We present a methodin which fundamentakl nowledgeo f naturale cosystemd ynamicso f the southernb orealf orestm ay
be useda sa basisf or a new silviculturala pproacha imeda t maintainingb iodiversity andl ong-terme cosystemp roductivity
underm anagemenTt.h e naturald isturbancere gimeo f the southernb orealf oresto f Quebeci s characterizedb y intensec rown fires. Natural forestd ynamicsf ollowing fire on mesics itesi nvolve a graduarl eplacemenotf standso f broadleafs peciesb y mixedwoodt hen softwood stands.T his successionis accompaniedb y a decreasein soil fertility and in ecosystem
productivity. In the absenceo f fire, spruceb udwormo utbreaksc ontributei n regeneratingm ature,f ir-dominatedfo restsa nd
in reintroducinga hardwoodc omponenitn to standsC. urrents ilviculturalp racticesp romotes uccessivreo tationso f similarly
composeds tandsA. ttaining softwoodr egenerationfo llowing harvesto f softwoods tandso ften necessitatessit e preparation,
planting andc ontrol of competitives peciesi,n cludinge conomicallya nde cologicallyv aluableh ardwoodsA. t the landscape
level this strategym ay contributet o decreasingst andd iversity by favouringr eplacemenotf mixedwoods tandsb y hardwood
or softwoods tands.N atural dynamicsi ndicatet hat a silvicultural approachfa vouring speciesre placemenwt hile, at the
landscapele vel preservinga representativep roportion of hardwood,m ixedwooda nd softwood standsw ould be more
appropriateT. he advantageosf sucha n approacha re discusseidn comparisonw ith currentp ractices.