Assessment of coarse woody debris stock in Russian forests based on state forest inventory data

Abstract

The study presents the large-scale assessment relating to the volume of coarse woody debris (CWD), i.e. standing dead trees, downed wood and stumps, in the forests of the Russian Federation. The results of the quantitative estimation of the stocks of snags, downed wood and stumps based on direct field measurements in 27,403 SFI (State Forest Inventory) permanent sample plots that are representative for 15 forest regions. The average total volume of woody detritus is estimated to be 29.22±9.7 m3/ha. The snags makes up 40.3%, downed wood – 55.3%, and stumps – 4.4% of the total CWD. The volume of above- and on-ground woody detritus to average live wood volume ratio is estimated to be 14.6±4.4%, including 5.82±1.8% for standing dead trees, 8.15±3.1% for downed wood and 0.67±0.4% for stumps. The highest volumes of woody detritus on average were found in the forest-steppe zone of European Russia, coniferous and broadleaved forests of the Far East and European Russia, and mountainous forests of South Siberia. The advantages of using the qualitatively new information acquired from SFI materials, for the more exact estimation of the volumes of the above - and on-ground woody detritus have revealed.