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Articles containing the keyword 'CWD'

Category : Research article

article id 954, category Research article

Anna-Maria Eriksson, Jörgen Olsson, Bengt Gunnar Jonsson, Sara Toivanen, Mattias Edman. (2013). Effects of restoration fire on dead wood heterogeneity and availability in three Pinus sylvestris forests in Sweden. Silva Fennica vol. 47 no. 2 article id 954. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.954

Keywords: Scots pine; CWD; prescribed burning; decay stage; charred wood

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Restoration fires are increasingly used as a conservation tool in Sweden to recreate forests with characteristics of previous forests that were periodically disturbed by fires and promote fire-dependent species. Restoration fires can result in large inputs of fresh dead wood, but there are risks of losing some of the existing, pre-fire dead wood. To assess these counteracting effects we studied the heterogeneity and availability of dead wood before and after three restoration fires in boreal Scots pine forests. Specifically, we studied volumes of stumps, high stumps, snags and logs. The fires decreased the total volume of pre-fire dead wood (23-41%) and consumed logs in late decay stages (26-54%) to a higher extent than logs in earlier stages. The input of new fresh dead wood after the fires exceeded losses of pre-fire dead wood and resulted in a net increase of dead wood in all three sites. The added dead wood consisted of fresh snags killed by the fires. Fire also affected log characteristics: reducing their vegetation coverage (60-98%), decreasing their ground contact (4-50%) and increasing their surface area of charred wood (>50%). Such changes have important consequences for the micro environmental conditions inside logs, but have been rarely studied in relation to restoration fires. Our results show that restoration fire causes changes in dead wood availability and characteristics of logs. The results imply that ideally stands with low abundance of rare and heavily decayed wood substrates should be burned to optimize dead wood values. Alternatively, management practices should include protection of these substrates during restoration fires.

Eriksson, Department of Natural Sciences, Mid Sweden University, SE-851 70, Sundsvall, Sweden E-mail: anna-maria.eriksson@miun.se
Olsson, Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, SE-901 87, Umeå, Sweden E-mail: jorgen.m.olsson@slu.se
Jonsson, Department of Natural Sciences, Mid Sweden University, SE-851 70, Sundsvall, Sweden E-mail: bengt-gunnar.jonsson@miun.se
Toivanen, Department of Natural Sciences, Mid Sweden University, SE-851 70, Sundsvall, Sweden E-mail: sara.toivanen@lansstyrelsen.se
Edman, Department of Natural Sciences, Mid Sweden University, SE-851 70, Sundsvall, Sweden E-mail: mattias.edman@miun.se

article id 162, category Research article

Ruut Rabinowitsch-Jokinen, Ilkka Vanha-Majamaa. (2010). Immediate effects of logging, mounding and removal of logging residues and stumps on coarse woody debris in managed boreal Norway spruce stands. Silva Fennica vol. 44 no. 1 article id 162. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.162

Keywords: forest management; soil preparation; bioenergy; log; stump harvesting; CWD; logging residues; snag

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Wood fuel production has increased remarkably, but its environmental effects within the forest ecosystem have not yet been studied much. We investigated the immediate effects of two series of forest management treatments, which produce timber and forest chips, on the volume and decay classes of coarse woody debris (CWD). One of the treatment series included logging and residue harvesting (LRH) and mounding (M), while the other series included LRH and mounding combined with stump harvesting (MSH). We hypothesized that, i) LRH reduces CWD, excluding stumps; ii) the more intense the soil preparation treatment is, M vs. MSH, the more CWD is destroyed; iii) both LRH and soil preparation treatments (M and MSH) reduce the occurence of snags, highly decayed CWD and deciduous CWD in particular. Ten sample plots in mature managed Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) dominated forests were located in Southern Finland. The total volume of CWD on the sample plots was measured three times: before and after LRH, and after M or MSH. LRH significantly decreased the volume of snags and the combined volume of snags and logs. MSH significantly decreased the total volume of CWD, while M had no significant effect on the volume of CWD. The middle and highly decayed CWD were destroyed most easily in the treatments.

Rabinowitsch-Jokinen, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa Research Unit, P.O. Box 18, FI-01301, Vantaa, Finland E-mail: rrj@nn.fi
Vanha-Majamaa, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa Research Unit, P.O. Box 18, FI-01301, Vantaa, Finland E-mail: ilkka.vanha-majamaa@metla.fi

article id 216, category Research article

Juha Siitonen, Jenni Hottola, Auli Immonen. (2009). Differences in stand characteristics between brook-side key habitats and managed forests in southern Finland. Silva Fennica vol. 43 no. 1 article id 216. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.216

Keywords: dead wood; woodland key habitats; stand structure; CWD; WKH; Forest Act

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Preservation of small habitat patches termed as “woodland key habitats” or “especially important habitats” in the Finnish Forest Act has become an integral part of biodiversity-oriented forest management. Forest Act habitats belong to particular habitat types defined in the act, and they are supposed to have natural-like stand characteristics. However, very little is known about the actual stand structure in the designated habitats. Our aim was to compare stand characteristics between brook-side key habitats and comparable managed forests as controls. Seven study areas were selected from four regions across southern Finland. Within each study area ten key habitats and ten controls (140 stands) were randomly selected. Living and dead trees and cut stumps were measured in each stand within a 0.2 ha plot. The average degree of previous cutting was significantly lower whereas the volume of dead wood, volume of deciduous trees, and stand diversity were each significantly higher in key habitats than controls. The average volume of dead wood was 11.7 m³ ha^–1 in key habitats and 6.5 m³ ha^–1 in controls. However, there was considerable variation among individual stands, and a large part of key habitats could not be distinguished from randomly selected control stands with respect to stand characteristics. The preservation of natural brook channels with their immediate surroundings is undoubtedly important for maintaining aquatic and semiaquatic biodiversity. Nevertheless, when complementing the forest conservation network in the future, main emphasis in selecting potentially valuable stands should be placed on important structural features such as dead wood and old trees.

Siitonen, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa Research Unit, P.O. Box 18, FI-01301 Vantaa, Finland E-mail: juha.siitonen@metla.fi
Hottola, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa Research Unit, P.O. Box 18, FI-01301 Vantaa, Finland E-mail: jh@nn.fi
Immonen, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa Research Unit, P.O. Box 18, FI-01301 Vantaa, Finland E-mail: ai@nn.fi

article id 250, category Research article

Saara Lilja-Rothsten, Michelle de Chantal, Chris Peterson, Timo Kuuluvainen, Ilkka Vanha-Majamaa, Pasi Puttonen. (2008). Microsites before and after restoration in managed Picea abies stands in southern Finland: effects of fire and partial cutting with dead wood creation. Silva Fennica vol. 42 no. 2 article id 250. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.250

Keywords: biodiversity; boreal forest; regeneration; coarse woody debris; disturbance dynamics; CWD; managed forest

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Different types of microsites, e.g. CWD (coarse woody debris), mounds, and uprooting pits, are important for tree regeneration and biodiversity. However, microsite diversity is greatly reduced in managed stands. We studied how restoration treatments changed microsite distribution in mature managed Picea abies stands. Four cutting treatments were used: uncut, low-CWD (5 m³ ha^–1 of down retention trees, DRT, and 50 m³ ha^–1 of standing retention trees), intermediate-CWD (as previous but leaving 30 m³ ha^–1 of DRT), and high-CWD (as previous but with 60 m³ ha^–1 of DRT). Timber harvested from stands ranged from 108–168 m³ ha^–1. Half of the stands were burned, and half remained unburned. Sampling was stratified into upland and paludified biotopes within each stand. The pre-treatment microsite distributions were dominated by level ground in both biotopes; mounds and microsites on or next to CWD or a stump were slightly more abundant in the paludified than in the upland biotopes. Microsites were more diverse after cutting, with and without fire. The cutting treatment increased the relative abundances of microsites on or next to CWD. Fire consumed small diameter dead wood and flattened mounds. Microsites were more diverse in paludified than in upland biotopes. The results demonstrate that microsite diversity can rapidly be restored to structurally impoverished managed Picea stands despite a large portion of wood volume being harvested.

Lilja-Rothsten, University of Helsinki, Dept. of Forest Ecology, Finland E-mail: saara.lilja@helsinki.fi
Chantal, University of Helsinki, Dept. of Forest Ecology, Finland E-mail: mdc@nn.fi
Peterson, Dept. of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA E-mail: cp@nn.us
Kuuluvainen, University of Helsinki, Dept. of Forest Ecology, Finland E-mail: tk@nn.fi
Vanha-Majamaa, The Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa Unit, Finland E-mail: ivm@nn.fi
Puttonen, The Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa Unit, Finland E-mail: pp@nn.fi

Category : Discussion article

article id 119, category Discussion article

Markku Larjavaara, Helene C. Muller-Landau. (2011). Cross-section mass: an improved basis for woody debris necromass inventory. Silva Fennica vol. 45 no. 2 article id 119. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.119

Keywords: biomass; coarse woody debris (CWD); deadwood; log; void space; nominal volume and wood density; carbon in woody detritus

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Larjavaara, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Unit 9100 Box 0948, DPO AA 34002-9998, USA, and University of Helsinki, Department of Forest Sciences, Finland E-mail: larjavaaram@si.edu
Muller-Landau, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Unit 9100 Box 0948, DPO AA 34002-9998, USA E-mail: hcml@nn.us

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