Spatial distribution of black spruce regeneration eight years after a boreal forest fire Quebec

The spatial distribution of Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP seedlings was studied, 8 years after a forest fire, using a grid of adjacent quadrats in three populations of different densities. Microsite characteristics and relative position of nearby seed bearing trees were noted for each seedling. The density of the regeneration observed after the fire decreased with a decrease in the population density. The seedlings were mostly associated to concave microsites, colonized by sphagnum or polytrichum mosses, but not to burnt humus. They were found on organic matter with a thickness of 10 to 20 cm and presented a contagious spatial distribution associated to the presence of a seed bearing tree within a radius of approximately 2.5 m. Favourable microsites were not associated to the presence of seed bearing trees. The concentration of seedlings at the base of trees was primarily dependent on a short distance dispersal following a rapid and complete opening of the cones after the fire and, secondly, on the quality of the microsites.