The validity of forest maps for the description of wildlife habitats on the local level - A case study in the Abitibi-Temiscamingue region

Wildlife habitats may be described at low cost using forest maps. Because t he main objective of forest maps is to estimate the wood volume over large areas whereas wildlife applications often require accurate data at the stan d level, their accuracy may not be acceptable. During a study of marten (Ma rtes americana) habitat, we ground-checked 1:20 000 forest maps in two area s (70 and 123 km(2)) in the Abitibi-Temiscamingue region. Surveys involved 72 stands: 44 black spruce (Picea mariana), 18 jackpine (Pinus banksiana), 5 mixed deciduous, and 5 deciduous stands. The dominant tree species group was accurate in most black spruce (43 over 44) and jackpine stands (16 over 18). For mixed and deciduous stands, gross errors were noted in the cover type and the dominant tree species group. The cover density on the map was poorly related to the crown closure measured on the ground. There was a clo ser agreement between height classes on the map and actual height. In black spruce stands, the age class enabled discriminating between young (30- and 50-years classes) and old stands (90- and 120-years). We conclude that cau tion is needed when using forest maps to describe wildlife habitats, and th at the accuracy of the mapped attributes should be checked before using suc h data at local scales.