Abstract
Past silvicultural treatments have resulted in the high-grading mixed temperate forests of Quebec, Canada. Despite recognition of this issue, the low occurrence of yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britton) within current stands raises questions about the potential of the species to grow and eventually constitute a high-quality forest resource. The objective of this study was to assess this potential using tree characteristics, forest structure and additional site and climatic conditions as predictors. A total of 145 trees were sampled in two areas located in the same bioclimatic zone. Lower-Saguenay-Charlevoix was chosen as an area where a restoration plan could be implemented, whereas Portneuf was selected as a reference. We used nonlinear mixed models to investigate which environmental factors are likely to influence the radial growth and stem quality of yellow birch sample trees. Our results suggest that topographic and climatic conditions, as well as the competitive environment of the trees, are important factors to consider in the evaluation of yellow birch production. Despite the limited occurrence of yellow birch, the potential for growth and quality was high in the Lower-Saguenay-Charlevoix area. For equivalent topographic, climatic, and competitive environment conditions, there was no significant difference in either radial growth or stem quality with Portneuf. We suggest that the economic interest of producing high quality timber should be used to justify the implementation of a restoration strategy in the Lower-Saguenay-Charlevoix area.
Highlights
The natural disturbance regime of the temperate forests of northeastern North America is dominated by frequent partial disturbances that create localized gaps in the forest canopy, while severe disturbances are more unusual [1,2,3]
Our results support our initial hypothesis that there is a potential to grow high quality yellow birch stems in our restoration area
Despite the fact that different climatic conditions prevail in each area, the production of quality yellow birch appears as a realistic goal in the Charlevoix-Lower-Saguenay region, at least for sites located at higher altitude
Summary
The natural disturbance regime of the temperate forests of northeastern North America is dominated by frequent partial disturbances that create localized gaps in the forest canopy, while severe disturbances are more unusual [1,2,3]. Past silvicultural practices mainly consisted of large clearcuts or diameter-limit cuts that create conditions more similar to those associated with severe natural disturbances [4,5,6]. It was found that mixed temperate forests normally dominated by balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) in eastern. In addition to balsam fir, the late-successional mixewood stands that mark the transition between the boreal and temperate forest biomes can contain a proportion of yellow birch Canada have evolved to a more deciduous canopy, composed mainly of low-value species such as red maple (Acer rubrum L.), striped maple (Acer pennsylvanicum L.), and white birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh) [9,11,14].
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