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Abstract
Despite increasing harvest pressure for taxanes, Canada yew's growth and physiology have been poorly studied yet. This study characterised Canada yew's response following different harvest intensities. A factorial experiment was held in Duchesnay, Quebec. Four harvest intensities and 3 timings were tested. Needle taxane concentrations were lower when harvested in June. One year after harvest, the annual shoot mass near the cut site was 11.8 times lower than for controls. The differences among groups were less important for the total annual shoot mass, but the values still diminished with increasing harvest intensity. We suggest to follow the Quebec provincial norm and to harvest during the fall season in order to maximise taxane yield. A harvesting technique which would spread damage among younger, but more numerous twigs should be tested in order to allow faster biomass recovery the following years.
