Effects of two silvicultural practices on soil fauna abundance in a northern hardwood forest, Québec, Canada

Soil fauna play a key role in soil fertility and productivity of forest ecosystems and represent an important base of terrestrial food chains. The impact of forest management on soil fauna should be considered when sustainable forest management and conservation of biodiversity are desired. We evaluated the impact of selective cutting and strip clearcutting on soil fauna abundance in a northern hardwood forest of the Lower Laurentians of Québec. Twelve years after strip clearcutting, the abundance of carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae), collembolans (Hexapoda: Collembola) and snails (Stylommatophora: Sigmurethra) was greater in the strip clearcuts than the adjacent undisturbed strips. Snails and millipedes (Polydesmida: Polydesmidae) were more abundant in the selective cuts 6 to 8 yr after treatment. Spiders (Arachnida) were the only organism whose abundance was lower in the selective cuts than in the adjacent undisturbed forest . No significant negative effect of the silvicultural treatments was noted for the abundance of other caught organisms. This one-season sampling suggests there are few negative impacts associated with low intensity selective cutting and strip clearcutting on the abundance of soil fauna in this northern hardwood forest stands 6 to 12 yr after harvest. Key Words: Salamander, arthropod, shrew, northern hardwood, selective cutting, strip clearcutting