Qualité de station et production dans les érablières rouges de la plaine de Drummondville, Québec

In southern Quebec, red maple (Acer rubrum. L.) constitutes more than a third of the merchantable wood in certain administrative private forest units. Dendrometrical and ecological surveys of red maple stands were conducted in Drummondville plain area. The study has shown that the phytosociological association criteria contributed significantly to the prediction of dominant height (the dendrometrical variable used as an indice of site quality) in relation to age at breast height (1.3 m). The three studied associations, the red maple-sugar maple association (humid mesotrophic sites), the red maple-black ash association (mesic sites) and the red maple-wild holly association (oligotroph humid sites) differ significantly as to their height growth pattern. On the basis of these associations, three empiric production tables where produced. The yield at 50 years (breast height age) in the three sites qualities amount respectively to 179, 148 and 108 m 3 per hectare. Key words: Acer rubrum. Site quality, yield table, site classification, red maple stand