Deadwood Amount at Disturbance Plots after Sanitary Felling

Abstract

Deadwood is an important component of forests that fulfils many ecosystem functions. The occurrence, amount and spatial distribution of deadwood in forest ecosystems depend on tree species composition, historical development and past management. In this presented study, we assessed the total amount of deadwood, including fine and coarse woody debris at five areas of predominantly broadleaved forests within the University Forest Enterprise of the Technical University in Zvolen, Slovakia that had been disturbed by windstorm Žofia in 2014. Windthrown wood was salvaged between May 2014 and October 2015. In the year 2018, we performed an inventory of deadwood that remained on-site after salvage logging. The mean volume of deadwood recorded at sample plots fluctuated between 35.96 m3/ha and 176.06 m3/ha and mean deadwood coverage values at individual disturbed areas ranged from 7.27 to 17.91%. In the work, we derived several models for the estimation of deadwood volume based on deadwood coverage and/or diameter, which showed that these characteristics are good proxies of deadwood volume. The tests, involving close-range photogrammetry methods for deadwood quantification, revealed that the number of pieces and the coverage of deadwood recorded in photos was significantly lower than the values derived from field measurements.

DEAD WOOD AMOUNT AND REGENERATION IN SCOTS PINE (Pinus sylvestris L.) DIFFERENT AGE STANDS IN THE BURN OF THE "STIKLU PURVI" NATURE RESERVE

“…Dead wood is important for many ecosystem functions. One of the important functions is a source of food for many living organisms (Merganič et al 2022). Some living organisms use dead wood as an environment in which they develop and live, e.g.…”

“…mushrooms, lichens, beetles (Merganičová et al 2012). Managed forests tend to have less dead wood than unmanaged old growth forests (Merganič et al 2022). The amount of dead wood in deciduous forests is often lower than in coniferous forests, as deciduous forests are generally less damaged by abiotic factors (Juutilainen et al 2011).…”