Characteristics of Coarse Woody Debris in Different-Age Natural <i>Larix gmelinii</i> Forests in Daxing’anling Mountains

Abstract

Coarse woody debris (CWD) is composed of dry wood, fallen wood and large branches, and it is an important element for structure and function in forest ecosystems. In this paper, we studied the characteristics of coarse woody debris (CWD) of natural Larix gmelinii forests with different ages in Daxing’anling Mountains. The results show that (1) the CWD volumes in near-mature, middle-age and young forests are 88.55 m3•hm-2, 52.07 m3•hm-2 and 3.96 m3•hm-2, respectively; and their biomasses are 52.96 t•hm-2, 36.22 t•hm-2 and 2.35t•hm-2, respectively. Which indicate that the CWD volumes and biomasses increase with forest ages addition; (2) The CWD volume and biomass follow normal distribution in middle and near-mature forest; (3) the CWD volume and biomass decrease with forest age increasing within decay classes I and II, whereas increase in decay classes III, IVand V; (4) the volume of middle-age and young forests present a near normal distribution with decay class increasing.