Current issue: 58(2)

Under compilation: 58(3)

Scopus CiteScore 2021: 2.8
Scopus ranking of open access forestry journals: 8th
PlanS compliant
Select issue
Silva Fennica 1926-1997
1990-1997
1980-1989
1970-1979
1960-1969
Acta Forestalia Fennica
1953-1968
1933-1952
1913-1932

Articles containing the keyword 'black spruce-feather moss'

Category : Research article

article id 77, category Research article
Annie Claude Bélisle, Sylvie Gauthier, Dominic Cyr, Yves Bergeron, Hubert Morin. (2011). Fire regime and old-growth boreal forests in central Quebec, Canada: an ecosystem management perspective. Silva Fennica vol. 45 no. 5 article id 77. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.77
Keywords: black spruce-feather moss; fire history; ecosystem management; dendrochronology
Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info
Boreal forest management in Eastern Canada has caused depletion and fragmentation of old-growth ecosystems, with growing impacts on the associated biodiversity. To mitigate impacts of management while maintaining timber supplies, ecosystem management aims to narrow the gap between natural and managed landscapes. Our study describes the fire history and associated natural old-growth forest proportions and distribution of a 5000 km2 area located in the black spruce-feather moss forest of central Quebec. We reconstructed a stand-origin map using archival data, aerial photos and dendrochronology. According to survival analysis (Cox hazard model), the mean fire cycle length was 247 years for the 1734–2009 period. Age-class distribution modelling showed that old-growth forests were present on an average of 55% of the landscape over the last 275 years. The mean fire size was 10 113 ha, while most of the burned area was attributable to fires larger than 10 000 ha, leading to old-growth agglomerations of hundreds of square kilometres. In regards to our findings, we propose ecosystem management targets and strategies to preserve forest diversity and resilience.
  • Bélisle, Centre for Forest Research, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada E-mail: annieclaude_b@hotmail.com (email)
  • Gauthier, Laurentian Forestry Centre, Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, Sainte-Foy, Québec, Canada E-mail: sg@nn.ca
  • Cyr, Institut Québécois d’Aménagement de la Fort Feuillue, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Ripon, Québec, Canada E-mail: dc@nn.ca
  • Bergeron, Centre for Forest Research, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada & NSERC-UQAT-UQAM Industrial Chair in Sustainable Forest Management, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Rouyn-Noranda, Québec, Canada E-mail: yb@nn.ca
  • Morin, Département des Sciences Fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada E-mail: hm@nn.can

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