Coarse woody debris mass and nutrients in forest ecosystems of Korea

Abstract

Coarse woody debris (CWD) is an essential component of forests. However, quantification of both the mass and nutrient content of CWD within a given environment tends to be a fairly labor-intensive proposition that requires long-term studies to be conducted for viable data to be obtained. As a result, various aspects of CWD in forest ecosystems remain somewhat poorly understood. In this review, we have compiled all available estimates of CWD mass and nutrients from both coniferous and deciduous forests in Korea. The CWD mass data varied substantially by forest type, age, location, and sampling time, ranging from 1.5 to 24.5 Mg ha À1 , and for the amount (kg ha À1 ) of nutrients in the CWD, ranging from 3.5 to 23.6 for nitrogen (N), 0.8 to 4.7 for phosphorus (P), 3.9 to 13.3 for potassium (K), 25.9 to 30.9 for calcium (Ca), 1.4 to 4.2 for magnesium (Mg), and 0.1 to 0.6 for sodium (Na). The mass of CWD transferred from live trees to the forest floor ranged between 0.1 and 4.9 Mg ha À1 year À1 , and these values were roughly equivalent to 26-42% of the annual litterfall inputs (2.5-10.8 Mg ha À1 year À1 ) for mixed Quercus spp. forests within the relevant region. Annual nutrients inputs (kg ha À1 year À1 ) through CWD decomposition were 0.7-1.6 for N, 0.04-0.3 for P, 0.3-1.0 for K, 1.7-3.1 for Ca, and 0.1-0.3 for Mg. Consequently, these results revealed that the ecological value of CWD for C and nutrient cycling was relatively insignificant. However, only a limited number of studies have been conducted on CWD in different coniferous or mixed deciduous forests in the region. As a direct result of this paucity of data, further long-term studies on CWD mass and nutrients in a variety of forest types are required in order to be able to evaluate accurately the ecological value of CWD on biodiversity and physical properties in Korean forest ecosystems.

Dynamics of coarse woody debris and decomposition rates in an old-growth forest in lower tropical China

“…CWD potentially affects soil cycling through the dissolving of organic C which would lead to N immobilization (Mattson et al, 1987;Fierer et al, 2001;Spears et al, 2003;Hafner and Groffman, 2005). N and P stocks in CWD were similar to those reported in other studies (Idol et al, 2001;Currie and Nadelhoffer, 2002) while higher than the research studied in a natural mixed deciduous forest in Korea (Kim et al, 2006). The results suggested that the ecological value of CWD for C and nutrients cycling was relatively important.…”

Carbon and nitrogen storage in an age-sequence of Pinus densiflora stands in Korea

“…CWD C storage was 0.11, 0.04 and 0.68 t C ha -1 in the 30-, 44-, and 71-year-old stands, respectively, while N storage in this study was lower than the range (0.005-0.024 t N ha -1 ) previously reported for deciduous species by Kim et al [37]. Stand age, density and basal area had no effect on C and N storage in the forest floor.…”

Carbon and Nitrogen Accumulation and Decomposition from Coarse Woody Debris in a Naturally Regenerated Korean Red Pine (Pinus densiflora S. et Z.) Forest

“…All pieces of CWD with a base diameter greater than 5 cm at the break point were tagged and their species, type (stump, snag, and downed dead wood), diameters (base, middle, and top), and length were recorded in the field. The decay class was also classified into five different levels (I-V) according to a CWD decay classification system [33], which was modified from the original criteria [34,35]. The classification system classifies CWD by the presence or physical condition of the bark, as well as by the degree of twig retention, structural integrity, and root penetration.…”