Clear-cutting and regeneration practices in Quebec boreal balsam fir forest: effects on snowshoe hare

We compared utilization by the snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus Erxleben) of recent clearcuts subjected to three regeneration scenarios commonly used i n boreal forest: natural regeneration, plantation with herbicide release (g lyphosate), and plantation with manual release (brushsaw). Refuges for snow shoe hare, on a landscape dominated by clearcuts, were also investigated. C olonization of regenerating sites by the hare comes late in the humid borea l forest because clear-cut stands take more than 10 years to reach the sapl ing stage. Our sites were in the seedling stage 7-9 years after cutting, an d hares avoided them year round because of an inadequate protective cover. Therefore, regeneration treatments did not affect habitat use by the hare o n a short-term basis. During the seedling stage, the snowshoe hare were fou nd in the remaining forest which occupied at least 25% of the area of each home range. The preservation of residual forests is thus essential to maint ain local populations on an area dominated by commercial clearcuts.