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Relationships between the attributes of standing live and dead down trees in forests of the Lake States

Informally Refereed

Abstract

Refining the understanding of the relationship between a stand's standing live and down dead trees in terms of size, density, and biomass attributes may aid efforts to predict fuel loadings based on standing tree attributes. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare down dead and standing live tree attributes (size, density, and biomass) for inventory plots and identify any possible relationships. Study results indicate no relationship between down woody material biomass and trees per ha, stand basal area, or a stand mean diameter. There appears to be a defined limit, however, to maximum observed down woody biomass in relation to stand density attributes (basal area and trees per ha). This study suggests that down woody accumulation dynamics result from sudden stand-level disturbances (e.g., blowdowns) and infrequent mortality from gradual stand development obscures and complicates attempts to broadly summarize relationships between a stand's standing live and down dead attributes in forests of the Lake States.

Parent Publication

Citation

Woodall, Christopher W.; Nagel, Linda. 2007. Relationships between the attributes of standing live and dead down trees in forests of the Lake States. In: McRoberts, Ronald E.; Reams, Gregory A.; Van Deusen, Paul C.; McWilliams, William H., eds. Proceedings of the seventh annual forest inventory and analysis symposium; October 3-6, 2005; Portland, ME. Gen. Tech. Rep. WO-77. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: 143-147.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/17034