Fifty years of forest dynamics following diameter limit cuttings in balsam fir - : yellow birch stands of the Lower St. Lawrence region, Quebec

The long-term effects of high-intensity diameter-limit cuttings conducted in the winter and summer of the 1940s and 1950s on the dynamics of softwood and mixedwood stands in southeastern Quebec were compared. Changes in composition and stand structure over a 50 year period were studied using 18 permanent sample plots located in the Lac-Metis Seigneury observation area measured in 1950, 1960, 1970, and 2003. Winter logging operations were conducted between 1942 and 1949, and summer logging operations were conducted between 1958 and 1960. The interaction between cuttings and the 1950s and 1970s spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens)) outbreaks that occurred in the area affected forest dynamics. For the two logging operation types, the most abundant softwood species observed before logging and in 2003 was balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.), whereas white birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.) and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britt.) were the most abundant hardwood species. Changes in the ove...