Continuous cover forestry maintains tree-related microhabitats in Eastern Canada’s primary boreal mixedwood forest, but does not accelerate their formation

The area and connectivity of boreal old-growth forests decreased in past decades due to even-aged management based on clearcutting. To meet the objectives of ecosystem-based management, it is necessary to evaluate alternatives to clearcut that can maintain or promote habitats related to older forest stages.,The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of continuous cover treatments in maintaining or promoting tree-related microhabitat (TreM) composition and functional traits.,Four treatments were established in a primary mixedwood last burned in 1910: clearcut, partial cut with 40% basal area removal, gap cut with 50% removal in gaps of 350±30 m2, and early old-growth (114 years-old). A late old-growth (264 years-old) treatment was established in a neighboring older forest. Harvesting was performed in 2000. In 2024, tree species, status, diameter at breast height (DBH), and TreM presence were recorded on commercial trees (DBH > 9 cm) in 400 m2 plots.,The clearcut had consistently lower TreM richness and functional diversity. The late old-growth had high richness and diversity, and showed distinctively rare and slow-developing TreMs. The partial cut, gap cut and early old-growth were similar and formed an intermediate cluster between late old-growth and clearcut, with generally high richness and diversity.,Our results suggest that continuous cover forestry can effectively maintain TreM richness and functionality compared to clearcut, but cannot accelerate the formation of TreMs associated to later forest succession stages. This highlights limitations in restoring old-growth attributes, and the need to better identify and protect biodiversity hotspots within late-successional stages.