Authors: Matthew B Russell Christopher W Woodall Shawn Fraver Anthony W D’Amato Grant M Domke Kenneth E Skog
Publish Date: 2014/02/28
Volume: 17, Issue: 5, Pages: 765-777
Abstract
A key component in describing forest carbon C dynamics is the change in downed dead wood biomass through time Specifically there is a dearth of information regarding the residence time of downed woody debris DWD which may be reflected in the diversity of wood for example species size and stage of decay and site attributes for example climate across the study region of eastern US forests The empirical assessment of DWD rate of decay and residence time is complicated by the decay process itself as decomposing logs undergo not only a reduction in wood density over time but also reductions in biomass shape and size Using DWD repeated measurements coupled with models to estimate durations in various stages of decay estimates of DWD halflife T HALF residence time T RES and decay rate k constants were developed for 36 tree species common to eastern US forests Results indicate that estimates for T HALF averaged 18 and 10 years for conifers and hardwoods respectively Species that exhibited shorter T HALF tended to display a shorter T RES and larger k constants Averages of T RES ranged from 57 to 124 years for conifers and from 46 to 71 years for hardwoods depending on the species and methodology for estimating DWD decomposition considered Decay rate constants k increased with increasing temperature of climate zones and ranged from 0024 to 0040 for conifers and from 0043 to 0064 for hardwoods These estimates could be incorporated into dynamic global vegetation models to elucidate the role of DWD in forest C dynamics
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