What burns and what is cut? Contrasting disturbance effects of harvesting and wildfire on primary forest stands in old-growth–dominated boreal landscapes

• Fire avoids coniferous old-growth forests with tall and/or dense canopies. • Low- and open-canopy coniferous forests exhibit higher fire susceptibility. • Forest harvesting preferentially targets older, taller and denser stands than fire. • Harvesting bias alters representativity of remnant boreal old-growth forests. • Avoidance of low- and open-canopy forests by harvesting may increase fire risk.