Map skills

How to read ecoforest stand labels

Québec’s ecoforest layer turns aerial-photo inventory into mapped forest stands. Use the label, display style, and filters together to understand a stand without mistaking the map for an on-the-ground survey.

Quick rule

Read an ecoforest label as a snapshot of one mapped stand at the inventory date. It is useful for planning, but it is not a current access, road-condition, or hunting-permission decision.

1. Start with the display style

Outline with labels prints the stand information directly on each polygon. Colour without labels groups stands visually by forest composition; use its colour key instead of expecting text on the map.

2. Zoom in before reading

Labels are designed for close-scale viewing. Zoom in until one stand can be read clearly, then compare it with nearby stands instead of trying to decode overlapping labels.

3. Read the stand as an inventory summary

A stand label and its associated record summarize the forest photographed for the inventory: cover type, dominant species group, canopy density, height, and age. They describe a mapped polygon, not every tree on the ground today.

4. Use the filters as a decoder

The Forest stands panel lets you narrow the map by the same characteristics: cover type, dominant species, canopy density, height, age, and non-forest or unproductive terrain. Select a single value to see how it appears in your area.

5. Confirm the inventory date and access

Ecoforest data are a planning reference. Disturbance, harvesting, regrowth, and road conditions may have changed since the aerial-photo inventory. A stand label never confirms legal access or hunting permission.

Use it on the map

Turn on Forest stands, choose Outline with labels, and zoom in. Use a filter—such as spruce, 17–22 m height, or 60–79% canopy density—to connect the information on the map with the forest characteristic you are looking for.

Open ecoforest example

Official references

Forêt ouverte’s guide explains the available ecoforest display and legend options. The MRNF’s technical guide is the authoritative reference for the inventory’s fields and codes; it is available in French.

Forêt ouverte User Guide MRNF technical guide (French)