Academic literature on the topic 'Deadwood decomposition dynamics'

AbstractDeadwood forms a significant carbon pool in forest systems and is a potential source of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) input to soil, yet little is known about how deadwood effects forest soil carbon cycling. Deadwood DOC inputs to soil may be retained through sorption or may prime microbial decomposition of existing organic matter to produce additional DOC. To determine impacts of deadwood on soil C cycling, we analysed surface soil from beneath deadwood or leaf litter only, along chronosequences of stands of lowland oak and upland Sitka spruce. The concentration and quality (by optical indices) of water-extracted soil DOC (water-extractable organic carbon; WEOC), in situ decomposition ‘tea bag index’ (TBI) parameters and enzymatic potential assays (β-D-cellubiosidase, β-glucosidase, β-xylosidase, leucine aminopeptidase, phosphatase, phenol oxidase) were determined. Presence of deadwood significantly (p < 0.05) increased WEOC concentration (~ 1.5 to ~ 1.75 times) in the mineral oak soil but had no effect on WEOC in spruce soils, potentially because spruce deadwood DOC inputs were masked by a high background of WEOC (1168 mg kg−1 soil) and/or were not retained through mineral sorption in the highly organic (~ 90% SOM) soil. TBI and enzyme evidence suggested that deadwood-derived DOC did not impact existing forest carbon pools via microbial priming, possibly due to the more humified/aromatic quality of DOC produced (humification index of 0.75 and 0.65 for deadwood and leaf litter WEOC, respectively). Forest carbon budgets, particularly those for mineral soils, may underestimate the quantity of DOC if derived from soil monitoring that does not include a deadwood component.

Deadwood in various stages of decomposition and diverse spatial arrangements provides habitat for numerous organisms. However, knowledge on the colonization of deadwood by vascular plants in mixed deciduous forests is insufficient. We carried out our study in an oak–lime–hornbeam forest in northeastern Poland. Downed logs were colonized by 49 vascular plant species, a number higher than reported from any other type of forest. Species richness and abundance of plants increased with log diameter and decomposition. The former was higher on broadleaf deadwood than on coniferous deadwood (46 vs. 38 species). The frequency and abundance on logs were higher for small-seeded plants (<1 mg) than for bigger, heavier seeded plants. Deadwood surface served as an ecological filter, keeping small seeds in cracks, but allowing bigger seeds to roll down. Tree seedling density increased with wood decomposition. However, for eight of nine species, it was higher on the ground than on deadwood. Only spruce seedlings were recorded almost exclusively on deadwood, constituting a crucial substrate for spruce regeneration in meso-eutrophic forests. Therefore, we stress the importance of constant deadwood supply, on the scale of decades, to ensure the diversity of this substrate and to allow the natural dynamics of deadwood-dependent species populations.

Deadwood-associated insects and saprotrophic fungi are principal agents of wood decomposition in boreal forest. Silvicultural treatments that alter microclimate and availability of deadwood likely affect composition and growth rates of both insect and fungal communities, leading to changes in wood decomposition rates. Here, we relate both saproxylic beetle and dominant polypore assemblages with woody decomposition rates and environmental variables in experimental partial cuts, clearcuts, and uncut controls using a series of causal models to determine the relationship between stand structure, biodiversity, and ecosystem function in black spruce ( Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) forests. Overall beetle and fungal composition differed between uncut stands and harvested stands. Main effects of harvesting included large increases in wood-feeding beetles and the fungus Gloeophyllum sepiarium (Wul.:Fr.) Karst. We suggest that these species were promoted by specific alterations in microhabitat conditions of deadwood. Within clearcuts specifically, changes in species composition and significantly more fungal degree-days resulted in significantly higher decomposition rates. We concluded that levels of partial cutting in the range of 15%–20% retention were not sufficient to maintain predisturbance communities but were sufficient to maintain wood decomposition rates similar to uncut stands.

Abstract Deadwood is an important component of forest ecosystems, and difference in the deadwood carbon stock depends on many variables including forest management. The aim of our study was to determine the patterns of formation of deadwood stocks in oak (Quercus robur L.) forests in the Left Bank Forest-steppe of Ukraine. As an outcome of the research, the data on deadwood parameters were obtained. The growth characteristics and coarse woody debris (CWD) characteristics were measured on intensive monitoring and inventory plots. Assessment of morphometric parameters of the CWD in oak stands was carried out by measuring diameters at top and bottom cut and length; to determine the carbon content, deadwood density was used. The distribution of deadwood by tree species, sizes and stages of decomposition was defined. The stock of dead trees (snags) in oak forest is 15.2 m3/ha and that of logs is 21.5 m3/ha. The carbon accumulation in oak forest stands in the Left Bank Forest-steppe of Ukraine was 3.4 and 4.5 t C/ha in dead trees and logs, respectively. The dynamics of deadwood stocks according to the results of repeated observations was given.

In this study, a comprehensive analysis of deadwood was conducted in four macro-areas located in two beech forests of public utility in Enciso (La Rioja, Spain). Dendrometric data, as well as qualitative and quantitative characteristics of deadwood, were collected and analysed with respect to the degree of accessibility to the forest to determine the effect of different levels of forest accessibility on deadwood volume and carbon stocks. All decomposition classes were present except the first, highlighting the development of natural degradation dynamics. Deadwood stored 6.9 t/ha of C in the easy accessibility class, 5.7 t/ha of C in the medium accessibility class and 2.2 t/ha of C in the difficult accessibility class. The average volume of deadwood and carbon stored calculated in this study were higher than the values reported in the Spanish and Italian national forest inventories, including one developed for Riojan beech forests. Deadwood volume was on average 22.5 m3/ha, showing an unequal distribution, with the lowest values found far from the access roads, despite forest accessibility generally being considered a factor that facilitates the human collection of deadwood. The distribution patterns of deadwood in beech forests of La Rioja, apparently counterintuitive, were due to a combination of different factors, including slope, cattle grazing, and weather conditions which might have favoured downward movement of the deadwood.

Deadwood is a resource of water, nutrients, and carbon, as well as an important driving factor of spatial pedocomplexity and hillslope processes in forested landscapes. The applicability of existing relevant studies in mountain forests in Central Europe is limited by the low number of data, absence of precise dating, and short time periods studied. Here, we aimed to assess the decomposition pathway in terms of changes and variability in the physical characteristics of deadwood (wood density, biomass, and moisture) during the decomposition process, and to describe differences in decomposition rate. The research was carried out in the Žofínský Primeval Forest, one of the oldest forest reserves in Europe. Samples were taken from sapwood of downed logs of the three main tree species: Fagus sylvatica L., Abies alba Mill., and Picea abies (L.) Karst. The time since the death of each downed log was obtained using tree censuses repeated since 1975 and dendrochronology. The maximal time since the death of a log was species-specific, and ranged from 61–76 years. The rate of change (slope) of moisture content along the time since death in a linear regression model was the highest for F. sylvatica (b = 3.94) compared to A. alba (b = 2.21) and P. abies (b = 1.93). An exponential model showing the dependence of biomass loss on time since death revealed that F. sylvatica stems with a diameter of 50–90 cm had the shortest decomposition rate—51 years—followed by P. abies (71 years) and A. alba (72 years). Our findings can be used in geochemical models of element cycles in temperate old-growth forests, the prediction of deadwood dynamics and changes in related biodiversity, and in refining management recommendations.

In this study, postfire coarse woody debris (CWD) dynamics in northern Quebec, Canada, were assessed using a 29-year chronosequence. Postfire woody-debris storage, decomposition rates, and variation of nitrogen and carbon contents of black spruce CWD (Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) are estimated. The decomposition rate for postfire snags is exceptionally slow (k = 0.00), while the decomposition rate for logs (k = 0.019–0.021) is within previously recorded values for the boreal forest. The low decomposition rate for snags could be related to low moisture content associated with the position of debris and fast bark shedding. Given the low CWD decomposition rates and CWD storage (21.3–66.8 m3·ha–1), carbon losses from postfire CWD are relatively low, varying between 35.5 and 128.8 kg·ha–1·year–1 at the study sites. The nitrogen content in CWD drops quickly between living trees and snags and increases slightly with time since fire in logs. Nitrogen content is not related to wood density or to moisture content of deadwood. Rapid loss of nitrogen is associated with fast decomposition of subcortical tissues, leaching, and insect comminution. The increase in nitrogen content at the oldest site could result from asymbiotic nitrogen fixation, although a longer time span in the chronosequence would probably have revealed a greater nitrogen gain in increasingly decayed CWD.

Meeting the reporting requirements of the Kyoto Protocol has focused attention on the potential of forests in sustainably sequestering carbon (C) to mitigate the effects of rising levels of atmospheric CO2. Much uncertainty remains concerning the ultimate effect of management on such sequestration effects. The management of woody debris (WD) and other deadwood stocks is an example of a management intervention with the scope of affecting the source-sink dynamics of forest C. Windrowing is the most commonly employed approach to the management of post-harvest WD. This study investigated the quantities of windrowed deadwood C across a chronosequence of reforested commercial Sitka spruce stands in Ireland and how its decomposition rate affected its contribution to forest C sequestration. The C stocks in windrowed WD ranged from 25 to 8 t C ha−1 at the 4- and 16-year-old stands, respectively. Losses due to the decomposition of these stocks ranged from 5.15 t C ha−1 yr−1 at the youngest site (4 years old) to 0.68 t C ha−1 yr−1 at the oldest site (16 years old). Using a visual decay-class categorization of WD components and an assessment of wood density, decay rate constants were estimated for logs, branches, and stumps (the main WD constituents of windrows) as 0.037, 0.038, and 0.044, respectively. These results, derived from stand stock evaluations, were placed into context with data previously published from the same chronosequence that characterized the day-to-day fluxes to or from this pool. This comparison indicated that though only a very small quantity of C was lost in dissolved leachate form, the most significant pathway for loss was respiratory and ranged from 16 to 8 t C ha−1 yr−1 at the 9- and 16-year-old sites. These estimates were many times greater in extent than estimates made using a density-loss approach, the difference indicating that fragmentation and weathering play a large role in woody decomposition in intensively managed forests.

High mountain ecosystems offer ideal sequential scenarios for monitoring carbon (C) dynamics due to their sensitivity to changing environmental conditions. In this context, slope aspect and altitude are considered important topographical features affecting the local microclimate (i.e., temperature and precipitation patterns) and in consequence soil weathering and biogeochemical processes with implications for both ecosystem regulation and C feedbacks. Within forest ecosystems, deadwood is an essential structural and functional component as a reservoir for biological diversity and nutrient stocks (C–store). Therefore, the present work focuses on the influence of climate on soil features and deadwood decomposition dynamics as a function of different thermal conditions due to different slope exposure (north- vs. south-facing slopes) and altitude (from 1200 m to 2400 m above sea level) in (sub)alpine ecosystems in the Italian Alps. This thesis offers a general introduction (Chapter I) and a compilation of papers in peer-reviewed journals. Following the intro, Chapter II deals with the main changes in composition, activity and diversity of the soil autochthonous microbiota in terms of slope exposure along the altitudinal climosequence in combination with a comprehensive overview of the soil physico-chemical properties. The findings show that the slope exposure largely influenced both edaphic properties and soil microbiota, even though such effects were altitude-dependent for most of the studied parameters. In particular, the three microbial domains (bacteria, fungi and archaea) responded differently to exposure in terms of abundance. Accordingly, enzyme type-specific reactions to slope exposure and altitude were also observed in this scenario. In Chapter III, the influence of slope exposure was determined on both the autochthonous soil microbiota and mesofauna, with a special focus on Enchytraeid community under different soil ground covers in subalpine forest ecosystems. The discriminatory assessment of the extracellular (eDNA) and intracellular (iDNA) fractions of the total soil DNA pool (soil metagenome) provided a new perspective on the exposure effects on soil microbiota, i.e., an index of soil microbial activity as well as information about the vertical distribution of eDNA through the soil layers. Overall, microannelids appeared to be sensitive, accurate and reliable biological indicators in these forested subalpine soils, showing a higher abundance at the north-facing slope on account of strong acidity indicator species. Furthermore, the exposure was found to be more determinant for shaping the composition of microannelid assemblages than the ground cover type. In Chapter IV, the exposure-effects on the abundance and activity of the wood-inhabiting microbiota (bacteria, fungi and archaea) and selected microbial groups related to the nitrogen cycle (ammonia-oxidising bacteria (AOB) and nitrogen fixers’ nifH gene) of Picea abies coarse woody debris were evaluated at different stages of natural decay (five-decay class study). All in all, higher microbial abundances were registered at the cooler, moister and more acidic north-facing slope and such exposure-effects (N>S) were in general more evident for the advanced decay stages. Accordingly, a more pronounced physical cell wood damage (by X-ray microtomography) together with a higher microbial activity (lower eDNA/iDNA ratio) was observed at the northern slope with respect to the southern slope. Furthermore, the impact of exposure was enzyme-specific and strongly dependent on the decay stage. Finally, in Chapters V and VI, the physico-chemical and microbiological changes in both P. abies wood blocks and the underlying forest soil were monitored – in a field mesocosm experiment – as a function of slope exposure and time. This experiment attributed shifts in the wood- and soil-inhabiting microbiota to different exposure-related thermal and moisture conditions. In particular, moisture conditions played a more prominent role at the subalpine sites, inducing shifts in the wood and soil microbial communities in terms of abundance and activity, while the influence of temperature was more dominant at the alpine sites. Summarized, the findings of this work provide insights into the interrelation between soil micro- and mesofauna in the Alpine topography, as well as into the shifts in microbial communities during the dynamic process of deadwood decomposition, thus contributing to unravel the complex picture of forest ecosystem functioning under future climate scenarios.

The decomposition of organic substrates represents an important part of the global carbon cycle and affects its global change through CO2 release. In temperate forests, deadwood represents a large carbon stock, its amount and decomposition is crucial for ecosystem biodiversity and functioning. The fungi are omnipresent powerful decayers in all terrestrial ecosystems. Their ability to decompose all deadwood compounds, mainly lignocellulose, is highly important. Without fungi, the wood decompositions and the release of withheld nutrients back to nutrient cycles couldn't be performed. While many studies were concerned with the estimation of decomposition rates of deadwood, still deeper knowledge about microbial decomposition processes and the diversity of saproxylic species and their interaction is needed. The fungi are still underrepresented in dead wood studies. This study had two main objectives. First was to describe the fungal community on downed deadwood of Fagus sylvatica and Abies alba in natural forest of Salajka in the Czech Republic, to reflect the substrate changes during the different decay stages, and to link the enzyme activities to fungal community composition and their described ecophysiologies. Second aim was to describe the fungal communities on standing and downed dead logs of...