Table 1 Comparison of the main features of forests and forestry, and the condition of young and old forest successional stages, in north-eastern Canada and Fennoscandia
| Â | North-eastern Canada | Fennoscandia |
|---|---|---|
Type of management | Extensive | Intensive |
 Type of forest harvested | Cutting natural forest and moving towards north. In certain regions starting to harvest second growth forests | Cutting mostly second growth as forest mostly managed. Some natural forest still harvested |
 Dominant management type | Even-aged management with clearcutting and advance regeneration protection | Even-aged management with clearcutting followed by planting with native species |
 Protected productive forest | <  8% (Andrew et al. 2014) | <  6% (regionally highly variable) |
 Cutting rotation vs natural disturbance (fire) cycle | Rotation 60–90 years for Black spruce forests; fire cycle 90–300 years | Rotation 60–120 depending on site type and geographic location; fire cycle 60–300+ years (currently fires practically excluded by suppression) |
Old forest | ||
 Quantity | Decreased but still remain in large patches in certain regions | Amount collapsed but some larger patches remain in northern protected less productive areas |
 Quality | Partly natural, in northern less productive areas | Partly natural, in northern protected less productive areas |
 Dead wood amounts | 17–160 m3∙ha−1 in natural vs. 10–153 m3∙ha− 1 in managed forests | 60–120 m3∙ha− 1 in natural vs. 4–10 m3∙ha− 1 in managed forests |
 Threats | Cuttings, climate change, increasing disturbances | Cuttings, climate change, increasing disturbances |
Young forest | ||
 Quantity | Increased | Increased substantially |
 Quality | Natural regeneration after clearcut harvesting in parts | Mostly soil scarification and planting after clearcutting, thinning of young forest, scarcity of dead wood. |
 Management practises | Natural regeneration after natural disturbances in parts | Retention trees left on clearcuts, natural young forests practically lacking |
 Threats | Increasing amount of salvage logging after natural disturbance, regeneration failure | Increasing harvesting of all biomass components, regeneration failure |