Two growth and yield models - GYPSY and MGM - have a long history of development and use in the western Boreal and Rocky Mountain forests. This project will develop successor models that incorporate contemporary technologies, especially remote sensing, and address new demands including climate sensitivity, genetic effects and tree improvement, and response to silviculture treatments.

2025 - 2033 - Funding from FRIAA FRIP sponsored by the Alberta forest industry, by FGrOW itself, and the governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Alberta has an established framework for estimating total and merchantable volume using a taper model developed by the province and stem analysis data collected in the 1980s. This project evaluates accuracy of the taper model on maturing second-growth forests suitable for commercial thinning. Use of terrestrial lidar systems to estimate bole volume is explored.

2022 - 2026 - Funding by FRIAA - FRIP sponsored by the forest industry members of the Forest Growth Organization of Wesern Canada.

Canadian aspen forests have experienced dramatic declines in forest health that threaten long-term productivity. In this project a replicated experiment will evaluate regeneration response after harvesting across a gradient of decline informed by covariates at the site and other spatial scales.

2023 - 2028 - Partnership with the Canadian Forest Service - Northern Forestry Centre. Funding from FRIAA-FRIP via sponsorship from West Fraser Mills, Mercer Peace River Pulp, and Tolko Industries.

This project involves the establishment, monitoring, and analysis of tree and stand dynamics through a network of replicated commercial thinning trials. The CTRN is being established across Alberta in managed lodgepole pine and spruce stands.

2023 - 2028 - Funding by FRIAA - FRIP sponsored by the forest industry members of the Forest Growth Organization of Wesern Canada. 

The Mixedwood Growth Model was developed by the University of Alberta beginning with Dr. Steve Titus in the 1980s. After his retirement, Dr. Phil Comeau led MGM development through release of MGM21. Since then, the MGM project has been housed in the Forest G&Y Lab under Dr. Froese. The project is maintaining the intellectual property and long-term investment in development of this individual-tree, aspatial forest growth and yield model.

2015 and continuing - Funding provided by the members of the Forest Growth Organization of Wesern Canada, including forest industry and governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Formerly the WESBOGY Long-term Study, this is one of the longest-running silvicultural experiments in western Canada. Established in 1990, it investigates long-term interactions between trembling aspen and white spruce under controlled stand densities and species compositions. Run as a replicated, cooperative study across a climatic gradient from British Columbia to Manitoba, MxLTS uses a standardized design with consistent long-term measurements. For over three decades, it has generated high-quality data to support mixedwood stand dynamics research, growth and yield modeling, silvicultural decisions, and sustainable forest management.

2015 and continuing - Funding provided by the members of the Forest Growth Organization of Western Canada.

Regeneration responses to silvicultural treatments are highly variable and difficult to quantify with existing tools. The Mixedwood Regeneration Modelling (MxRegen) project addresses this gap by developing a management-focused model to predict regeneration presence, density, and early stand structure in Alberta mixedwood forests. By leveraging large, treatment-explicit provincial datasets, MxRegen strengthens the quantitative linkage between post-harvest conditions and long-term yield forecasting, with completion targeted for January 2027

2023 - 2028 - Funding from FRIAA-FRIP sponsored by the members of the Forest Growth Organization of Western Canada, as well as the governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Beginning in 2015, a network of permanent forest sample plots (PSPs) were activated within the Lower Foothills Natural Subregion in Alberta. The goal was to monitor stands that had been impacted by mountain pine beetle (MPB). Plots were re-measured startng in 2020, with the goal of assessing stand dynamics. In this project, the PSP design is expanded to include terrestrial and aerial remote sensing, to complete an enhanced forest monitoring   network. Goals in this project include assessing stand response, assessing the ability of growth models to forecast dynamics, and testing and developing new remote sensing technologies. This project was completed on March 31, 2025.

2023 - 2025 - Funding provided by FRIAA via the Mountain Pine Beetle Rehabilitation Program.

Glyphosate is a non-selective herbicide approved for use in Alberta for the control of vegetation necessary to meet reforestation objectives. There are concerns about the persistence of glyphosate residues in plants, and what this might mean when plant parts (leaves, shoots, berries) might be consumed. Completed in June 2025, this project investigated the residual herbicide abundance trend over time in operational treated stands, and compared among plants of interest. 

2022 - 2025 - Funding provided by FRIAA via the FRIP program and sponsored by West Fraser Mills Ltd.

Alberta’s two provincially approved growth and yield models, GYPSY and MGM, differ fundamentally in structure: GYPSY is a stand-level empirical model based largely on natural stand data, while MGM is an individual-tree model that simulates competition and structural dynamics. Although both have been independently validated, no comprehensive comparison using a common dataset had been conducted. This project evaluated their relative performance, identified strengths and limitations, and provided guidance for model selection and improvement. Results indicate that each model performs well in specific contexts but shares structural limitations, particularly in site index dependence and representation of management effects. The project is complete, and a manuscript is in preparation.

2022 - 2025 - Funding provided by FGrOW and FRIAA via the FRIP program.