Estimating Carbon in Dead Woody Debris in the Idaho

Experimental Forest
April 2015
Prepared by
DANA N. ANDRES, Student, University of Idaho, Ecology and Conservation Biology

INTRODUCTION
Course and fine woody debris are becoming increasingly important in management.
Recent concerns about greenhouse gas emissions, forest treatment, and wildfire
management sparked the need for inventories of carbon in forest ecosystems. Formerly,
dead woody debris was removed from ecosystems to reduce fuel in the forests.
Management of the woody debris has changed to reflect the positive impacts on
biodiversity, soil development, regeneration cycles, erosion, and greenhouse gas
emissions. Course and fine woody detritus in an ecosystem hold a significant amount of
carbon, water, and nutrients, comprising a large portion of the net ecosystem production
(NEP) of a forest. The dead woody debris provides habitats for plants and animals, aids in
soil formation, prevents erosion, and stores water varying on species of log, environment
and volume of dead wood at a site. The research in this project will be the estimation of
the dead woody debris volume, the carbon contribution to the total carbon budget of the
University of Idaho Experimental Forests before treatment.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
A carbon budget of a forest ecosystem is an aggregate of the carbon in the system. Live
trees and dead organic matter are carbon sinks that hold in carbon from the atmosphere.
In order to estimate the carbon budget for the experimental forest, the volume of downed
woody debris must be estimated. The carbon budget will give the University of Idaho
baseline data for the amount of carbon in six plots before treatment. Measuring climatic
and substrate specific variables of course woody and fine woody debris in each plot will
provide information necessary to calculate the carbon (volume of dead woody debris).
Climatic variables include temperature, and wood moisture and substrate specific
variables consist of tree species, decay stage, and diameter. The objectives of this project
are to measure the volume of dead woody debris in each plot by measuring the size class,
decay class, and decomposition rates of the woody debris.
RESEARCH METHODS
The methodology for this project closely follows the work done by Harmon et al. (2007)
on the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in Oregon, ORCA Field Manual and The
Guidelines for Measurement of Woody Detritus in Forest Ecosystems (Harmon et al.
1996).
The planar intersect technique will be used on six plots in the University of Idaho
Experimental Forest, all on south facing slopes. Each plot is a 100 meters in diameter.
The plots are circular with four transects, each 50 meters, radiating from the center in the
NE, NW, SE and SW directions marked with survey tape.

Example of transect planes

(transect length will be 50m each)

The woody debris must intersect the transect plane. Any downed, woody material, such
as twigs, boles, branches, stems, and trees, within two meters of the ground that is not
attached to any live plant is considered downed debris. Wood slivers, bark and irregular
chunks will be counted and the diameter will be visually estimated. Snags forming an
angle greater than 45 degrees from true vertical (90 degrees) and stumps and roots in or
above the litter layer and not encased in soil will also be counted.
Course woody debris is defined as wood 7.6 centimeters in diameter or larger along the
entire length. The true diameter at the point where it intersects the transect plane, decay
class, and species will be recorded as they are found throughout the entire 50 meter
transects. Course woody debris will be recorded along the entire length of the transect
lines. Fine woody debris is defined as wood less than 7.6 centimeters, and will be
measured at subsections along the transect. Debris with a diameter of 0.0-0.6 centimeters
will only be measured for 5 meters. Debris between .6 and 2.54 centimeters will be
sampled along 15 meters, and debris between 2.54 and 7.6 centimeters will be sampled
along 30 meters of transect. The true diameters will be measured using calipers. The
decay class, and presence/absence of char will be recorded.
The values for decay class will be used on a scale of 1 to 5. These classes are from the
fixed area plot method, versus the decay/no decay method in the planar intersect method
to give a more resolution of the debris decomposition and allows for long-term
monitoring of change.

Decay Class
1
2
3
4

Freshly dead pieces which contain most of their fine branches, possibly foliage, and all
their barks. The wood is solid and there has been very little decay.
Logs that have lost almost all of the fine branches. The bark is mostly intact but has
begun to loosen, and the wood has been colonized by decay organisms. There has not
been much loss of strength of material. Good firewood materials.
Usually losing the bark and beginning to lose portions of sapwood. The log will have no
remaining branches, but is still strong and easily support itself. Branch stubs are rigid and
are not easily wiggled or torn free.
Logs have lost the ability to support themselves but still have a round to elliptical shape
rising about the general forest floor. Branch stubs can be easily torn free. There is some
remaining rigidity in that a kick will wiggle the log for several meters in either direction.
This is the oldest class that can stand as a short snag.
Form the ill-defined hummocks that appear to be part of the forest floor. They are made
up of reddish brown crumbly materials that can be easily grabbed out in handfuls. When
kicked, they do not hold together enough to wiggle any more than the rest of the forest
floor. Can be easily overlooked.

Source: Harmon et al. 2007

DATA ANALYSIS APPROACH

The decay class, species, and size class (diameter) will be collected in the experimental
forest plots and compiled in an Excel spreadsheet. The carbon stocks of woody detritus
will be measured through a volume estimator and biomass/carbon conversion constants
(Woodall and Monleon 2008). The volume of course woody debris is estimated by using
the equation
d2
V = 2(
)
8L
where d is the diameter and L is the transect length. The volume of fine woody debris can
be estimated using the similar equation. The pieces are compiled by size class and
converted to volume using size-class averages of particle diameter and secants of
incidence angle.
2
dq
2
V = Na(
)
8L
where N is the number of pieces per transect, a is the average secant pieces along the
transect , L is transect length and dq is the quadratic mean of piece diameter. The constant
corrects for non-horizontal orientation of some of the fine woody debris.
The biomass is derived from the volume using the wood density constant, given the
equation
M =V
The wood density is variable depending on the species and decay class. Values will come
from tables created by Harmon et al. and can be found at
<http://lterdev.fsl.orst.edu/lter/pubs/webdocs/reports/detritus/pages/appendix
%203%20CWD_relative_density_predictions_for_FIA_species.htm>

The biomass is then converted to estimates of carbon stock using the carbon
concentration (CC) constant of 50% (Woodall and Monleon 2008). This value is
consistent across all decay classes.
RELEVANCE OF RESEARCH
Estimating the amount of carbon stock in the dead woody debris is an important value for
the management of the experimental forest. The data will be recollected after a treatment
and compared to this baseline data. Because of the rising concerns of greenhouse gas
emission, carbon budgets are more commonly estimated for ecosystems to assess the
potential for wildfire and to evaluate the ecological benefits. As an ecologist, abiotic
factors are equally as valuable as the biotic and provide ecosystem services, habitats, and
functions. This research project requires me to read through literature and analyze
models, projects, plans, and data. Throughout my career in ecology and wildlife science, I
will need to refer to literature to assess what has been done before, what needs to be
redone, and what has never been done before. This project also involves several practices
in ecology. The dead woody debris affects plants and wildlife. Many of my future
research opportunities will be multi-disciplinary, and may require me to work in aspects
of ecology that I have not specialized in. Most of all, this project is relevant to the
scientific process and provides experience in referring to literature, testing hypotheses,
conducting fieldwork and analyzing data.
TIME TABLE
This project will span from June 2015 to March 2016. The first section of my project will
be to collect the dead woody debris data in the experimental forest. Data will be collected
in the summer months, May to August, and will stay constant throughout the three
months of collection. All the data will be compiled and run through an R-function to give
carbon values. The data manipulation and analysis of canopy cover and tree species
hypotheses and will occur during August until October. The final thesis paper will be
written before March 2016.

LITERATURE REFERENCES
Harmon, M. E., and J. Sexton. 1996. Guidelines For Measurements of Woody Detritus in
Forest Ecosystems. U.S. Long Term Ecological Research Network 20:1-73
Harmon, M. E., C. W. Woodall, B. Fasth, and J. Sexton. 2007. Woody Detritus Density
and Density Reduction Factors for Tree Species in the United States: A Synthesis.
U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania,
USA.
Woodall, C.W., and V. J. Monleon. 2008. Sampling, Estimation, and Analysis Procedures
for the Down Woody Materials Indicator. U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research
Station, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, USA.