Full text of this article is only available in PDF format.

Iulian Dragotescu (email), Daniel D. Kneeshaw

A comparison of residual forest following fires and harvesting in boreal forests in Quebec, Canada

Dragotescu I., Kneeshaw D. D. (2012). A comparison of residual forest following fires and harvesting in boreal forests in Quebec, Canada. Silva Fennica vol. 46 no. 3 article id 47. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.47

Abstract

Residual forests are a key component of post-burned areas creating structure within burns and providing habitat and seed sources. Yet, despite their importance to biodiversity and ecosystem processes there is little information on how similar or different residuals in burned landscape are to harvested landscapes. Our goal was to examine and compare the density, size, shape, and spatial arrangement of residual forest vegetation after fire and clearcutting. We evaluated residual forest in two locations within the boreal mixedwood region of Quebec, Canada using aerial photo interpretation and ArcGIS 9.1 software. We found residual stands to be larger and more abundant in harvested zones relative to sites affected by fire. Differences with respect to shape and spatial arrangement of residual forest were also observed among disturbance types. Factors such as proximity to watercourses, watercourse shape, and physiography affected residual abundance and spatial distribution. Residual forest in harvested zones tended to be more elongated with greater edge due to rules governing forest operations. Despite greater quantity of residual forest in harvested areas than fires, managers should still be prudent as the surrounding forest matrix is reduced in many managed landscapes.

Keywords
forest fires; biodiversity; boreal mixedwood; clearcuts; disturbances; residual forests; tree retention

Author Info
  • Dragotescu, Université du Québec à Montréal, Centre d’Étude de la Forêt (CEF), Montreal, Quebec, Canada E-mail idragot@hotmail.com (email)
  • Kneeshaw, Université du Québec à Montréal, Centre d’Étude de la Forêt (CEF), Montreal, Quebec, Canada E-mail ddk@nn.ca

Received 22 September 2011 Accepted 3 April 2012 Published 31 December 2012

Views 3622

Available at https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.47 | Download PDF

Creative Commons License CC BY-SA 4.0

Register
Click this link to register to Silva Fennica.
Log in
If you are a registered user, log in to save your selected articles for later access.
Contents alert
Sign up to receive alerts of new content

Your selected articles
Your search results
Dragotescu I., Kneeshaw D. D. (2012) A comparison of residual forest following fires .. Silva Fennica vol. 46 no. 3 article id 47