Comparaison de différentes approches de sélection de lisières boisées riveraines à soustraire de l’aménagement forestier dans le contexte de l’objectif sur la conservation du bois mort dans les forêts aménagées

In a perspective of sustainable forest management, the Québec Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife (QMNRW) proposed in 2005 eleven Best Management Practices (BMPs) for the protection and enhancement of forest resources including one aimed at the conservation of dead wood. The implementation of this BMP includes the protection of 20 % of the area covered by 20-m-wide riparian forest strips, in perpetuity. The QMNRW also proposed guidelines to assist managers in the selection of riparian forest strips to protect. These guidelines were established using conservation principles based on a coarse filter approach adapted to terrestrial ecosystems. However, many other ways of selecting the riparian forest strips to be protected are possible but their ability to reach conservation goals over a large area has not yet been determined. In riparian zones, several approaches may be justified depending on whether we want to protect terrestrial, aquatic or wetland habitats, or the ecotone itself. We compared five scenarios of spatial distribution of the riparian forest strips to be protected in an area of 263 km2, located in the Rivière du Gouffre watershed, in Québec. This report detailed the methodology of each approach (simple random, systematic, terrestrial coarse filter, wetland/aquatic coarse filter, and industrial selection) and evaluated their ability to reach conservation targets.

Courchesne, G., M. Darveau et L.V. Lemelin. 2008. Comparaison de différentes approches de sélection de lisières boisées riveraines à soustraire de l’aménagement forestier dans le contexte de l’objectif sur la conservation du bois mort dans les forêts aménagées. Rapport technique N° Q2008-1, Canards Illimités ‘ Québec, Québec, 39 p.