Panu Halme, Jenna Purhonen, Emma-Liina Marjakangas, Atte Komonen, Katja Juutilainen, Nerea Abrego. (2019). Dead wood profile of a semi-natural boreal forest – implications for sampling. Silva Fennica vol. 53 no. 4 article id 10010. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.10010

Keywords: coarse woody debris; coniferous forest; forest structure; fine woody debris; forest disturbance dynamics; saproxylic

Highlights: We constructed a full dead wood profile of a semi-natural boreal forest; Abundance-diameter distributions were different among tree species; Extensive sampling is needed if focus on large dead wood and rare tree species.

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Dead wood profile of a forest is a useful tool for describing forest characteristics and assessing forest disturbance history. Nevertheless, there are few studies on dead wood profiles, including both coarse and fine dead wood, and on the effect of sampling intensity on the dead wood estimates. In a semi-natural boreal forest, we measured every dead wood item over 2 cm in diameter from 80 study plots. From eight plots, we further recorded dead wood items below 2 cm in diameter. Based on these data we constructed the full dead wood profile, i.e. the overall number of dead wood items and their distribution among different tree species, volumes of different size and decay stage categories. We discovered that while the number of small dead wood items was immense, their number dropped drastically from the diameter below 1 cm to diameters 2–3 cm. Different tree species had notably different abundance-diameter distribution patterns: spruce dead wood comprised most strikingly the smallest diameter fractions, whereas aspen dead wood comprised a larger share of large-diameter items. Most of the dead wood volume constituted of large pieces (>10 cm in diameter), and 62% of volume was birch. The variation in the dead wood estimates was small for the numerically dominant tree species and smallest diameter categories, but high for the sub-dominant tree species and larger size categories. In conclusion, the more the focus is on rare tree species and large dead wood items, the more comprehensive should the sampling be.

Halme, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland; School of Resource Wisdom, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland E-mail: panu.halme@jyu.fi
Purhonen, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland E-mail: jenna.e.i.purhonen@jyu.fi
Marjakangas, Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics, Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway E-mail: emma-liina.marjakangas@ntnu.no
Komonen, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland; School of Resource Wisdom, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland E-mail: atte.komonen@jyu.fi
Juutilainen, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland E-mail: kjuutilainen@yahoo.com
Abrego, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 27, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland E-mail: nerea.abrego@helsinki.fi

article id 962, category Research article

Paul A. Klockow, Anthony W. D'Amato, John B. Bradford, Shawn Fraver. (2014). Nutrient concentrations in coarse and fine woody debris of Populus tremuloides Michx.-dominated forests, northern Minnesota, USA. Silva Fennica vol. 48 no. 1 article id 962. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.962

Keywords: coarse woody debris; fine woody debris; Populus tremuloides; nutrient concentrations; bioenergy feedstock harvesting; Great Lakes

Highlights: We examine effects of size, species, and decay on woody debris nutrient concentrations; Results indicate wide variation in nutrient concentrations across the factors examined; Fine woody debris nutrient concentrations were greater than in coarse woody debris; Coarse woody debris nutrient concentrations generally increased as decay progressed; Results suggest high fine woody debris stocks can represent an important nutrient source.

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Contemporary forest harvesting practices, specifically harvesting woody biomass as a source of bioenergy feedstock, may remove more woody debris from a site than conventional harvesting. Woody debris, particularly smaller diameter woody debris, plays a key role in maintaining ecosystem nutrient stores following disturbance. Understanding nutrient concentrations within woody debris is necessary for assessing the long-term nutrient balance consequences of altered woody debris retention, particularly in forests slated for use as bioenergy feedstocks. Nutrient concentrations in downed woody debris of various sizes, decay classes, and species were characterized within one such forest type, Populus tremuloides Michx.-dominated forests of northern Minnesota, USA. Nutrient concentrations differed significantly between size and decay classes and generally increased as decay progressed. Fine woody debris (≤ 7.5 cm diameter) had higher nutrient concentrations than coarse woody debris (> 7.5 cm diameter) for all nutrients examined except Na and Mn, and nutrient concentrations varied among species. Concentrations of N, Mn, Al, Fe, and Zn in coarse woody debris increased between one and three orders of magnitude, while K decreased by an order of magnitude with progressing decay. The variations in nutrient concentrations observed here underscore the complexity of woody debris nutrient stores in forested ecosystems and suggest that retaining fine woody debris at harvest may provide a potentially important source of nutrients following intensive removals of bioenergy feedstocks.

Klockow, Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA E-mail: klock039@umn.edu
D'Amato, Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA E-mail: damato@umn.edu
Bradford, US Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA E-mail: jbradford@usgs.gov
Fraver, School of Forest Resources, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA E-mail: shawn.fraver@maine.edu

article id 150, category Research article

Sini Eräjää, Panu Halme, Janne S. Kotiaho, Anni Markkanen, Tero Toivanen. (2010). The volume and composition of dead wood on traditional and forest fuel harvested clear-cuts. Silva Fennica vol. 44 no. 2 article id 150. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.150

Keywords: dead wood; forest fuel harvesting; fine woody debris (FWD); clear-cut

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Logging residue and cut stumps are increasingly used as a renewable energy source known as forest fuel. Forest fuel harvesting obviously reduces the volume of dead wood and is likely to alter the dead wood composition, but the magnitude of the change is not known. Such information is important for the evaluation of the effects of forest fuel harvesting on biodiversity because a large proportion of forest dwelling species are directly dependent on dead wood. We measured the volume and characteristics of all dead wood units with a minimum diameter of 2 cm and a minimum length of 20 cm on 10 forest-fuel harvested and 10 traditional (control) clear-cuts. The total volume of dead wood at forest fuel harvested and control clear-cuts was 26.0 and 42.3 m³/ha, respectively. The volumes were much greater than expected suggesting that the volume of dead wood on clear-cuts has been underestimated in previous studies. Forest fuel harvested clear-cuts had 42% less branches and 81% less cut stumps than control clear-cuts but there were no differences in the volume of logs and pieces of logs, snags or roots. The volume of fine woody debris was negatively affected by forest fuel harvesting. We conclude that fine woody debris and cut stumps form a considerable resource on clear-cuts that is reduced by forest fuel harvesting. These components of dead wood have potential to be of importance in managed forests and thus deserve more attention in future biodiversity studies.

Eräjää, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland E-mail: se@nn.fi
Halme, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland E-mail: panu.halme@jyu.fi
Kotiaho, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland E-mail: jsk@nn.fi
Markkanen, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland E-mail: am@nn.fi
Toivanen, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland E-mail: tt@nn.fi

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