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A forest ecosystem guide for the Amos Lowlands Ecological Region, northwestern Quebec: A forest management approach

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment volume 39, pages 249–263 (1996)Cite this article

Abstract

In Quebec, forest stations are defined as forest units that are reasonably homogeneous in terms of forest composition and site characteristics - as expressed by surficial deposit and moisture regime - and within which similar operational constraints for silvicultural potential and productivity levels may be expected. In the course of developing a field guide to the forest stations of the Amos Lowlands Ecological Region in northwestern Quebec, classifications of 12 site types and 72 forest stations (38 forest cover types or 16 general cover types) were developed. The classifications were based on a hybrid approach involving cluster analysis of forest ecological units inventoried in subregional studies, classical classification and ordination analyses performed on a regional biophysical inventory database, and empirically associating forest cover types to site types. The guide, while similar to other published forest ecosystem classification guides, emphasizes forest dynamics by presenting forest stations common to a given site type according to their successional stage. Field keys and general interpretations of forest potential and operational constraints are included in the guide. A summary description of the guide and accompanying documents is provided. A first draft has been distributed recently for feedback from industrial and government foresters and researchers in the region. Analyses of inventory data is continuing and modifications will be incorporated into a second draft before publication in 1995.

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Affiliations

  1. Unité de recherche et de développement forestiers de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, J9X 5E4, Rouyn-Noranda, Québec, Canada

    Pierre Cartier & Brian D. Harvey

  2. Groupe de recherche en écologie forestière, Université du Québec à Montréal, Succursale ‘A’, C.P. 8888, H3C 3P8, Montréal, Québec, Canada

    Yves Bergeron

Authors
  1. Pierre Cartier
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  2. Brian D. Harvey
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  3. Yves Bergeron
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Cartier, P., Harvey, B.D. & Bergeron, Y. A forest ecosystem guide for the Amos Lowlands Ecological Region, northwestern Quebec: A forest management approach. Environ Monit Assess 39, 249–263 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00396148

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00396148

Keywords

  • Forest Ecosystem
  • Site Type
  • Forest Station
  • Operational Constraint
  • Forest Composition