1. Even-aged silviculture based on short-rotation clearcuts had severely altered boreal forests. Silvicultural alternatives (e.g., continuous cover or retention forestry) has the potential to restore and protect the habitats and functions of boreal forests. These alternatives are however often restricted to structurally complex old-growth forest, which are particularly threatened by anthropogenic disturbances. Increasing the use of alternatives to even-aged silviculture in early-successional stands could help recruit more structurally complex forests, with characteristics closer to the old-growth. In this article, we therefore evaluate the potential for silvicultural alternatives to even-aged management in boreal forests that burned less than a century ago.

2. We analyzed 1085 field plots in a 243000 km² area situated in the boreal forest of eastern Canada. These plots burned 30 to 100 years before the survey and had not been subjected to previous or subsequent anthropogenic disturbance; they hence represent young primary forests. The main patterns of tree diameter distribution variation within the plots were identified using k-means clustering. Stand structure, tree species composition, and environmental variables that most explained the differences among the clusters were identified with a random forest model, and then compared using Kruskal-Wallis and Fisher’s exact tests.

3. The majority (>75 %) of the plots presented an irregular structure of stem diameters (i.e., non-normally distributed, with many small diameter trees). The understorey was generally dominated by black spruce (Picea mariana [Mill.] BSP), a shade-tolerant species. Irregular structures were observed in both forests of high and low productivity, implying that different processes (e.g., early regeneration, variable tree growth) can lead to observed early irregular structure. Regular structures were generally characterized by a higher productivity and abundance in hardwood species compared to the irregular structures.

4. Synthesis and application: Many boreal forests of eastern Canada progress towards an irregular structure in the decades following the last stand-replacing fire. A substantial part of these early-successional forests may be suitable for alternatives to even-aged silviculture that better maintains habitats and functions of preindustrial boreal forests.