Deadwood volume assessment in Calabrian pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) peri-urban forests: Comparison between two sampling methods

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn the Sustainable Forest Management, deadwood is a fundamental substrate for numerous species, and a key factor in carbon and nutrient cycles. The main aim of the paper is to estimate the amount of deadwood in two Calabrian pine forests (Monte Morello in Italy; Xanthi in Greece) characterized by different stand conditions and management practices. The second aim is to compare two different sampling methods to estimate the volume of lying deadwood: the fixed-area sampling (FAS) method and the line intersect sampling (LIS) method. The results show that the Monte Morello peri-urban forest is characterized by a high quantity of deadwood (75.1 m3 ha−1) divided in 80% of lying deadwood, 18% of standing dead trees, and 2% of stumps. The Xanthi peri-urban forest is characterized by a total amount of deadwood of 9.21 m3 ha−1 divided in 34% of lying deadwood, 18% of standing dead trees and 48% of stumps. The mean volume of lying deadwood in Monte Morello estimated using the FAS is 59.91 m3 ha−1, while using the LIS the mean volume is 64.9 m3 ha−1. In the Xanthi, the mean volume of lying deadwood is 3.11 m3 ha−1 using FAS and 5.49 m3 ha−1 using LIS.