Importance Of Dead Wood Research Articles

Initial Stand Volume and Residual Live Trees Drive Deadwood Carbon Stocks in Fire and Harvest Disturbed Boreal Forests at North-Central Alberta.

Retention forestry involves leaving single or groups of unharvested trees within harvest areas. Patch retention, which resembles structures such as unburned patches remaining after wildfire, is one practice implemented within the framework of Ecosystem-based Forest Management (EBM), which seeks to use natural forests as a model and minimize differences in natural and managed forests. Despite the widespread adoption of patch retention practices, few comparisons of the attributes of postfire and postharvest islands, or their drivers, have been made. Given the importance of deadwood in forests to a variety of ecosystem functions, we sought to compare the local bioenvironmental drivers of deadwood (snags, CWD) C stocks in islands remnants in postfire and postharvest forests a decade after disturbance. We also determined whether their relative effects are consistent across deadwood types (snags, CWD) and disturbance regimes using generalized additive mixed models with study site as random factor in all cases. A candidate model with initial stand volume (ISV), basal area of live trees, and size heterogeneity of live trees best predicted snag and CWD C stocks in both disturbance types, but their relative importance was inconsistent. The ISV had significantly (p < 0.05) positive effects on C stocks in snags and CWD across disturbance types, but its relative effects was higher in retention islands than fire islands. In all cases, stand density of remnant live trees was negatively related to deadwood C stocks. Conversely, the size heterogeneity of remnant live trees significantly boosted deadwood C stocks in fire islands but not in harvest islands. The results imply consideration for the stocking level of candidate forest areas for retention patches as this drives the evolution of deadwood accumulation in the postharvest islands.

Changes in live and deadwood pools in spruce-fir-beech forests after six decades of converting age class management to single-tree selection

Forests and their management are changing due to new policies, land abandonment, decisions of forest owners, tenure and climate change. The importance of deadwood as species habitat in combination with increasing concerns for biodiversity is now broadly recognized and studies of deadwood are conducted in protection areas, plantations as well as natural commercial forests. One promising adaptive forest management alternative is plenter forest management. Here we attempt to answer questions, how stand structure changes after converting even-aged age-class forests into uneven-aged plenter forests and how the management transition affects deadwood pools, using an established pairwise comparison study in spruce-fir-beech forests in Austria. While live tree and branch volume were statistically different between the two treatments, deadwood volume and decay classes were comparable. Stands transforming into plenter forests exhibited clear unimodal stem density distribution in both 2009/10 and 2022, which differed from stands within a plenter equilibrium.. This indicates that structural transitions from age-class forests to plenter forests is a slow continuous process, requiring more than 60 years. Our results further suggest that plenter forests do not have higher deadwood stocks, despite considered “close-to-nature” management in some studies. Lower deadwood stocks in plenter forests (not significantly different to forests transitioning to plenter forests) may be compensated by plenter forests exhibiting a more diverse range of deadwood components, with possible positive overall effects on habitat value for species depending on deadwood of various decay classes.

Importance of Dead Wood in Virgin Forest Ecosystem Functioning in Southern Carpathians

Dead wood (DW) is an important component of sustainable forest management and climate change mitigation. Three research plots (each with an area of 1 ha), located in virgin forests in the Southern Carpathians (Semenic P20, Retezat–Zănoaga, and Făgăraș–Șinca), were installed in order to study the synergies between DW and climate change mitigation effects. Data on the dendrometric characteristics of standing and lying DW, the species, and the degree of decay were recorded. The aboveground biomass (AGB) and carbon stock (CS) of the DW were also determined. The DW volume was between 48 m3·ha−1 and 148 m3·ha−1, with the total volume (dead and alive) ranging between 725 m3·ha−1 and 966 m3·ha−1. The DW volume distribution shows a decreasing trend, with the most suitable theoretical distributions for describing this being the lognormal, the 2P Weibull, and the 2P-Gamma. The AGB ranged between 17 t·ha−1 and 30 t·ha−1 and showed a decreasing trend according to altitude. The CS was between 8 t·ha−1 and 14.33 t·ha−1. A slow decomposition rate for the hardwood was identified by analyzing the relationship between the surface and volume of the DW. This highlighted the capacity of DW to store carbon for a long period of time.

Dead Wood as an Element Enriching Biodiversity of Forest Ecosystems: A Case Study Based on Mites from the Suborder Uropodina (Acari: Parasitiformes)

The importance of dead wood in forest ecosystems for the existence of invertebrates has been widely discussed in the literature. The major aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that the presence of dead wood in forests considerably increases the species diversity of Uropodina (Acari: Parasitiformes) communities in a given area. The areas selected for the study are unique from a natural point of view. They are the Białowieża Primeval Forest, Cisy Staropolskie im. Leona Wyczółkowskiego Nature Reserve, and five oak-hornbeam nature reserves in western Poland. The study is based on materials collected since the 1960s of the last century. The highest number of species (37) both in soil and dead wood microhabitats was recorded in the Białowieża Primeval Forest and Cisy Staropolskie Nature Reserve, though the dead wood material from the second area contained the highest number of species (33). The results of the analysis show that the presence of dead wood increases species diversity of Uropodina communities in all locations under scrutiny. Moreover, dead wood increases the species diversity of Uropodina communities by attracting rare and stenotopic species, and therefore leaving dead trees in forests is extremely important for the habitat protection of these species.

Long-term effects of salvage logging on stand composition in seminatural spruce forests

The tree diameter distribution was used to characterize the impact of forest disturbances and the ecosystem dynamics during the process of regeneration in the absence of any management 44 years after the event. In addition, the impact of salvage logging after windthrow remains unknown, especially on long-term responses. In this study, comparisons were made between the “unsalvaged” and “salvaged” post-storm management scenarios. The study was conducted in Slitere Natural Park in the Northwest part of Latvia, where large-scale windthrow occurred on November 2, 1969. The three-parameter Weibull function was used to describe the diameter distribution of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) stands formed after large-scale wind storm in two site types (on fertile mineral soils: with normal moisture regime (fresh)—Oxalidosa—and with periodic excess water (wet)—Myrtilloso-sphagnosa) and where salvage logging was or was not carried out (management scenarios). The naturally regenerated stands remained Norway spruce dominated and were independent of the post-storm management scenarios; still, they were significantly affected by a forest type. The three-parameter Weibull distribution function suited well to actual diameter distributions of the sample plots. Diameter distributions significantly differed between the forest types: In Myrtilloso-sphagnosa (wet) forest stands, it was a negative exponential and in Oxalidosa (fresh) stands unimodal and positively skewed. We did not detect distribution differences caused by salvage after a large-scale disturbance, indicating that other factors (like ecological importance of deadwood, a risk of insect outbreaks to neighboring areas, etc.) need to be considered, when deciding on the post-storm management.

Developing a systematic sampling method for earthworms in and around deadwood

BackgroundThe ecological importance of deadwood is widely acknowledged, however popular forestry practices may reduce deadwood from a site, and most European forests now fall below recommended targets, putting deadwood-associated species at risk. There is increasing evidence that earthworm species which live in alternative habitats such as deadwood can be missed by traditional sampling methods, which can lead to false classifications regarding species distributions and conservation status and value. Resolving the current lack of a systematic and quantitative methodology for surveying earthworms in microhabitats such as deadwood may therefore lead to valuable insights into earthworm species ecologies in forest ecosystems. The main aim of this research was to develop and trial a systematic method for surveying deadwood-associated earthworms, with potential future application to other invertebrates. Sampling of earthworms within soil, deadwood and soil beneath deadwood was carried out across a chronosequence of unmanaged oak forest stands. The results were then used to investigate the influence of soil and deadwood environmental factors and woodland age on the earthworm populations of oak-dominated broadleaf woodlands.ResultsResults from our surveys successfully show that in oak woodland habitats with deadwood, omitting deadwood microhabitats from earthworm sampling can lead to underestimates of total earthworm species richness, abundance and biomass. We also found a significantly greater proportion of juveniles within the earthworm communities of broadleaf deadwood, where temperature and moisture conditions were more favourable than surrounding open soil habitats.ConclusionsThe systematic method presented should be considered as additional and complementary to traditional sampling protocols, to provide a realistic estimate of earthworm populations in woodland systems. Adopting this quantitative approach to surveying the biodiversity value of deadwood may enable forest management practices to more effectively balance wood production against ecological and conservation values. Opportunities for further development of the sampling methodology are proposed.

People's attitudes towards deadwood in forest: evidence from the Ukrainian Carpathians

People’s attitudes towards forest stand characteristics including deadwood are becoming increasingly relevant in sustainable forest management. The aim of this study is to investigate people’s attitudes towards deadwood in forest. The study was carried out in the Rakhiv region (Ukraine) characterized by high importance of forest resources for the local community and economy. People’s opinions were collected through the face-to-face administration of a questionnaire to 308 respondents. The survey investigated three aspects: importance of deadwood in forest; people’s perceptions of positive and negative effects of deadwood in forest; effects of presence and amount of deadwood in different types of forest on people’s aesthetical preferences. The results show that the majority of respondents consider deadwood as an important component of the forest, but generally they prefer intensively managed forests without deadwood. According to the respondents’ opinions, the most important positive effect of deadwood is a contribution to stand dynamics, while the most important negative effect is an increasing risk of insects and diseases.

Analyzing deadwood volume of Calabrian pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) in relation to stand and site parameters: a case study in Köprülü Canyon National Park.

The importance of deadwood (DW) in forest ecosystems is widely recognized today. Deadwood is used as a proxy indicator for biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of forests. This research aims to determine the amount and spatial distribution of DW (standing dead trees, stumps, and coarse woody debris) and characterize the changes with few selected parameters in an unmanaged forest reserve of Köprülü Canyon National Park (NP). The data were collected from 387 temporary sample plots with different stand characteristics such as stand age, crown closure, site index, and density, and site parameters like elevation, aspect, slope, and distance to settlement areas of Calabrian pine (Pinus brutia Ten.)-dominated forests. The mean volume of DW was 3.8m3/ha which was 2.4% of the total standing living volume. The volume of standing DW was 0.5m3/ha (13.2%), that of stumps was 0.2m3/ha (5.3%), and that of down DW was 3.1m3/ha (81.5%). Statistically, positive correlation was found between the volume of DW and that of living trees, crown closure, altitude (p<0.01), and stand age (p<0.05). However, negative correlation was found between the number of understory trees (p<0.01) and DW. The results obtained from Calabrian pine (P. brutia Ten.) can be used as reference values for managed forests and can contribute to set the rules in deciding the appropriate level of DW in particularly biodiversity integrated forest management planning.

Birch and conifer deadwood favour early establishment and shade tolerance in yellow birch juveniles growing in sugar maple dominated stands

Small-seeded tree species such as yellow birch (YB, Betula alleghaniensis Britt.) require deadwood or mineral soil for their establishment. Although much research has been done comparing YB germination on leaf litter vs. exposed mineral soil, less is known about deadwood as a seedbed and how different seedbeds affect YB early growth along light availability and size gradients. We examine how three common seedbeds (deadwood, moss cover on deadwood, and mineral soil) affected establishment and growth, biomass partitioning, and morphological traits of YB juveniles growing in the understory of temperate mixed deciduous and coniferous forests in southern Quebec. A total of 274 YB were sampled in four sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) dominated northern hardwood stands where selective cuts had been applied 6 and 15 years prior to sampling. Over 75% of the YB found on deadwood were on material of birch and conifer origin, although these species made less than 40% of the basal area. YB juveniles growing on deadwood showed traits that improve survival in shade such as reduced height growth for tall plants, higher efficiency in resource capture, and multilayered crowns. Our results demonstrate the importance of deadwood of birch and conifer origin in maintaining an abundant, natural, spatially well-distributed, and multistoried regeneration of YB.

Assessing and modelling the status and dynamics of deadwood through national forest inventory data in Spain

The importance of deadwood in forest ecosystems is undeniable, not only in terms of the biodiversity values it provides but also in terms of carbon sequestration and emission. Its importance is evidenced in the international reporting requirements, which include the need for countries to detail their deadwood stock as an important indicator of sustainable development. In recent years, deadwood stocks have been included within the variables reported in the Spanish National Forest Inventories (SNFI), showing average values for total deadwood stocks of 8 and 10.5m3ha−1 for the SNFI3 and SNFI4, respectively. However, SNFI are undertaken approximately every ten years, making it difficult their use for accomplishing international reporting requirements annually or every five years. In this context, the objective of the present study was to attempt to model deadwood occurrence, stocks and dynamics using stand, topographic and climatic variables. The models developed considered different forest types, deadwood categories (standing dead trees; downed dead trees; standing saplings; downed saplings/small dead trees; downed coarse wood pieces/downed branches; stumps; coppice stumps) and decay classes. The data set comprises plots from the SNFI3 (3236 plots) and the SNFI4 (1066 plots) from the Basque Country region. Due to the differing characteristics of deadwood stocks in managed forests, where a large number of plots have no deadwood (from 34% to 98% depending on the deadwood category considered), zero-inflated models were chosen as the modelling technique. From the different zero-inflated models analysed, zero-inflated Poisson model was the one that showed better results. Despite the natural variability inherent in deadwood in the analysed forests, good results were achieved for total deadwood stock models as a function of forest types as well as for deadwood dynamics models. These models provide a promising approach for deadwood estimation in the period between the NFI’s and they can also be employed by private forest owners in forest management practices, particularly in the case of forest certification.

Monitoring of insects with public participation (MIPP; EU LIFE project 11 NAT/IT/000252): overview on a citizen science initiative and a monitoring programme (Insecta: Coleoptera; Lepidoptera; Orthoptera)

The LIFE project “MIPP” - Monitoring of Insects with Public Participation (11 NAT/IT/000252) is focused on selected insect species (five Coleoptera, three Lepidoptera, one Orthoptera), all included in the annexes II and IV of the Habitats Directive (HD) 92/43/EEC. One important aim is a &lt;em&gt;citizen science&lt;/em&gt; initiative where every person may become a citizen scientist and collect faunistic data on the above species throughout Italy. Another objective of the project MIPP is the development of standard methods for monitoring the conserva- tion status of the five target beetle species. One innovative method employed is a sniffer-dog (“Osmodog”), trained to find the rare and endangered hermit beetle, &lt;em&gt;Osmoderma eremita&lt;/em&gt;, which lives in veteran, hollow trees. The dog detects the strong smell of mature peach produced by adult males and an odor produced by the larvae. Another objective of the project MIPP is the dissemination of topics such as HD, Natura 2000, importance of dead-wood, Life projects, insect monitoring and conservation.

Biodiversity or bioenergy: is deadwood conservation an environmental issue for French forest owners?1This article is one of a selection of papers from the International Symposium on Dynamics and Ecological Services of Deadwood in Forest Ecosystems.

Forest owners are confronted with contradictory views on the importance of deadwood. Environmentalists argue that it should be left in the forest to conserve biodiversity, provide a habitat for specific fauna and flora, and maintain soil quality through wood decay. Conversely, industrial stakeholders, and some public decision makers, advocate harvesting deadwood. Based on a sociological survey and qualitative interviews, we first analyzed the detailed environmental opinions and values of four groups of French foresters as well as their attitudes towards biodiversity, in particular regarding deadwood conservation. We identified various types of attitudes towards deadwood, which could be seen as waste, an unprofitable by-product, a meaningless entity, or a key part of the ecosystem. We then studied the arguments leading them to choose between deadwood conservation and deadwood harvesting for bioenergy production. On one hand, foresters are interested in short-term profitability and pest control, while others fear potential loss of fertility. Finally, the article shows that specific approaches to deadwood conservation ought to be negotiated at a local scale, pending further scientific investigation into the impact of deadwood on biodiversity and the development of more positive attitudes toward ecological concerns in the forest owners’ community.

A Preliminary Note on the Conservation of Saproxylic Flies (Insecta : Diptera) in Himachal Pradesh

Saproxylic flies comprise a diverse, species-rich and dominant functional group which depends (parts of thier life) on dead or dying wood or dead trees (standing or fallen), or wood-inhabiting fungi. The importance of dead wood in forest ecosystems has been emphasised worldwide (Harmon et 01. 1986, Hale, Pastor & Rusterholz 1999, McGee, Leopold & Nyland 1999, Siitonen 2001). The insects using the wood comprise a diverse fauna in terms of their nutritional ecology (Essen et 01., 1997). On the other hand, dead wood is one of the most important substrates for maintaining biodiversity in forest ecosystems, and a substrate that is strongly negatively impacted by human activities.

Airborne laser scanning-based prediction of coarse woody debris volumes in a conservation area

The importance of dead wood (coarse woody debris, CWD) for biodiversity in boreal forests is high that is mainly due to its role in nutrient cycling and species habitation. Recognition of its importance in storing carbon has also raised an interest in developing new methods for assessing the quantity and quality of CWD. Since the traditional measuring techniques are often expensive to apply for the estimation of volume characteristics in the field, more attention is currently being paid to remote-sensing techniques that could provide lower cost data for forest inventories over large areas. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of airborne laser scanner (ALS) data for estimating downed and standing dead wood volumes. The analysis was based on field measurements from 33 sample plots which were evaluated against the ALS-derived height-intensity metrics obtained from the Koli National Park in eastern Finland. The accuracy of the ALS data proved adequate for predicting the downed dead wood volume (RMSE 51.6%), whereas the standing dead wood volume estimates were somewhat poorer (RMSE 78.8%). The ALS-based volume estimates for downed dead wood were found to be substantially more accurate than the estimates based on field-measured characteristics of living trees.

Il legno morto dei boschi: indagine sulla densità basale del legno di alcune specie del Trentino

Given the importance of deadwood as temporary carbon storage, the present paper reports preliminary results on the application of a method to quantify carbon content of standing and lying deadwood in the forest. The investigation, carried out in the Province of Trento, has been addressed to three important forest species in the local and Italian context: spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.), fir (Abies alba Miller) and beech (Fagus sylvatica L.). Wood analysis has concerned the assessment of the main qualitative characteristics. The variables considered were: volume, decay class and category (log or snag). After a laboratory step, data collected in the field allowed to estimate fresh wood density, basic wood density and carbon stock for the three species in the different decay classes. The present study allowed the method used to be tested on a partial collection of deadwood samples, with the perspective of its application to the deadwood volumetric data collected during the third phase of the current National Inventory of Forests and Forest Carbon Sinks (INFC).

Saproxylic beetle assemblages on native and exotic snags in a West African tropical forest

The management of dead wood is crucial to the conservation of saproxylic beetles, species dependent on dead wood. This holds for both natural forest and tree plantations. However, the importance of dead wood in tropical forest ecosystems is not yet well understood. The present study investigates saproxylic beetle assemblages of native and exotic standing dead trees (snags). The study was conducted in semi-deciduous protected forest and tree plantations of the Lama Forest Reserve in Benin, West Africa. The snag beetle fauna was sampled for a total of 12 weeks during one year, using trunk window traps. As a control an equal number of live trees was sampled to distinguish saproxylic and non-saproxylic beetles. Mean snag beetle species richness, relative abundance and the number of singletons, species sampled only once, per snag were similar among native and exotic snags. The total number of snag beetle species and beta-diversity of snag beetle assemblages were higher for native than for exotic snags, reflecting high heterogeneity in habitat quality among snags in natural forest. It is concluded that snag beetle assemblages were influenced mainly by the forest system, semi-deciduous forest vs plantations. With regard to dead wood management, retention or creation of snags in semi-deciduous forest, as well as in plantations, can enhance and preserve the diversity of the saproxylic beetle fauna.