• Insect outbreak edges were 10 m wide with different canopy cover, stem density and tree structural diversity than adjacent ecosystems.• Although edge influence on forest structure was weak, forest influence was stronger and extended further, creating an edge zone skewed towards the disturbed area.• After thirty years, high-contrast and structurally-diverse transition zones persist on the landscape. AbstractNatural disturbances such as insect outbreaks create boundaries that influence vegetation patterns and ecological processes. To better understand the effects of natural edge creation on relatively intact forests and adjacent disturbed areas, we investigated forest structure on both sides of 30 year-old forest edges created by a spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana Clemens) outbreak in the boreal forest of Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Canada. Our objectives were: 1) to determine edge influence (compared to interior forest) and forest influence (compared to disturbed areas) on vegetation structure, and 2) to gain insight into the structural development of the edges. Canopy cover, tree density, radial growth and deadwood were sampled in 5 m x 20 m plots along 120 m transects across six edges. Randomization tests were used to estimate the magnitude and distance of edge and forest influence. Narrow transition zones approximately 10 m wide characterized the spruce budworm-induced edges. Edge influence did not extend into the forest; however, forest influence on structure was detected up to 40 m from the edge into the disturbed area. We found evidence of the insect outbreak in the form of reduced radial growth during the disturbance across the entire disturbed area-forest gradient, which indicates that spruce budworm activity may not have ceased directly at the edge. Tree mortality caused by the insect outbreak resulted in snags, many of which have transformed into logs since the outbreak collapsed. Spruce budworm outbreak-induced forest edges are narrow but dynamic boundaries separating two distinct vegetation communities in the boreal landscape.