Temporal dynamics of snags and development of snag habitats in wet spruce–fir stands in east-central British Columbia

DeLong, S. Craig; Sutherland, Glenn D.; Daniels, Lori D.; Heemskerk, B. H.; Storaunet, Ken Olaf

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2008.02.043

Cited by 30 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(42 reference statements)

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“…Suitable density and different stages of decay of snags are critical to the preservation of biodiversity and the constant functionality of forest ecosystems (De Long et al 2008). For example, soft snags are most often used for nesting whereas hard snags are most often used for foraging (Fan et al 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest management and snag characteristics in Northern Iran lowland forests

Tavankar¹,

Picchio²,

Monaco³

et al. 2014

J. For. Sci.

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Some snag characteristics were studied in three different Hyrcanian lowland forests. The highest snag density (38.4 stem·ha -1 ) was found in fully protected forests, and it was significantly higher than in selectively logged (23.7 stem·ha -1 ) and open access forests (8.8 stem·ha -1 ). The snag volume, diameter and height were also significantly higher in the fully protected forests. The number of snag species was recorded in fully protected (9), selectively logged (5) and open access forests (4). The snags were more evenly distributed among diameter, height and decay classes in the fully protected forest. The larger diameter snags (> 90 cm) and snags higher than 15 m in height were not found in the open access forest. The snags of decay class 5 had a density of 6.8 stem·ha -1 in the fully protected forest, while they had a low density (1.5 stem·ha -1 ) in the selectively logged forest and they were not found in the open access forest. Target values of snags for managed lowland forests in Iran were defined in relation to management influences.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest management and snag characteristics in Northern Iran lowland forests

Tavankar¹,

Picchio²,

Monaco³

et al. 2014

J. For. Sci.

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“…Forest practices such as shorter rotations, firewood removal, timber stand improvement, insect and disease control efforts have limited the number of snags and downed logs available for wildlife habitat. Maintaining deadwood in suitable abundance and stages of decay is critical to the preservation of biodiversity and the sustained functioning of forest ecosystems [40].…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Numerous wildlife functions depend on decaying wood as a source of food, nutrients and protection for organisms at diverse trophic levels [72,[75][76][77][78]. Suitable density and different decay stages of snags are critical for the preservation of biodiversity and the constant functionality of forest ecosystems [40,79]. Müller et al [68] observed that many saproxylic beetles benefit from former fungal colonization, increasing species numbers in higher stages of wood decay.…”

Section: Decay Class Of Cwdmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wildlife use snags, downed logs and stumps for nesting, roosting, foraging, perching, or territorial displays [16,96]. Senescent trees, snags, logs and stumps, in various sizes, decay classes and species are recognized as fundamental elements in biodiversity conservation, in the sustained functioning of forest ecosystems and evidence of sustainable forest management [40]. Only an adequate reserve of snags and logs can activate an appropriate dynamic that allows the maintenance over time of the transformation of the components of the CWD, preserving a composition that reflects the composition of the forest, a large amount of CWD and degradation states suitable to create biodiversity-friendly habitats.…”

Section: Rss Rdt Rst Rdw and Rdsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Coarse Woody Debris Variability Due to Human Accessibility to Forest

Behjou

Monaco

Tavankar

et al. 2018

Forests

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Coarse woody debris (CWD) plays an important role in supporting biodiversity and assisting ecological processes. Sometimes local people intervene modifying the expected distribution of CWD components, harvested as fuel wood. The effect of the human accessibility (HA) on the volume and characteristics of CWD (snag, downed log and stump) was investigated in the natural uneven-age mixed hardwood stands of the Hyrcanian forests of Iran to quantify the impact on CWD. The HA was classified into three classes (easy, medium and difficult) on the basis of slope class, slope direction to the nearest road and road type. As expected, a negative relationship between the degree of accessibility was found with respect to the main qualitative and quantitative indices referring to CWD. The results showed that the volume of CWD decreased with an increase in human accessibility class (HAC), thus the mean volume of CWD in the difficult, medium and easy accessibility classes were 14.87 m 3 ha −1 , 8.84 m 3 ha −1 and 4.03 m 3 ha −1 , respectively. The decrease in CWD volume was more associated with the decreasing volume of small diameter of low decayed downed logs. The ratio of snag volume to standing volume, the ratio of downed log volume to the volume of trees and the ratio of CWD volume to standing volume increased with a decrease in HAC, while the ratio of downed log volume to snag volume decreased with a decrease in HAC. No selective behaviour on the botanical species of CWD was recorded. For ecological forest management, the effect of HAC on CWD should be considered. A constant supply of snags and downed logs must be preserved to assure a high level of biodiversity. To balance social needs and biodiversity requirements, an increased level of CWD retention might be needed in areas with easy accessibility. The obtained results may be useful when ecological and socio-economical needs have to be taken into consideration in future policy-making decisions.

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“…Successional stage structures within the landscape Mori and Lertzman (2011) Kashian et al 2005, De Long et al 2008). In addition, ecological land classification (ELC) data (Achuff et al 1989) have been obtained for KNP, which includes detailed vegetation type information for 1471 polygons throughout the KNP landscape.…”

Section: Fire-climate Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climatic variability regulates the occurrence and extent of large fires in the subalpine forests of the Canadian Rockies

Mori

2011

Ecosphere

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Abstract. Drought occurrence and wildfire activity in subalpine forests in Kootenay National Park (KNP) of the Canadian Rockies are studied by focusing on the interannual and multi-decadal variations in climate patterns of the Pacific Ocean. The question addressed is whether broad-scale climate patterns can regulate both large fire occurrence and fire-free periods causing fuel buildups. This study compared years of large wildfire outbreaks for the subalpine forests of KNP during the last three centuries using indices of climate patterns of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). PDO and ENSO were correlated with drought and fire occurrence in KNP. A positive PDO-positive ENSO combination created extreme drought conducive to crown fires, indicating that the occurrence of highseverity wildfires in these generally moist/cool forests is strongly determined by climatic anomalies. Large fire activity is chiefly modulated by PDO compared to ENSO, because a negative PDO phase greatly decreased fire activity in the mid-twentieth century. Although this fire-free period is seemingly matched with a fire-suppression period, it may be attributable to a negative PDO, which increased precipitation in the region. This mid-century fire gap contributed to the accumulation of old forests serving as loaded fuels within the landscape and ultimately led to occurrences of crown fires as the PDO shifted to the positive phase. Thus, in addition to the fundamental importance of interannual variations in the Pacific that initiates a current-year severe drought, multi-decadal scale climate variability also influences the extent and severity of subsequent fires by modulating pre-fire landscape conditions. For fire management in subalpine areas of the Rockies, although drought occurrence is a primary concern and there are still uncertainties in the detailed changes in fire risk through the successional process, it is worth paying attention to fuel-loads of older forests in the landscape, which may lead to extensive large fires. Because the climatic teleconnection pattern is one of the main drivers of crown fire occurrence in the region in terms of creating current summer drought, and also for constructing a landscape structure prone to larger fires, more of a focus on short to long-term variations in the climate for wildfire management is needed in high-elevation forested landscapes.

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Temporal dynamics of snags and development of snag habitats in wet spruce–fir stands in east-central British Columbia

Cited by 30 publications

References 25 publications

Forest management and snag characteristics in Northern Iran lowland forests

Forest management and snag characteristics in Northern Iran lowland forests

Coarse Woody Debris Variability Due to Human Accessibility to Forest

Climatic variability regulates the occurrence and extent of large fires in the subalpine forests of the Canadian Rockies

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