:13:17,697 and they start falling over in different directions and 900 01:13:17,827 --> 01:13:20,700 they actually look drunk. 901 01:13:20,831 --> 01:13:29,969 ♪ 902 01:13:30,101 --> 01:13:31,798 The vegetation is rotting. 903 01:13:31,929 --> 01:13:37,804 It creates methane through the process of peat rotting. 904 01:13:37,934 --> 01:13:45,421 It's emitting methane gas, causing a greenhouse effect. 905 01:13:45,550 --> 01:13:49,163 [Kajar] Methane is one of the greenhouse gases... 906 01:13:49,294 --> 01:13:51,688 and actually if you're talking about climate change, 907 01:13:51,818 --> 01:13:56,823 the methane is a much stronger gas than CO2, carbon dioxide. 908 01:13:56,954 --> 01:14:00,653 It's almost 20 times stronger. 909 01:14:00,784 --> 01:14:10,750 ♪ 910 01:14:10,880 --> 01:14:19,716 ♪ 911 01:14:19,846 --> 01:14:21,848 [David P.] It's all about the feedbacks. 912 01:14:21,978 --> 01:14:25,504 It's getting warmer and the higher CO2 concentration 913 01:14:25,635 --> 01:14:28,898 will stimulate more growth. 914 01:14:29,029 --> 01:14:34,861 [Sam] We're on the south shore of Hudson Bay. 915 01:14:34,992 --> 01:14:38,822 There was not even one Poplar here when I was a kid, 916 01:14:38,952 --> 01:14:40,737 nothing but grass and no trees. 917 01:14:40,867 --> 01:14:44,480 But now the whole coast is getting infested with 918 01:14:44,610 --> 01:14:49,136 all kinds of Spruce, Tamarack, Poplar. 919 01:14:49,267 --> 01:15:00,800 ♪ 920 01:15:00,931 --> 01:15:02,889 [David P.] One of the limitations to the rate at which 921 01:15:03,020 --> 01:15:05,588 forests can expand northward is just 922 01:15:05,718 --> 01:15:09,374 how fast they can produce seed. 923 01:15:09,505 --> 01:15:13,726 The shift in the climate zones will be so much more rapid 924 01:15:13,857 --> 01:15:16,947 that the forest will not be able to keep up. 925 01:15:17,077 --> 01:15:20,646 The northward extension will not be as dramatic, 926 01:15:20,777 --> 01:15:24,824 I suspect, as the southern dieback. 927 01:15:24,955 --> 01:15:26,957 ♪ 928 01:15:27,087 --> 01:15:29,089 [groans] 929 01:15:29,219 --> 01:15:38,055 ♪ 930 01:15:38,184 --> 01:15:42,886 [rustling leaves] 931 01:15:43,016 --> 01:15:46,324 [David P.] The general trend for the Boreal Forest, 932 01:15:46,454 --> 01:15:50,458 I think, in the south, is definitely browning down. 933 01:15:50,589 --> 01:15:57,030 [rustling leaves] 934 01:15:57,161 --> 01:15:59,816 [Ted] I mean, we've been working on Aspen since the 935 01:15:59,946 --> 01:16:03,602 early 90s because there were some early episodes 936 01:16:03,733 --> 01:16:05,517 of Aspen decline. 937 01:16:05,648 --> 01:16:07,954 What's new is the extent of the decline is 938 01:16:08,085 --> 01:16:11,523 much greater than it used to be. 939 01:16:11,654 --> 01:16:16,572 And part of it is the change toward drier conditions. 940 01:16:16,702 --> 01:16:18,486 This isn't just a normal drought, 941 01:16:18,617 --> 01:16:21,489 but it really is a prolonged dry period. 942 01:16:30,760 --> 01:16:32,892 Aspen's adapted to things like fire. 943 01:16:33,023 --> 01:16:36,940 The Aspen will regenerate from its roots. 944 01:16:37,070 --> 01:16:39,072 But what's happening is that we're getting repeated 945 01:16:39,202 --> 01:16:42,815 droughts in combination with insects and diseases. 946 01:16:42,946 --> 01:16:54,784 ♪ 947 01:16:54,914 --> 01:16:58,222 So, the root systems are becoming unhealthy. 948 01:16:58,352 --> 01:17:05,838 ♪ [ethereal] 949 01:17:05,969 --> 01:17:08,754 So that when the trees die, quite often, 950 01:17:08,885 --> 01:17:12,366 little comes back. 951 01:17:12,496 --> 01:17:15,718 You'll see these dead Aspen trees and you see green things 952 01:17:15,848 --> 01:17:19,591 growing underneath and it turns out to be other shrubs, 953 01:17:19,722 --> 01:17:21,724 things like chokecherry or hazelnut, 954 01:17:21,853 --> 01:17:25,641 instead of Aspen. 955 01:17:25,771 --> 01:17:29,383 The effect will then be more of a shrub land than a forest. 956 01:17:29,514 --> 01:17:39,742 ♪ 957 01:17:39,871 --> 01:17:49,752 ♪ 958 01:17:49,882 --> 01:17:57,847 ♪ 959 01:17:57,977 --> 01:18:00,197 [Stan] Everyone worries about how climate change is 960 01:18:00,327 --> 01:18:02,808 going to affect these systems. 961 01:18:02,939 --> 01:18:09,989 ♪ 962 01:18:10,120 --> 01:18:12,949 You get a mismatch between when things should happen 963 01:18:13,079 --> 01:18:16,952 versus when they actually do happen. 964 01:18:17,083 --> 01:18:19,085 [squeaking] 965 01:18:19,216 --> 01:18:22,219 We wonder if that would happen with the red squirrels... 966 01:18:22,349 --> 01:18:25,004 and the neat relationship that squirrels have 967 01:18:25,135 --> 01:18:27,920 with the Spruce trees. 968 01:18:28,050 --> 01:18:31,097 This mast year was a bumper crop of cones. 969 01:18:31,228 --> 01:18:34,100 The squirrels had all the signals of this big mast year, 970 01:18:34,231 --> 01:18:36,189 so they've been breeding like crazy. 971 01:18:36,320 --> 01:18:43,109 So, the mothers have been busy trying to tend to babies. 972 01:18:43,240 --> 01:18:47,200 And so, they've done no caching at all. 973 01:18:47,331 --> 01:18:54,904 And then we had some extremely warm, sunny days. 974 01:18:55,034 --> 01:18:59,125 All of the cones have opened up on the trees prematurely. 975 01:18:59,255 --> 01:19:06,045 [rustling branches] 976 01:19:06,175 --> 01:19:09,179 So, it's all working perfectly for the tree. 977 01:19:09,309 --> 01:19:12,922 All of this seed has escaped from the squirrels. 978 01:19:13,052 --> 01:19:14,750 [squeaking] 979 01:19:18,797 --> 01:19:22,322 [squeaking] 980 01:19:22,452 --> 01:19:26,239 [wind gusts] 981 01:19:26,370 --> 01:19:32,419 [squeaking] 982 01:19:32,550 --> 01:19:35,074 The trees are just laughing their heads off right now. 983 01:19:35,205 --> 01:19:40,471 ♪ 984 01:19:40,601 --> 01:19:45,215 In the 35 years, we've had five previous mast years and, 985 01:19:45,344 --> 01:19:48,000 this is the first time we've seen this happen. 986 01:19:48,130 --> 01:19:52,004 ♪ 987 01:19:52,135 --> 01:19:54,485 So, here's this incredible amount of energy 988 01:19:54,615 --> 01:19:58,576 lying on the ground in the form of these individual seeds, 989 01:19:58,706 --> 01:20:00,273 but they just can't take advantage of it. 990 01:20:00,404 --> 01:20:04,277 [squeaking] 991 01:20:04,407 --> 01:20:10,066 ♪ 992 01:20:10,196 --> 01:20:14,287 [squeaking] 993 01:20:14,418 --> 01:20:16,333 Now they're going to go into the winter 994 01:20:16,463 --> 01:20:19,075 with their food store empty. 995 01:20:19,205 --> 01:20:29,215 ♪ 996 01:20:29,346 --> 01:20:33,959 ♪ 997 01:20:34,090 --> 01:20:35,178 [Nadir] We have a problem right now. 998 01:20:35,308 --> 01:20:38,094 What to expect? That is the biggest problem 999 01:20:38,224 --> 01:20:39,617 we have right now. 1000 01:20:39,746 --> 01:20:43,012 Some areas used to be climatically unsuitable for 1001 01:20:43,142 --> 01:20:46,885 mountain pine beetle, for example. 1002 01:20:47,016 --> 01:20:50,019 Right now, they've become suitable because it's warmer. 1003 01:20:50,148 --> 01:20:57,722 [insects buzzing] 1004 01:20:57,853 --> 01:20:59,289 [Roger] The droughts benefit the mountain pine beetle 1005 01:20:59,419 --> 01:21:02,335 because the trees can't get enough moisture and 1006 01:21:02,466 --> 01:21:07,079 just lowers the defences of the tree. 1007 01:21:07,210 --> 01:21:09,995 [Sandy] Some of the cells in the xylem-phloem system, 1008 01:21:10,126 --> 01:21:13,999 it just kind of collapses in on itself. 1009 01:21:14,130 --> 01:21:15,653 [cracking & creaking] 1010 01:21:15,782 --> 01:21:19,483 And it causes that pop on that cellulose wall. 1011 01:21:19,612 --> 01:21:22,355 [cracking & creaking] 1012 01:21:22,486 --> 01:21:24,662 That tree is less able to defend itself, 1013 01:21:24,791 --> 01:21:30,886 plus it's signaling that it's having problems. 1014 01:21:31,016 --> 01:21:33,062 So, the insects, once they get close up, 1015 01:21:33,192 --> 01:21:35,020 they can actually hear that. 1016 01:21:35,151 --> 01:21:45,030 ♪ 1017 01:21:45,161 --> 01:21:55,780 ♪ 1018 01:21:55,911 --> 01:21:59,130 [Roger] When you dig into a tree that has been mass attacked, 1019 01:21:59,262 --> 01:22:01,264 a lot of the time directly under the bark, 1020 01:22:01,394 --> 01:22:03,701 it's as dry as a bone and dusty. 1021 01:22:03,831 --> 01:22:04,920 And there'll be sawdust in there from the beetles 1022 01:22:05,050 --> 01:22:09,054 boring and doing what they do. 1023 01:22:09,184 --> 01:22:14,364 ♪ 1024 01:22:14,494 --> 01:22:16,235 You have little tiny pitch outs. 1025 01:22:16,366 --> 01:22:17,148 Not a lot of resin flow. 1026 01:22:17,280 --> 01:22:19,369 So, the tree was weakened enough when 1027 01:22:19,499 --> 01:22:22,675 the mountain pine beetle attacked the tree in mass. 1028 01:22:22,807 --> 01:22:26,463 It didn't have enough vigour to produce a lot of resin 1029 01:22:26,593 --> 01:22:30,075 to pitch them out. 1030 01:22:30,206 --> 01:22:32,121 The needles are still green, they're still trying to 1031 01:22:32,251 --> 01:22:34,297 produce photosynthesis and they're still trying to 1032 01:22:34,427 --> 01:22:35,559 operate as business as usual, 1033 01:22:35,689 --> 01:22:38,127 except they're drying out the tree even more because 1034 01:22:38,257 --> 01:22:44,307 there's no uptake from the roots. 1035 01:22:44,437 --> 01:22:45,916 The tree is dead. 1036 01:22:46,048 --> 01:22:47,440 It just takes a while for the tree to understand 1037 01:22:47,571 --> 01:22:50,617 that it's dead. 1038 01:22:50,748 --> 01:23:01,324 ♪ 1039 01:23:01,454 --> 01:23:06,242 It usually takes about a year for the red needles to show up. 1040 01:23:06,371 --> 01:23:20,865 [howling wind] 1041 01:23:20,996 --> 01:23:23,085 When you look at an entire hillside that is just red 1042 01:23:23,215 --> 01:23:26,305 with Lodgepole Pine, which is a flammable species anyway, 1043 01:23:26,436 --> 01:23:29,134 because that's how it propagates itself, 1044 01:23:29,264 --> 01:23:34,270 I can't help but think, "That's not a good sign". 1045 01:23:34,400 --> 01:23:37,142 [thunderclap] 1046 01:23:37,273 --> 01:23:39,971 [Kajar] Now when the new fire is hitting the area, 1047 01:23:40,102 --> 01:23:42,452 we actually don't know how this will affect 1048 01:23:42,582 --> 01:23:45,150 the permafrost, how deep it will melt. 1049 01:23:45,281 --> 01:23:49,371 ♪ 1050 01:23:49,502 --> 01:23:51,764 [Mike] It can burn deeper and longer 1051 01:23:51,896 --> 01:23:53,289 if we get drier conditions. 1052 01:23:53,419 --> 01:23:57,075 This is legacy carbon slowly building up over 1053 01:23:57,206 --> 01:24:00,165 thousands of years, and then, in the course of one fire, 1054 01:24:00,296 --> 01:24:04,255 it can be injected into the atmosphere. 1055 01:24:04,387 --> 01:24:08,085 ♪ 1056 01:24:08,217 --> 01:24:09,522 [David P.] As things progressively get worse, 1057 01:24:09,653 --> 01:24:14,397 we will start losing all of these species, actually. 1058 01:24:14,527 --> 01:24:18,009 The Spruces will go first because they're the ones 1059 01:24:18,139 --> 01:24:21,577 that are most intolerant of drought. 1060 01:24:21,708 --> 01:24:25,712 Then I think we'll see the Pine disappear from the uplands. 1061 01:24:25,843 --> 01:24:30,195 ♪ 1062 01:24:30,326 --> 01:24:33,371 [Ted] It's really hard to predict what's gonna happen. 1063 01:24:33,503 --> 01:24:36,723 You might see a patchwork of stunted Aspen groves with 1064 01:24:36,853 --> 01:24:41,293 grassland in some of these areas that are now Boreal Forest. 1065 01:24:41,424 --> 01:24:43,861 That's what I would see. 1066 01:24:43,991 --> 01:24:47,865 ♪ 1067 01:24:47,995 --> 01:24:51,260 [David S.] Forests were best when we left them alone. 1068 01:24:51,389 --> 01:24:54,001 Over a period of about 50 years. 1069 01:24:54,132 --> 01:24:57,048 We've seen declines in so many things... 1070 01:24:57,179 --> 01:25:04,925 like butterflies, Boreal birds, amphibians... 1071 01:25:05,056 --> 01:25:08,364 Lake Trout, caribou. 1072 01:25:08,494 --> 01:25:21,464 ♪ 1073 01:25:21,594 --> 01:25:24,335 [Mike] Because of things like fire and mountain pine beetle, 1074 01:25:24,467 --> 01:25:26,338 our forests, our Canadian forests, 1075 01:25:26,469 --> 01:25:32,605 are now carbon sources and not carbon sinks. 1076 01:25:32,736 --> 01:25:42,659 ♪ 1077 01:25:42,789 --> 01:25:52,625 ♪ 1078 01:25:52,755 --> 01:26:03,375 ♪ 1079 01:26:03,505 --> 01:26:06,683 [Diana] We can't live without forests. 1080 01:26:06,813 --> 01:26:08,380 To maintain life on this planet, 1081 01:26:08,511 --> 01:26:10,817 we have to have a green cover. 1082 01:26:10,948 --> 01:26:13,603 We won't be able to breathe. 1083 01:26:30,097 --> 01:26:32,317 [Isabelle] I feel upset that this is what the 1084 01:26:32,448 --> 01:26:38,148 generations before me are leaving me with. 1085 01:26:38,280 --> 01:26:40,760 But I just think that instead of looking at it as, 1086 01:26:40,891 --> 01:26:42,762 "Oh, we've made mistakes, and we're bad, 1087 01:26:42,893 --> 01:26:46,462 and we're this plague on the Earth..." 1088 01:26:46,592 --> 01:26:50,683 No, we're extremely creative. 1089 01:26:50,814 --> 01:26:59,736 ♪ [ethereal] 1090 01:26:59,866 --> 01:27:09,746 ♪ [ethereal] 1091 01:27:09,876 --> 01:27:19,755 ♪ [ethereal] 1092 01:27:19,886 --> 01:27:29,766 ♪ [ethereal] 1093 01:27:29,896 --> 01:27:39,384 ♪ [ethereal] 1094 01:27:39,514 --> 01:27:43,693 Sometimes I think, "I hope you live." 1095 01:27:43,823 --> 01:27:47,784 Sometimes I think, "This is not the best place for you. 1096 01:27:47,914 --> 01:27:49,829 Even though this is not efficient, 1097 01:27:49,960 --> 01:27:51,744 I'm gonna pull you out because if I take 1098 01:27:51,875 --> 01:27:53,355 another step to the right, it's going to be 1099 01:27:53,485 --> 01:27:57,489 a much better soil habitation for you." 1100 01:27:57,620 --> 01:28:02,712 ♪ 1101 01:28:02,842 --> 01:28:07,630 Sometimes I think about what they're going to look like 1102 01:28:07,760 --> 01:28:10,546 in 10 years from now. 1103 01:28:10,675 --> 01:28:17,117 Sometimes I wonder if they're gonna survive. 1104 01:28:17,248 --> 01:28:21,252 We have the ability to make whatever it is that we imagine, 1105 01:28:21,383 --> 01:28:23,428 so let's just start imagining a new path. 1106 01:28:23,559 --> 01:28:27,780 Let's start imagining a new way. 1107 01:28:27,911 --> 01:28:31,262 ♪ 1108 01:28:31,393 --> 01:28:33,699 We're so inherently tied to this experience, 1109 01:28:33,830 --> 01:28:36,920 and what happens to that forest is gonna be 1110 01:28:37,050 --> 01:28:40,402 a reflection of what happens to us. 1111 01:28:40,532 --> 01:28:51,195 ♪ 1112 01:28:51,326 --> 01:28:55,721 [Edmund] We are here to make sure that the world, 1113 01:28:55,852 --> 01:29:01,771 that the species, that humanity continues. 1114 01:29:01,901 --> 01:29:05,818 The trees are support, guidance, 1115 01:29:05,949 --> 01:29:10,475 encouragement and faith, 1116 01:29:10,606 --> 01:29:15,523 that things are just the way they're supposed to be. 1117 01:29:15,654 --> 01:29:18,570 That support from something that's inanimate, 1118 01:29:18,701 --> 01:29:23,183 it looks like, but you're getting it because 1119 01:29:23,314 --> 01:29:29,668 it's connected to the ground and it's aiming for the sky. 1120 01:29:29,799 --> 01:29:34,020 It's a conduit between the earth and the sun. 1121 01:29:34,151 --> 01:29:35,500 ♪ 1122 01:29:35,630 --> 01:29:41,680 To see the tree as a living light... 1123 01:29:41,811 --> 01:29:48,425 When you see that light, you've gotten a gift. 1124 01:29:48,557 --> 01:29:52,255 You're going to be very humbled. 1125 01:29:52,387 --> 01:30:02,440 ♪ [ethereal choir singing] 1126 01:30:02,571 --> 01:30:12,450 ♪ [ethereal choir singing] 1127 01:30:12,581 --> 01:30:23,418 ♪ [ethereal choir singing] 1128 01:30:26,682 --> 01:30:29,424 [birds chirping continues]