Canada's Forest Inventory 2001 - Publications du gouvernement du ...

3.6 Age and Maturity
Knowing the ages of forests is important for the management of Canada’s almost exclusively even-aged
forests. Age can be difficult to determine from air photos and almost impossible to estimate from satellite
imagery; about 37% of the stocked forest lacks age information. This is represented in Figure 23 (the “not
available” class). The map also shows that the highest age classes are in British Columbia, where longlived
species such as Douglas-fir and western redcedar occur.
Where age information is available, the majority of the stocked forest (78%) is as old as 120 years,
with 22% being older than 120 years (Figure 24). Average volume and biomass increase with age, but the
rates of increase slow with age (Figure 25). Total volume of the stocked forest up to 120 years old makes
up 63% of the total volume where age information is known; 37% of the total volume of known-age forest
is from trees older than 120 years (Figure 24). Total biomass of the stocked forest where age is known
is similar, with 64% being from trees as old as 120 years, and 36% from trees older than 120 years.
Appendix I: tables I-10 to I-14 detail area, volume and biomass according to age class and province.
Figure 23. Forest Age
26