scholarly journals Snag Longevity in Managed Northern Hardwoods

2006 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariko Yamasaki ◽  
William B. Leak
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Coarse Woody Debris ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Decay Process ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Habitat Conditions ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Growth Study ◽  
Bartlett Experimental Forest ◽  
Changes Over Time

Abstract Little information on standing snag and coarse woody debris longevity exists for New England forest types. Forest managers thus lack the information on changes over time of the habitat components influenced by the decay process. We examined the fate of 568 snags that occurred on a long-termhardwood growth study on the Bartlett Experimental Forest, NH. Approximately one-third of the oldest dense hardwood sawtimber snags were still standing 20 to 25 years after death and 17% were still visible on the ground. Seventeen percent of the older moderately dense hardwood sawtimbersnags were standing 15 to 20 years after death, 50% were still visible on the ground, and 33% had decomposed. Pole-sized snags appear to stand for shorter times than sawtimber and large sawtimber snags. Percentage of decomposed poles increased steadily throughout the time periods.These results can be most useful in predicting future wildlife habitat conditions in managed stands, as well as providing better rates of decomposition information when modeling coarse woody debris.

Influence of habitat and microhabitat on carabid (Coleoptera: Carabidae) assemblages in four stand types

2003 ◽  
Vol 135 (3) ◽  
pp. 337-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.L. Pearce ◽  
L.A. Venier ◽  
J. McKee ◽  
J. Pedlar ◽  
D. McKenney
Keyword(s):  
Coarse Woody Debris ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Habitat Associations ◽  
Litter Layer ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Disturbed Habitat ◽  
Northwestern Ontario ◽  
Spruce Stands ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Important Habitat

AbstractStudies based on presence/absence of a species may provide insight into habitat associations, allowing the distribution of species to be predicted across the landscape. Our objective was to characterize the carabid fauna in three mature boreal forest types (conifer, mixedwood, and deciduous) and a disturbed habitat (clearcut) to provide baseline data on the carabid species inhabiting the major forest types of boreal northwestern Ontario. Only spring-active carabids were considered for logistical reasons. We further identified the coarse woody debris structure and microhabitat characteristics within these stand types to try to refine our ability to predict the within-stand occurrence of carabids. We found the carabid composition of deciduous stands (mixedwood and aspen) similar and typical of the carabid fauna found in mixedwood forest in other nearby studies. The important feature of these forest types may be the presence of a deciduous leaf litter layer. In contrast, spruce stands contained fewer species and individuals and a distinct carabid fauna. As predicted, the clearcut habitats were dominated by open habitat species, although the fauna was dissimilar to what was recorded in clearcut habitats in other studies within northwestern Ontario. Coarse woody debris appeared to be an important habitat attribute for several carabid species in clearcut habitats.

Managing for Mature Habitat in Production Forests of Western Oregon and Washington

1996 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 422-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth C. Cole
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Coarse Woody Debris ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Habitat Features ◽  
Canopy Opening ◽  
Tolerant Species ◽  
Shade Tolerant Species

Standard timber management practices in the Pacific Northwest result in stands which often vary from unmanaged stands in structure and composition. Forest and wildlife managers have identified a deficit of stands in the mature (> 100-yr-old) age class that contain certain desirable wildlife habitat features. Techniques are being developed that would increase the likelihood that managed stands can produce these characteristics. The key desirable components in these stands include large (> 75 cm diam breast height) conifer trees, snags, coarse woody debris, and understory structure, including regeneration. Vegetation management techniques can facilitate development of these components within stands. Thinning the overstory, underplanting shade-tolerant species, and creating snags and coarse woody debris can be accomplished within a production forest. Maintaining shade-intolerant species requires a higher level of disturbance and canopy opening than needed for shade-tolerant species. Treatments which remove competition from shrubs and herbaceous plants may be necessary to insure growth and survival of understory regeneration. Injection of different herbicides into low-grade conifers may yield different types of snags in comparison to girdling or topping. Although much of the understory may be eliminated during future thinnings and final harvest, some of the structure will remain and could be carried over into the next rotation along with snags and large coarse woody debris. These treatments are expected to enhance mature habitats in present and future cycles with minimum impact on yield.

Pre-wildfire fuel reduction treatments result in more resilient forest structure a decade after wildfire

2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 1108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camille Stevens-Rumann ◽  
Kristen Shive ◽  
Peter Fulé ◽  
Carolyn H. Sieg
Keyword(s):  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Coarse Woody Debris ◽  
Stand Structure ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Stand Density ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Minimum Size ◽  
Forest Fuels ◽  
Ponderosa Pine Forests

Increasing size and severity of wildfires have led to an interest in the effectiveness of forest fuels treatments on reducing fire severity and post-wildfire fuels. Our objective was to contrast stand structure and surface fuel loadings on treated and untreated sites within the 2002 Rodeo–Chediski Fire area. Data from 140 plots on seven paired treated–untreated sites indicated that pre-wildfire treatments reduced fire severity compared with untreated sites. In 2011, coarse woody debris loading (woody material>7.62cm in diameter) was 257% higher and fine woody debris (woody material<7.62cm) was 152% higher on untreated sites than on treated sites. Yet, in spite of higher levels of coarse woody debris on untreated sites, loadings did not exceed recommended ranges based on published literature and many treated sites fell below recommendations. By 2011, basal area and stand density on treated sites and stand density on untreated sites met management guidelines for ponderosa pine forests, but untreated sites had basal areas well below recommendations. Snags declined over this period and only three plots had snags that met minimum size and density requirements for wildlife habitat by 2011. The effects of pre-wildfire treatments are long-lasting and contribute to changes in both overstorey and understorey fuel complexes.

Effects of Brush Piles on Small Mammal Abundance and Survival in Central Pennsylvania

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 392-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher B. Goguen ◽  
Richard S. Fritsky ◽  
Gary J. San Julian
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammal ◽  
Coarse Woody Debris ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Blarina Brevicauda ◽  
Tamias Striatus ◽  
Habitat Features ◽  
Central Pennsylvania ◽  
Small Mammal Population

Abstract Brush piles have long been promoted as a means to enhance wildlife habitat, yet few studies have experimentally tested the perceived benefits of these structures for wildlife or evaluated the efficacy of different arrangements of these piles within landscapes. During summers 2005 and 2006, we used a mark–recapture study to compare small mammal abundance and survival in forested habitats provisioned with brush piles vs. similar habitats without, both at sites located adjacent to agricultural edges and within the interior of forests in central Pennsylvania. Northern short-tailed shrews Blarina brevicauda, mice Peromyscus, and eastern chipmunks Tamias striatus were all frequently captured within brush piles at edge and interior sites. Peromyscus were significantly more abundant at edge vs. interior sites. The presence of brush piles, however, seemed to have little effect on small mammal abundance or survival with the only potential effect being an increased overwinter survival rate experienced by Peromyscus at brush pile sites. We hypothesize that although brush piles provide cover and foraging sites for small mammals, the large quantities of coarse woody debris that exist naturally in many forested systems may already adequately provide these habitat features, minimizing the effects of brush piles on small mammal population dynamics.

Detection and Quantification of Coarse Woody Debris in Natural Forest Stands Using Airborne LiDAR

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukas R Jarron ◽  
Nicholas C Coops ◽  
William H MacKenzie ◽  
Pamela Dykstra
Keyword(s):  
Coarse Woody Debris ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Stand Structure ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Large Diameter ◽  
Natural Forest ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Forest Stands ◽  
Linear Pattern

Abstract Coarse woody debris (CWD) is a meaningful contributor to forest carbon cycles, wildlife habitat, and biodiversity and can influence wildfire behavior. Using airborne laser scanning (ALS), we map CWD across a range of natural forest stand types in north-central British Columbia, Canada, providing forest managers with spatially detailed information on the presence and volume of ground-level woody biomass. We describe a novel methodology that isolates CWD returns from large diameter logs (&gt;30cm) using a refined grounding algorithm, a mixture of height and pulse-based filters and linear pattern recognition, to transform ALS returns into measurable, vectorized shapes. We then assess the accuracy of CWD detection at the individual log level and predict CWD volume at the plot level. We detected 64% of CWD logs and 79% of CWD volume within our plots. Increased elevation of CWD significantly aided detection (P = 0.04), whereas advanced stages of decay hindered detection (P = 0.04). ALS-predicted CWD volume totals were compared against field-measured CWD and displayed a strong correlation (R = 0.81), allowing us to expand the methodology to map CWD over a larger region. The expanded CWD volume map compared ALS volume predictions between stands and suggests greater volume in stands with older and more heterogeneous stand structure. Study Implications A methodology is presented to extract returns associated with large diameter coarse woody debris (CWD) directly from an ALS point cloud. These returns are transformed into measurable shapes and their volume estimated based on the height of the returns. The procedure is implemented over a large forested area to produce a map of local CWD volume. Production of these maps can be used to generate inventory of CWD over a range of natural forest stands to support a more well-rounded understanding of carbon levels associated with downed trees, wildlife habitat attributes, and fuel loading in the terrestrial biosphere.

Effect of small-scale forest management on fungivorous Coleoptera in old-growth forest fragments in southeastern Ontario, Canada

2007 ◽  
Vol 139 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca M. Zeran ◽  
Robert S. Anderson ◽  
Terry A. Wheeler
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Coarse Woody Debris ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Hardwood Forests ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Old Growth Forest ◽  
Species Analysis

AbstractFungivorous Coleoptera were sampled from old-growth and managed (selectively logged in 1999) hemlock–hardwood forests in southeastern Ontario to examine the effect of small-scale forest management on fungivore diversity in forest fragments. Sampling using flight-intercept traps and trunk-window traps for 22 weeks in 2003 yielded 11 888 beetles representing 73 species in 11 target families (Anthribidae, Cerylonidae, Endomychidae, Erotylidae, Leiodidae, Mycetophagidae, Scaphidiidae, Sphindidae, Tenebrionidae, Trogossitidae, and Zopheridae). The leiodid subfamily Leiodinae was the dominant taxon (10 386 individuals, 38 species). While old-growth stands had no recent logging and had higher volumes of coarse woody debris, species diversity and composition of fungivorous Coleoptera were similar between forest types, suggesting that the stand differences measured (recent logging history, volume of coarse woody debris) did not have a significant effect on beetle diversity in this study. Indicator species analysis showed that Triplax macra LeConte (Erotylidae) was strongly associated with old-growth stands, while Anisotoma blanchardi (Horn), Anogdus obsoletus (Melsheimer), Agathidium sp. 1 (Leiodidae), and Mycetina perpulchra (Newman) (Endomychidae) were associated with managed stands. The lack of difference observed between stand types may be related to the small size of the forest fragments or the relatively small scale of the disturbance.

An assessment of expert-based marten habitat models used for forest management in Ontario

2005 ◽  
Vol 81 (6) ◽  
pp. 801-807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Bowman ◽  
Jean-François Robitaille
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Suitability ◽  
Coarse Woody Debris ◽  
Stand Structure ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Abies Balsamea ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Habitat Model ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Habitat Models ◽  
Development Stages

We used marten snow tracking data and a previously developed empirical habitat model from northeastern Ontario to validate a number of expert-based, non-spatial marten habitat models. In particular, we tested the non-spatial Ontario Wildlife Habitat Analysis Model, the Boreal East Habitat Suitability Matrix (including tests of both standard forest units and development stages), and Allen's (1982) HSI model. Marten habitat use as measured by tracks in the snow was consistent with predictions of all the expert-based models, suggesting that these models correctly characterized the stand-level forest cover selected by marten in winter. Suitability ranks for individual stands derived from standard forest units and development stages also were consistent with their use by marten. The empirical model was consistent with the expert-based models in that it considered suitable forest stands to be those with tall trees dominated by spruce (Picea spp.) and balsam fir (Abies balsamea) trees, with a large amount of coarse woody debris, and high canopy closure. Our findings suggested that the expert-based models were able to characterize stand structure used by marten despite some of the models using only inputs available from stand inventories. This was accomplished because stand structural elements such as coarse woody debris were integrated into OWHAM and HSM indirectly, through relationships with stand age and species composition. Key words: boreal forest, forest inventory, habitat, habitat suitability, guidelines, Forest Ecosystem Classification, landscape, Martes americana, resource selection, snow tracking, spatial autocorrelation, stand structure

scholarly journals Carbon Stocks of Coarse Woody Debris in Central African Tropical Forests

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Romeo Ekoungoulou ◽  
Shukui Niu ◽  
Fousseni Folega ◽  
Donatien Nzala ◽  
Xiaodong Liu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Reference Values ◽  
Coarse Woody Debris ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Carbon Stocks ◽  
Selective Logging ◽  
Forest Types

<p><em>Coarse </em><em>W</em><em>oody </em><em>D</em><em>ebris (CWD; defined here as fallen and standing dead trees and tree branches) is a critical-structural and functional component of forest ecosystems that typically comprises a large proportion of total aboveground carbon storage. Coarse woody debris estimation for the tropics is uncommon, and little is known about how carbon storage in CWD will respond to climate change. Given the predominant role that tropical forests play in global carbon cycling, this information gap compromises efforts to forecast climate change impacts on terrestrial carbon balance. In this study, we aimed to identify the variation in </em><em>C</em><em>oarse </em><em>W</em><em>oody </em><em>D</em><em>ebris (CWD) stocks between forest types (Old-growth and selective logging forests) and among the plots in Ipendja mixed lowland terra firme tropical rainforest (central Africa), and we examined the consequence for CWD carbon stocks estimation. The study area is located at Ipendja forest management unit (UFA), close to Dongou district (Likouala Department), in Northern Republic of Congo. Data collection were done with eight rectangular plots, each 25 x 200 m (0.5 ha). The method of line intercepts sampling has been used in each studied site. A total number of 135 CWD samples of diameter </em><em>³</em><em> 10 cm in the studied plots have been recorded. It was obvious that stock of coarse woody debris in Mokelimwaekili site (mean: 19.96 Mg ha<sup>-1</sup>; sum: 79.84 Mg ha<sup>-1</sup>) were higher than those of Sombo site (mean: 8.9 Mg ha<sup>-1</sup>; sum: 35 Mg ha<sup>-1</sup>).</em><em> </em><em>There was a significance difference in Ipendja evergreen forest about CWD stocks across two forest types and plots. </em><em>This finding suggests that values vary among forest types and that separate reference values should be adopted for estimates of undisturbed forest carbon stocks in the different ecosystems in Congo basin. Different reference values represent the variability of CWD among forest types and contribute to reducing uncertainties in current estimates of carbon stock in central African forest ecosystems.</em><em></em></p>

scholarly journals Change in Soil and Forest Floor Carbon after Shelterwood Harvests in a New England Oak-Hardwood Forest, USA

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kayanna L. Warren ◽  
Mark S. Ashton
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Coarse Woody Debris ◽  
Surface Soil ◽  
Woody Debris ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Total Carbon ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Southern New England ◽  
Significant Difference

There has been effort worldwide to quantify how much carbon forests contain in order to designate appropriate offset credits to forest carbon climate mitigation. Carbon pools on or immediately below the soil surface are understood to be very active in response to environmental change but are not well understood. Our study focused on the effects of shelterwood regeneration harvests in New England on the carbon stored in litter, woody debris, and surface soil carbon. Results demonstrate significant difference in surface (0–10 cm) soil carbon between control (nonharvested) and harvested sites, with higher carbon percentage on control sites. Results showed a significant difference in coarse woody debris with higher amounts of carbon per area on harvested sites. No significant difference in litter mass was recorded between harvested and control sites. When coarse woody debris and litter are included with soil carbon, total carbon did not have a significant decline over 20 years following shelterwood treatment to the forest to secure regeneration, but there was considerable variability among sites. When taking all surface soil carbon measurements together, our results suggest that for accounting purposes the measurement of below-ground carbon after shelterwood harvests is not necessary for the southern New England region.

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