%0 Research article
%T A comparison of residual forest following fires and harvesting in boreal forests in Quebec, Canada
%A Dragotescu, Iulian
%A Kneeshaw, Daniel D.
%D 2012
%J Silva Fennica
%V 46
%N 3
%R doi:10.14214/sf.47
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/47
%X 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.