Christian Messier2, Ren6 ~o u c e t~, Yves Claveau2 and Phil Comeau4Regeneration of forest stands through the preservation of existing advance regeneration has gained considerable interest in various regions of North America. The effectiveness of this approach relies on the capacity of regeneration to respond positively to overstory removal. Responses of advance regeneration to release is dependent on tree characteristics and site conditions interacting with the degree of physiological shock caused by the sudden change in environmental conditions. This paper presents a review of the literature describing the relationships between morphological indicators and the advance regeneration response to canopy removal. It focuses primarily on the following species: jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.), lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. var. latifolia Engelm.), black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.), interior spruce (Picea glauca x engelmannii), white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss), balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.), and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt). Pre-release height growth has been found to be a good indicator of post-release response for many species. Live-crown ratio also appears to be a good indicator of vigour for shade-tolerant species. The ratio of leader length to length of the longest lateral at the last whorl could serve to describe the degree of suppression before harvest for shade-tolerant species. Number of nodal and internodal branches or buds has been found to be related with vigour for many species. Logging damage has been shown to be an important determinant of seedling response to overstory removal. In contrast, heighddiameter ratio has limited value for predicting response to release since it varies with site, species and other factors. No clear relationship between age, height at release and response to release could be demonstrated. This paper also suggests the use of combined indicators and cntical threshold values for these indicators.Key words: advance regeneration, careful logging, vigour, clearcutting I La protection de la rkgknkration prkttablie a fait l'objet d'un inter& croissant au cows des derniieres dtcennies en Amkrique du Nord. L'efficacitt de cette approche repose toutefois sur la capacit6 de cette rCgkn6ration B rkagir positivement h la coupe. La rkaction de la rkgtnkration prkktablie dkpend de ses caractkristiques au moment de la coupe et de leur interaction avec les conditions de station et le choc causk par le pr6lhement du couvert principal. Cet article passe en m e les relations entre diffkrents indicateurs morphologiques et la rkaction de la rkgknkration prkktablie aprks coupe. Les espkces vistes sont : le pin gris (Pinus banksiana Lamb.), le pin de Murray (Pinus contorta Dougl. var. latifolia Engelm.), l'tpinette noire (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.), l'kpinette blanche (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss), le sapin baurnier (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) et le sapin subalpin (Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt). La croissance en hauteur avant coupe a kt6 relike...