A CALL FOR SOUND SCIENCE ON THE MANAGEMENT OF ECOLOGICAL
STAGES OF TREES AND THEIR ASSOCIATES.
Herein I will refer to both the "Prescribed Burn Project", advertised on
November 30, 2001, and the "Keller Road Fence Project", advertised on
December 3, 2001, as the "Burn and Clearcut Project".
With respect to the “Burn and Clearcut Project”
John A. Keslick, Jr., Tree Biologist, Tree Biological Laboratory,
Allegheny Defense Project; Keslick and Son Modern Arboriculture
214 N. Penn Street West Chester, P.A. 19380 USA
Email: treeman@chesco.com Phone: 610-696-5353
3/21/02
In this paper I am focusing on the false premise that trees are dead, and non-ecologically
functioning in respect to the references submitted.
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1. ABSTRACT. In order to understand a system containing trees, its parts and
processes above as well as below ground, one must examine such a system, which is in a
state least tampered with - containing most parts as well as processes, if not all. E.g., you
need to know what parts and processes the system of a new car has, if you are going to
take a used one and restore it. E. G., if your car does not stop than it would be wise to
know that the car (system) was designed with brakes. This is also true above as well as
below ground, for a system known as a forest, and coarse woody debris (CWD). Most
people, if asked, would claim to know what a sick tree looks like. But, how many
understand a healthy tree system.
2. The Mississippi Valley Laboratory in St. Louis was established in 1899. Dr.
Herman von Schrenk was the director. Studies on wood decay and discoloration were
done mostly. In time, the studies drifted toward wood products. In 1907 the lab was
discontinued and the Forest Products Laboratory at Madison, Wisconsin took over. The
major focus of the lab was on wood products decay. Tree biology never had a chance
(SHIGO, 1999).
3. Tree Biology is the science that brings together anatomy, physiology, genetics,
evolution, ecology, and all other disciplines that focus on the life of a tree system
(redundant, the tree is a system) and how death brings healthier life. In spite of abiotic
destructive forces and biotic agents such as insects, bacteria, and fungi, humans still rank
as the major destructive agent for trees in forests and cities. Ignorance of tree biology is a
major cause of this (SHIGO, 1999). Ignorance of tree biology has been, and still is, the
major cause of tree problems worldwide (SHIGO, 1999). Franklin, et. al. (1987) pg. 552-
553 reports - Both insects and disease may be the proximate agent of death in trees
already weakened by other factors; as such, they are often blamed for deaths more
properly assigned elsewhere. “Humans are, of course, a major biotic cause of tree death,
acting both directly (tree removing) and indirectly influencing almost all other agents.”
4. A serious problem is the communication of knowledge and needs between
forest researchers and practicing foresters (SHIGO, 1977) as published in Northern
Logger and Timber Processor. The information I am presenting in this paper will be
published, reviewed data by researchers and scientist. Several being powerful, USDA
Forest Service General Technical Reports. My target here, is to present technical
information addressing current half truths and misconceptions on symplastless tree stems
(mistakenly called dead trees – perceived as worthless) and their unique characteristics
which enhance the lives and connections of forest occupants dictating health, above as
well as below ground.
5. The teams of Practicing Foresters, with respect to the “Burn and Clearcut
Project” on the ANF, are faced with the responsibility of decision making on a large-
scale area. Many critical processes and connections are at stake. An area, which demands
decisions, based on tree biology, above as well as below ground, not feelings. I find it
“alarming” that the decision making team does not have a tree biologist, neither does the
team from the US FISH and WILDLIFE SERVICE, pertaining to this project and the
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endangered species, connections and processes. Trying to treat what you do not
understand is the same as trying to start a Rolls Royce by hitting it with a sledgehammer
(SHIGO, 1999). To say the least, there is some missing links. Did you ever examine
someone who does not understand tree anatomy prune a stem? (I have provided samples)
This type of management is what I see in this project. Something to think about - Would
you go to a doctor who flunked anatomy (SHIGO, 1999)?
6. With respect, man’s intervention to log, to control forest health, is absurd.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding people that
they are not the boss.
7. Board-feet seems to be the teams only specialty. I believe the law requires high
quality materials. The anatomy of different trees and their environment from which they
grow, greatly dictates the quality of material. All parts of a tree are born alive. A trees
environment, used for violin wood, dictates the sound of the violin. Each cell is born
alive. The type of wood a specific species can produce such as heartwood, false-
heartwood, wetwood, discolored wood (basic anatomy) greatly determines lumber
degrade factors and the quality they are responsible for. They just do not maintain those
or types of records on the ANF (per East Side comments). We still are plagued with the
heartrot concept that is based on the misconception that wood is dead – not true. What is
true is that the heartrot concept has been replaced with the understanding of CODIT –
Compartmentalization Of Decay In Trees. Compartmentalization is the tree's defense
process where boundaries form that resist spread of infections and that defend the liquid
transport, energy storage, and mechanical support systems.
8. Also the use of a SHIGOMETER is not considered. A SHIGOMETER can
measures the chemically altered tissues within a tree. Material with high probability of
termite predisposition can be easily detected with an understanding of tree anatomy and
experience with the machine. Which may well, in the Forest Plan, be considered low or
high quality. Thus I would testify they have not done all they can to provide high
quality material and or decipher between high or low quality. There is a difference
between having a lot of trees and having a lot of high quality trees.
9. Again, to bring some understanding in on this, A SHIGOMETER is not a
sophisticated device. It is a pulsed ohmmeter. It gives you numbers. A SHIGOMETER
also measures Cambium Electrical Resistance thus determining the health of the symplast
and can be used in tree farming selection of trees too cut. But to understand what these
numbers mean, it demands you have an understanding of tree anatomy, which the team
does, not – why? The lack of understanding of tree anatomy, CODIT and tree biology,
does not reduce the importance of its use, in the decision-making, in a project such as
this, nor does it reduce the penalty for continued physical abuse. Our forefathers did not
know, just as with DNA. NOW WE KNOW.
10. Here, as in all Medicine, the first principle must be: "FIRST OF ALL DO NO
HARM!" This implies, of course, a thorough understanding of the healthy organism, i.e.
in this case, the tree biology. This, in turn, brings us to a second principle: "DON'T
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HURT THE TREE AND YOU WON'T HURT YOURSELF!" An unbelievable example
is about a fellow who for twenty years engaged in the practice of drilling holes into trees
and injecting pesticides and fungicides. Well, he did not help the trees, but he developed
such severe bone cancer that at the end of his life he could not visit his trees anymore.
(Per phone conversation with fellow). I wonder if a thoracic surgeon would do a heart
transplant only because the patient wants it?
11. No measures or to say the most, minimum safe guards have been taken here to
reduce injuries to the system. Technical reports do state we need to separate our forest
from the tree farms. I remain optimistic and look forward to helping tree farmers
understand the needs of their trees.
12. Trees are the most massive, longest-lived organisms to ever live on this planet
(Shigo, 1994)! From this once fertile forest – this is exactly what is planned, to be
removed. The most massive – longest lived – organisms, which are key players in the
system health. The ecological stages of trees play a very, very large key role in the health
and maintenance of the soil.
13. Again, the decision making team has missed at least one of three major
aspects of the removal of the ecological stages of trees from this once fertile forest. The
lack of understanding of the wood types (heartwood, false heartwood, discolored wood,
etc.) and their lack of data on optimum fertility levels for plants in this once fertile forest,
alone, denotes their extremely weak understanding of this system and the affects of their
prescribed treatments now and into the future.
14. The removal of trees in their different ecological stages from the once fertile
forest does greatly affect the lives of entire groups of organisms (flora, fauna) above and
below ground. Too often in the decision making process, concepts that do not facilitate
system health are used to calculate treatments. These treatments out of the ignorance of
tree biology can and do have affects on entire groups of organisms. Tree Biology is too
often over looked in the goal of the production of board feet. This paper is intended as a
wake up call and surly not to be considered the last word on the topic. The more you
learn about what you are seeking, the better the chances are that you will find it (SHIGO,
1999). Many foresters do seek to restore ecological order, but do not know how, yet!
15. Certainly our knowledge of biological processes and their interactions within
forest is incomplete, and we know too little about the cumulative effect of a wide range
of stresses on the ecosystem. But integrative research at the ecosystem level shows
clearly that the many processes operating within forest inter-connect in important ways.
Further, diversity of microscopic and macroscopic plant and animal species is a key
factor in maintaining these processes (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
16. Logging is reducing spatial, chemical, and biotic diversity of forest soils,
and the processes that maintain long-term forest productivity (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe
and Franklin, 1988).
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LETS TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT LOGGING
17. Again, it may need to be repeated, trees are the most massive, longest-lived
organisms to ever live on this planet. The massive trunks of this once fertile forest have
been long removed. The “Burn and Clearcut Project” plans to remove the most
massive, longest-lived organism (above ground) with their built in capacity to be
functioning biological components of this system for the future health of this area.
18. Logging is a multipart operation. Removal of the ecological stages of trees,
building roads, applying toxic chemicals (herbicides), applying ammonium nitrate,
planting non-native grass while promoting the planting of seedlings as a forgiveness of
sin trying to correct the damage done by the sale. Thus costing taxpayers money. “Don’t
worry, just plant a tree” really holds no scientific support (Williams, 1991 pg 24) let
alone, there are no standards for purchasing, storing, planting or maintenance watering of
tree planting in this project. I see the latter as treatments of faulty intelligence. They are
major chemistry altering bombardments of treatments to this once fertile forest at this
time. Although the planting of New Trees can’t hurt if planted correctly and will
certainly help. But need a healthy system (CWD) to survive at a high quality life.
19. I would like to limit the remainder of this discussion to the removal
(killing)of the ecological stages of trees in respect to their ecological role on system
health, which they cannot perform if removed.
20. Woody debris is generally removed from streams or forests in the name of
economic progress, but what are the short-term and long-term biological consequences?
(Maser and Trappe, 1984)
21. Symplastless wood is a critical component of many ecosystem processes. It
supports physical, chemical, and biological functions in ecosystems. These functions
include essential element cycling, carbon storage, erosion control and slope stabilization,
water cycling, soil formation, and stream movement processes (Voller and Harrison,
1998).
22. Tree utilization by humans reduces the organic parent materials (duff and
woody residues) available for soil-formation processes (Harvey, Larsen and Jurgensen,
1976) In other words, what is being removed, is not a treatment for the chemistry of the
soil that would maintain or increase its quality, it will lower its quality now and into the
future.
23. I have learned the following topics are some of the key issues, which have
purpose and need to be addressed.
1. Standing or Fallen Symplastless Trees - Dead or Alive?
2. Coarse Woody Debris - Water/Moisture.
3. Coarse Woody Debris – Nutrients and Essential Elements
4. Coarse Woody Debris – Reduction of Browsing of Sensitive Plants
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5. Coarse Woody Debris – Plant Bio-Diversity / Endangered Species
6. Coarse Woody Debris – Fungi Diversity – Mycorrhizae – Bacteria / Endangered Species
7. Coarse Woody Debris – Animals / Endangered Species
8. Coarse Woody Debris – Temperature
9. Coarse Woody Debris - Other Habitat and Potential Niches
10. Coarse Woody Debris – Insects and Other Bonogens / Endangered Species
11. Coarse Woody Debris – Humic Acids, Horizons, Buffers and pH
12. Coarse Woody Debris – Soil Erosion – Soil Mixing – Churning
13. Coarse Woody Debris – Present to Future Wood Quality
14. Coarse Woody Debris – Some Recommendations Made
15. Coarse Woody Debris - Space
16. Coarse Woody Debris – Fire Protection
24. Note: Its about chemistry and connections. Ecological stages of trees are
needed for insects, animals, fungi, plants, bacteria, water, etc. and obviously most
species of flora and fauna in the forest are dependent on symplastless trees for nutrients,
habitat or substrate and nesting (Kruys and Jonsson, 1999).
25. Ausmus ( 1977) stated the impact simply: ". ..wood decomposition represents
a long-term stabilizing force within the forest (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
26. Many insects, fungi, bacteria, and other organisms are thought to be harmful,
yet very few of them are (SHIGO, 1999). The insects and microorganisms have a job to
do on earth. Many are "clean up" experts such as a fungus that parasitizing another
mushroom fruiting body of another fungus (SHIGO, 1999 - Page 105 ). These organisms
break down dead organisms to release or recycle elements essential for new life. Some
organisms attack others that no longer have a defense system. A few attack living
organisms that are healthy. In spite of abiotic destructive forces and biotic agents such as
insects, bacteria, and fungi, humans still rank as the major destructive agent for trees in
forests and cities. Ignorance of tree biology is a major cause of this (SHIGO 1999).
1. Standing or Fallen Symplastless Trees - Dead or Alive?
27. My point is as follows: See that plane flying above? Is it dead or alive? The
answer is “yes”. See that fallen or standing symplastless tree? Is it alive or dead? Again,
“yes”. In contrast, a symplastless tree or log includes a considerable number of living
cells, as much 35% of the biomass may be live fungal cells (Franklin, Shugart and
Harmon, 1987, pg 551). I.e., internally. KEY WORD “BIOMASS”
28. We have no word for a substance that is both living and dead - wood, soil
(Shigo, 1999, #214 pg 34).
29. Trees connect living and dead cells in ways so that the dead parts still benefit
the entire tree (SHIGO, 1999)
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30. A fallen tree is a connector between the successional stages of a community.
31. Here are some points regarding this topic. Surely there is much more.
32. We document that a large symplastless tree is not a wasted resource; indeed,
it continues to function as an important part of a terrestrial or water system, either while
remaining on the site at which it once grew, or by becoming a structural part of an aquatic
or marine habitat. We aim to help anyone interested in perpetual forest productivity to
understand the importance of large, symplastless woody debris. The book develops
certain principles and ideas in sequence from the forest to the sea (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe
and Franklin, 1988).
33. Fallen trees harbor a myriad of organisms, from bacteria and actinomycetes
to higher fungi. Of these, only some of the fungi might be noticed by the causal observer
as mushrooms or bracket fungi. These structures, however, are merely the fruiting bodies
produced by mold colonies within the log. Many fungi fruit within the fallen tree,
therefore they are seen only when the tree is torn apart. Even when a fallen tree is torn
apart, only a fraction of the fungi present are noticed because the fruiting bodies of most
appear only for a small portion of the year. The smaller organisms, not visible to the
unaided eye, are still important components of the system (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg
16-par 5).
34. The flow of plant and animal populations, air, water, and essential elements
between a fallen tree and its surroundings increases as decomposition continues (Maser
and Trappe, 1984, pg 12).
35. Fallen trees offer multitudes of both external and internal habitats that change
and yet persist through the decades. One needs an understanding of the synergistic
affects of constant small changes within a persistent large structure to appreciate the
dynamics of a fallen tree and its function in an ecosystem (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg
17-par 1).
36. The so called symplastless, still standing, tree still continues to serve several
natural functions important to many groups of organisms of the once fertile forest or tree
system.
37. Eventually the tree falls: the wood is in contact with the soil, again providing
another unique ecological situation. Some species such as American chestnut would have
served ecological system survival duties for 50 years or more (SHIGO, 1969).
38. As fallen trees progress from decay class I to class II, the scavengers are
replaced by competitors with the enzyme systems needed to decompose the more
complex compounds in wood. The fungi involved in this activity are often mutually
antagonistic, so that a given part of the tree may be occupied by only one fungus that
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excludes others by physical or chemical means (Maser and Trappe, 1984). (We call this
altered area a niche)
39. Bacteria are very small. They do big things (SHIGO, 1999)
40. Free-living bacteria in woody residues and soil wood fix 30-60% of the
nitrogen in the forest soil. In addition, 20% of soil nitrogen is stored in these components
(Harvey et al. 1987). Harmon et al. (1986) reported that CWD accounted for as much as
45% of aboveground stores of organic matter. Symplastless wood in terrestrial
ecosystems is a primary location for fungal colonization and often acts as refugia for
mycorrhizal fungi during ecosystem disturbance (Triska and Cromack 1979; Harmon et
al. 1986; Caza 1993) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
41. Conclusion: What purpose and need is there that biomass be classified as dead, as
in this project? Although the symplast may have died completely, the structure still
continues, most of the time as a biomass. To claim to be removing just “dead” “non-
functional” mass during logging operations is based on false premise, i.e., that the
biomass is dead. Symplastless and symplast containing trees are linked together in the
living machinery of a forest (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
2. Coarse Woody Debris – Water / Moisture
42. What makes a healthy tree or plant? The availability in the proper
proportions of the right "STEW" - Space, Temperature, Elements and Water. And the
energy of the sun will be used optimally making a tree into the most massive, longest-
lived and efficient system on earth. Everything is recycled.
43. Water - Too much or too little can cause serious problems. The USFS claims
drought has caused mortality leaving masses of symplastless trees. Actually lack of water
during dry times is more accurate. Too often cause and effect get mixed up.
44. I have learned, that is all you see now. What you do not see is the other flora
and fauna, that have died as the result of the lack of coarse woody debris (CWD). The
CWD would have provided water during the past dry times, just for starters.
45. Water is a limiting factor. Consider what happens to a dog without water for
two days locked on a porch. Say we search for the presence of a dog at this dryer site 2
years later? No dog.
46. Now, do we conclude dogs cannot survive on porch or do we consider that
some type of water reservoir for dryer times, that would enhance the area (system) thus
making it suitable for the survival of dogs, are needed for species?
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47. With respect to fallen trees. Furrows in the bark on the upper side fill with leaf
duff and provide sites for several years for seeds to germinate. Where the bark is intact,
seedlings generally die during summer drought. If a seedlings roots find a crack or hole
in the bark and grow into the decomposed layer between bark and wood, however, it may
find enough moisture to survive the summer (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg 25-par 3).
48. Some of the conclusions, in the “Burn and Clearcut Project”, remind me of
TREE PITHY POINT # 376 “The researcher took all the legs off a flea. He then shouted
to the flea to jump. The flea just lay there. The report stated that fleas lose their ability to
hear when you remove their legs. Don't laugh. I have seen research reports worse than
that.” (Shigo, 1999 pg 60).
49. Many phone conversations with the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
revealed that they did not and do not specifically recommend any CWD be killed
(removed) as a treatment for the “Burn and Clearcut Project” with respect to wildlife
or Threatened and Endangered Species. In this project the USFS claims killing,
removing, cutting down out, etc., the trees, is for the wildlife and or threatened and
endangered species and leads people to believe they have recommendations from
USFWS.
50. In order to increase the health of the system the health of the system, which,
as shown such an increase of “mortality”, due to drought or during dryer times.
51. A provision should be provided, wherein the plants as well as the animals,
moisture needs are maintained by the system itself.
52. As well known, there will be so-called droughts and or periods of dryer times
in the future.
53. A healthy system in place will help in handling this unfortunate occurrence.
54. Something to keep in mind. Reports from some countries indicate an
abundance of soluble nitrogen compounds in runoff water and even in ground water. This
is a strong indication that the carbon-nitrogen ratio has been disrupted in the soil. It is
well established from studies of the physiology of fungal parasitism that the degree of
parasitism is often determined by the carbon-nitrogen ratio. It is probably similar for
other organisms (Shigo, 1996).
55. A snag may accumulate moisture – carry essential elements and have a higher
essential element capital when it falls than does a tree with symplast (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, pg 19-par 2).
56. CWD plays are an important role in the functioning of ecosystems. Its
functional role in stream ecosystems has been well established and many stream
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restoration projects are underway. Its role in terrestrial ecosystems is still not completely
understood (Edmonds and Marra, 1999).
57. When thinking of, and dealing with, diversity in a forest, conventional vision
focuses on structure and habitat. Diversity, however, has another dimension-one that is
only now being perceived: function. The basic components of structural and functional
diversity are inseparably interwoven in a forest. A broadened philosophical view of
management - a forest versus a commodity - is necessary if certain structurally related
functions, such as retention of water and cycling of essential elements in large, fallen
trees, are to be options in managed forests of the future (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
58. Note: The “Burn and Clearcut Project” is promoted as an area negatively
effected by drought. This would be a lack of water during dry times. Removing more
logs which wound become coarse woody debris and claiming it to be a treatment to
improve drought tolerance of this system is absurd. A tourniquet will stop a nosebleed!
59. Symplastless trees, especially with soil contact act as a storehouse for
moisture providing moisture for plants and animals during dry times such as summer
drought, as it may be called (Page-Dumroese, Harvey, Jurgensen and Graham, 1991).
60. During the winter months, decayed logs, act like a sponge to absorb water
and retains much of the water throughout the following growing season. This water
would be a survival feature during so called drought (Page-Dumroese, Harvey,
Jurgensen and Graham, 1991).
61. Logs with soil contact play key roles with the cation exchange capacity,
water - holding capacity, bulk density, nutrient budgets, essential elements and erosion
potential (Page-Dumroese, Harvey, Jurgensen and Graham, 1991).
62. Coarse woody debris has been identified as playing several important roles in
the functioning of the region's forests. In southwest Oregon, brown-cubical-rotted CWD
acts as a perched water reservoir, the spongy decayed wood being able to hold over twice
its own weight in water. This material thus can be a major source of moisture for fungi
and roots well into the summer drought that characterizes the region (Amaranthus,
Trappe and Bednar, 1994). Animals as well, if you please.
63. Numerous physical and chemical changes occur as fallen trees decay: (1)
density decreases; (2) water content increases until decay classes III and IV are reached,
at which time the water content stabilizes, mineral and nitrogen contents increase; (4)
cellulose content decreases; (5) relative lignin content increases: (6) C:N ratio decreases,
internal temperature fluctuations are buffered as the fallen tree comes in contact with the
ground (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
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64. Large Stumps from old-growth trees are a finite resource, and their loss from
the forest affects both soil shear strength and watershed hydrology (Maser, Tarrant,
Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
65. CWD affects temperature as well as moisture, which can have a benefit for
certain beneficial fungi (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar, 1994).
66. Large, fallen trees in various stages of decay contribute much-needed
diversity to terrestrial and aquatic habitats in western forests. When most biological
activity in soil is limited by low moisture availability in summer, the fallen tree-soil
interface offers a relatively cool, moist habitat for animals and a substrate for microbial
and root activity. Intensified utilization and management can deprive future forests of
large, fallen trees. The impact of this loss on habitat diversity and on long-term forest
productivity must be determined because management needs sound information on
which to base resource management decisions (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
67. The proportion of a tree in contact with the soil affects the water-holding
capacity of the wood (Graham 1925). In our studies of fallen trees in old-growth
Douglas-fir forests, the moisture retention through the summer drought was best in the
side of trees in contact with the soil. The moisture-holding capacity of the wood affects in
turn its internal processes and therefore the succession of plants and animals. In addition,
the orientation of a fallen tree to aspect and compass direction and the amount and
duration of sunlight it receives, drastically affect its internal processes and biotic
community (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg 4).
68. A snag may accumulate moisture – carried essential elements and have a
higher essential element capital when it falls than does a tree with symplast (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, pg 19-par 2).
69. Colonization of decomposing wood by animals helps microbes to enter
interior surfaces of the wood and creates additional openings for entry of water and
essential elements; and penetration of the wood by roots of trees, such as western
hemlock, facilitates entry by mycorrhizal fungi (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
70. Internal succession is also influenced by temperature, moisture, and stage of
decay. A class I fallen tree, for example, has many readily available essential elements
that support opportunistic colonizers. As decay proceeds its moisture holding capacity
increase but essential elements become less available because either they have been used
or they remain locked in the more decay resistant compounds of the wood. Ultimately,
the rapidly growing opportunists are succeeded by organisms with more sophisticated
enzyme systems, and decay continues (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
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71. A fallen tree oriented along the contour of a slope. The upslope side is filled
with humus and inorganic material that allows invertebrates and small vertebrates to
tunnel alongside. The downslope side provides protective cover for larger vertebrates.
When under a closed canopy, such trees are also saturated with water and act as a
reservoir during the dry part of the year (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
72. So called rotten wood is also critical as substrate for ectomycorrhizal
formation. In one forest which contained a coniferous stand of trees (Eastern Hemlock
and White Pine are conifers), over 95 percent of all active mycorrhizae were in organic
matter of which 21 percent were in decayed wood. In another study in the northern
Rocky Mountains, decayed wood in soil was important. In moist, mesic, and arid habitat
types (Harvey et al. 1979); it was the most frequent substrate for active ectomycorrhizae
on the dry site, probably because of high moisture levels in the wood. Mycorrhizal fungi
can colonize logs presumably using them as sources of water, essential elements and
nutrients (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al. others, 1981).
73. Aubry et al. (1988) found that some species of salamander were most
abundant around CWD. Dupuis (1993) concluded that salamander populations in logged
areas were limited by available moist microhabitats, primarily because of a lack of large
logs in intermediate and advanced stages of decay (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
74. Much is discussed on wetlands and water in this reference (Voller and
Harrison, 1998).
75. In both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, symplastless wood functions as a
reservoir of moisture, ameliorating drought conditions and providing a 'perched water
table' (Triska and Cromack 1979) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
76. Conclusion: What purpose and need is there, that the capacity and ability, of
CWD, to provide water / moisture for fauna and flora during dryer times go unobserved,
such as the case in this “Burn and Clearcut Project”? Coarse woody debris / ecoart
nurse logs play a key role in providing the requirements of water/moisture for survival of
species of animals as well as plants, be they listed as threatened and endangered or not.
This function is plays a key role during hot, drier times. To fully comprehend the
importance one must consider time. This function must be thoroughly considered before
making a decision to remove this function from the system or not.
3. Coarse Woody Debris – Nutrients and Essential Elements
77. What makes a healthy tree or plant? The availability in the proper
proportions of the right "STEW" - Space, Temperature, Elements and Water. And the
energy of the sun will be used optimally making a tree into the most efficient system on
earth. Everything is recycled.
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78. Forest managers need to know what actually happens in order to plan
harvests that will protect essential element and nutrient cycles and streams from low pH
precipitation (Hornbeck, 1992, page 151).
79. Increasing demands for wood products, especially chips for fuel and pulp,
coupled with new, highly mechanized logging equipment are resulting in more intensive
harvesting of wood out of once fertile forests. When applied in the form of whole-tree
clear- cutting, intensive harvesting is a severe disruption of forest nutrient cycles and
essential elements. The first 5-10 years after harvest are especially critical in terms of
nutrient and essential element transformations, movement, and loss from the ecosystem.
(Hornbeck et al., 1990, pg 55)
80. In New England, intensive harvesting (wood removal) in the form of whole-
tree clearcutting results in important losses of plant essential elements such as Ca, K, and
N. Shortages of plant-available essential elements might develop in regenerating stands,
particularly in the years immediately after harvest when leaching losses and plant uptake
are high. Net losses in input-output budgets and preferential uptake by trees for essential
elements such as Ca suggest that there also could be essential element limitations during
future rotations. Until these concerns are researched more carefully, whole-tree
clearcutting should be applied with caution (Hornbeck et al., 1990, page 63)
81. Research in old-growth Douglas-fir forests, have shown about as much
nitrogen accumulates in decaying, fallen trees as in the forest floor. Other essential
elements, such as calcium and magnesium also accumulate in decomposing woody
substrates. Although here we are concerned with Douglas fir, neither decaying wood
nor research data are unique to forests of the Pacific Northwest (Maser and
Trappe, 1984).
82. Decomposition of fallen trees releases essential elements for microbial and
plant growth (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
83. A snag may accumulate moisture – carried essential elements and have a
higher essential element capital when it falls than does a tree with symplast (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, pg 19-par 2).
84. Woody duff, regardless of type or size, takes considerably longer to
decompose than needle and leaf duff. Needles, leaves, and small twigs decompose faster
than larger woody material and essential elements are thereby recycled faster in the forest
floor. About 140 years are needed for essential elements to cycle in large, fallen trees and
more than 400 years for such trees to become incorporated into the forest floor; they
therefore interact with the plants and animals of the forest floor and soil over a long
period of forest and stand successional history (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin,
1988).
13
85. Although nitrogen fixation in wood is modest compared with that occurring
in other substrates in forests, the persistence of decaying wood allows small increments
of nitrogen to accrue over many decades (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 16).
86. Further, decomposing wood undergoes changes in other chemical
constituents and pH as well as physical structure. Very old, decayed wood can even
become somewhat humified and leave long lasting substrate resistant to further decay
(Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 16-par 4).
87. Decaying trees comprise considerable accumulations of mass, nutrients and
elements in unmanaged, old growth forest. Some of the largest accumulations occur in
the unmanaged forest of the Pacific Northwest. Coarse woody debris can range from 130
to 276 tons per acre in stands from 100 to more than 1,000 years old. Although here we
are concerned with Douglas fir, neither decaying wood nor research data are unique to
forests of the Pacific Northwest. McFee and Stone ( 1966) Observed that decaying
wood persisted for more than 100 years in New York and others pointed out that
substantial accumulations in old-growth forest in Poland. These observations evidence
the long-term continuity of decaying trees as structural components in forest (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, pg 16).
88. Decayed logs on the floor of a once fertile forest are a reservoir for nutrients
as well as essential elements. They also act as a storehouse for moisture providing
moisture for plants and animals during dry times such as summer – so called - drought
(Page-Dumroese, Harvey, Jurgensen and Graham, 1991). Note: Trees absorb of
essential elements that are water-soluble and dissolved in water. For the elements to
enter the tree, moisture is required.
89. Note: I say “so called” because many trees and animals would have moisture
during dryer times, i.e., if coarse woody debris were in place and functioning over time as
designed (A unique survival feature of a forest). Thus, with the removal of CWD come
several depletions, which include, but are not limited to, the depletion of water, essential
elements and nutrients for plants and animals above as well as below ground. “The
Demons Of D” at work. So, drought is what we call the trigger puller, not the primary
agent causing lack of water during dryer times.
90. During decomposition, logs and other forms of coarse woody debris (defined
as wood pieces more than ten centimeters in diameter and more than one meter in length)
reduce erosion and affect soil development, store nutrients and water, provide a source of
energy and essential element flow, serve as seedbeds, and provide habitat for
decomposers and heterotrophs (Harmon and Hua, 1991).
91. An important feature of woody debris is that nutrients are released at slower
rates than from fine duff. This slow release allows nutrients to be retained within the
ecosystem until tree production recovers. Timber harvest and salvage after disturbance
reduces this pool of stable nutrients and essential elements (Harmon and Hua, 1991).
14
92. Few studies have examined processes, other than nitrogen fixation, that are
responsible for net changes in nutrient content of coarse woody debris. It is tempting to
assume that the processes are the same as in fine duff, but recent research being
conducted at Andrews indicates some differences. For example, during the early stages of
log decomposition, fungal sporocarps transfer essential elements to the forest floor. Thus,
in fine duff, fungi immobilize nitrogen, but in coarse woody debris they actively transfer
it to the soil. Another important consideration in understanding nutrient release from
coarse woody debris is that tree boles are composed of several distinct substrates. While
wood may be slowly releasing nutrients, other parts such as the inner bark (phloem)
decompose and release nutrients at rates similar to those of leaf duff. Hence an overall
pattern of release from symplastless trees may be a rapid loss of 10-20% of the nutrients
followed by an extended slower release of nutrients. Finally, the role of fragmentation in
transferring nutrients to fine duff in the later stages of woody debris decomposition is not
revealed by patterns of net accumulation. The omission of transfers via fragmentation
from previous calculations suggests (Harmon and Hua, 1991). (NOTE: it may be
specifically unclear whether the paper is referring to essential elements or a true
nutrient. Both exist, and are essential for system health.)
93. During decomposition, logs and other forms of coarse woody debris (CWD)
reduce erosion, affect soil development, store nutrients and water, are a potentially large
source of energy (nutrients) and essential elements, serve as a seed bed for plants, and
form an important habitat for fungi and arthropods. Despite growing recognition that
symplastless trees play major roles in ecosystem function, many aspects of the specific
processes involved are poorly understood. Consider, for example, the importance in
forest essential element cycles. Aside from nitrogen fixation, few studies have directly
examined the processes responsible for the net changes in essential element content of
decaying wood. The actual proportion of tree nutrition that is derived from CWD is not
known (Kropp, 1982).
94. Symplastless trees are structural components of great importance for forest
dynamics and forest biodiversity. The decomposition of trees provides an important link
in cycling on nutrients and essential elements in ecosystems. In addition, many species
of plants, fungi, and animals are dependent on symplastless trees for nutrients, essential
elements, habitat or substrate and nesting (Kruys and Jonsson, 1999).
95. Soil, nutrients and essential elements deposited along the up slope side of
fallen trees reduce loss of nutrients from the site. Such spots are excellent for the
establishment and growth of vegetation, including tree seedlings. Vegetation becomes
established on and helps stabilize this "new soil", and as invertebrates and small
vertebrates begin to burrow into the new soil, they not only nutritionally enrich it with
their feces and urine but also constantly mix it by their burrowing activities (Maser and
Trappe, 1984 pg 4).
96. As a log decomposes, many organisms such as plant roots, mites,
collembolans, amphibians, and small mammals, must await the creations of the inner
space before they can enter. The flow of plant and animal populations, air, water, and
15
nutrients as well as essential elements between fallen tree and its surrounding increases as
long as aging process continues (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 12).
97. Duff fall and throughfall are major pathways for the flow of essential
elements and energy within forests, they contribute essential elements, nutrients and
water to so-called rotten wood. The larger a fallen tree, the more duff it accumulates on
its surface and the more essential element - rich moisture it intercepts from the canopy.
The moisture gathers essential elements as it passes through the accumulated duff and
soaks into the fallen tree (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 19-par 2).
98. CWD, and the associated epiphytic bryophytes act as both essential element
and moisture buffers for the ecosystems (FEMAT, 1993). This buffering allows the slow
release of water and essential elements to surrounding plants. In mature and old growth
coastal forests, a large proportion of western hemlock and Sitka spruce seedlings
germinate and grow on CWD substrates (Harmon and Franklin 1989; G. Davis, pers.
comm., 1994).
99. The main chemical differences among substrates are: (1) nitrogen content; (2)
mineral or ash content-phosphorus. Potassium, calcium, magnesium; (3) the carbon
matrix-cellulose, lignin, pentosans and (4) the content of other organic compounds-
waxes, pigments, carbohydrates, fats, resins, phenolic compounds (Maser and Trappe,
1984 pg11).
100. Plant - essential elements. The succession of plants on fallen trees is
mediated by changes in essential element availability and physical properties over time.
Three broad phases can be defined: initial, optimal, final. Early invaders prepare the tree
for later colonization by altering its physical and chemical properties during the initial
phase. The altered tree provides the best substrate for a wide array of organisms during
the optimal phase. Ultimately, the depletion of essential elements and physical
deterioration of the wood during the optimal phase diminish its value for many
organisms, so fewer species inhabit the final phase (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 25-par
5).
101. Besides nitrogen, other essential elements such as Calcium , Magnesium ,
Potassium, and Phosphorus and other essential elements play key roles in soil, plant and
tree health as well as the health of the other associated living organisms (Page-
Dumroese, Harvey, Jurgensen and Graham, 1991).
102. In addition, coarse woody debris has the potential to store a large amount of
carbon in the ecosystem. The role of coarse woody debris in storing carbon is often
overlooked, with only living plants or soil carbon being considered. Relatively little is
known about the formation and rate of decay of coarse woody debris or the factors
controlling these processes, despite the relevance of this information to the global carbon
cycle (Harmon and Hua, 1991).
16
103. As fallen trees progress from decay class I to class II, the scavengers are
replaced by competitors with the enzyme systems needed to decompose the more
complex compounds in wood. The fungi involved in this activity are often mutually
antagonistic, so that a given part of the tree may be occupied by only one fungus that
excludes others by physical or chemical means (Maser and Trappe, 1984). (We call
this altered area a niche)
104. The decomposing wood of a fallen tree serves as a savings account of
essential elements and organic material in the forest soil (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg
16).
105. Fallen trees interact with essential element cycling processes in a forest
through such mechanisms as duff fall (freshly fallen or slightly decomposed plant
material from the canopy), throughfall (rain or dew that picks up elements as it falls
through the canopy), nitrogen fixation, and essential element uptake by plants associated
with the fallen trees (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
106. Ground contact by fallen trees creates opportunities for various interactions
with the biotic components of soil and duff. Fungi, for instance, translocate essential
elements within the soil- system, as both decomposers and root symbionts. Fungi also
immobilize translocated essential elements and thereby enrich the decomposing wood
substrates they inhabit. In addition, the colonization of decomposing fallen trees by
nitrogen-fixing bacteria permits additional nitrogen accretion within the decaying wood
(Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 19-par 3).
107. Western hemlocks colonize so-called rotten wood over many decades to
insure long-term interactions by root zone processes. Decaying wood thus serves as a
savings account of soil organic materials and essential elements in forest (Maser and
Trappe, 1984).
108. Internal succession is also influenced by temperature, moisture, and stage of
decay. A class I fallen tree, for example, has many readily available essential elements
that support opportunistic colonizers. As decay proceeds its moisture holding capacity
increase but essential elements become less available because either they have been used
or the remain locked in the more decay resistant compounds of the wood. Ultimately, the
rapidly growing opportunists are succeeded by organisms with more sophisticated
enzyme systems, and decay continues (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
109. External succession is related to the changes that take place in the plant
community surrounding a fallen tree. A fallen tree is a connector between the
successional stages of a community; it provides continuity of habitat from the previous
forest through subsequent successional stages. A large fallen tree therefore provides a
17
physical link – an essential element savings account – through time and across
successional stages. Because of its persistence, a fallen tree provides a long- term, stable
structure on which some animal (both invertebrate and vertebrate) populations appear to
depend on for survival (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 38-par 1).
110. Machine entry on an area, which contains trees, reduces diversity because
heavy equipment fragments and scatters class IV and V so called rotten wood. Habitat
diversity declines to a fraction of what had been available, probably fewer kinds of
organisms can thrive. Further, because woody substrates serve as long-term soil organic
material and essential element reservoirs, increasingly intensive timber management,
coupled with shorter rotations, could significantly alter the role of decaying wood in the
essential element cycling processes (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 48-par 1).
111. Humus formation is important in regulating the incorporation of nitrogen
into humic materials. Because of its high cation exchange capacity and slow
decomposition, so called rotten wood can retain available mineral nitrogen from
throughfall and decomposition as well as organic nitrogen compounds mineralized within
the wood chemical matrix. Roots and mycorrhizae of plant species that colonize
decaying wood use its available nitrogen (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin,
1988).
112. The long-term input by nitrogen fixation in decaying fallen trees and by
canopy inhabiting lichens maintains a positive balance of nitrogen in the ecosystem
(Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
113. Decaying wood has long-term potential for contributing nitrogen for tree
growth as residual lignin and humus are decomposed (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and
Franklin, 1988).
114. With respect to tree maturity, habitats, both external and internal, are
influenced by tree size – maturity ( Internal Regulating System). An uninterrupted supply
of new, immature wood in young forests decomposes and recycles essential elements and
energy rapidly. Habitats provided by the death of the symplast of young trees are short-
lived and rapidly changing. (E.g., specifically speaking, species of young trees, which
produce protection wood such as heartwood, would have not formed heartwood). In
contrast, the less frequent, more irregular mortality of the symplast of large trees in old
forests is analogous to slow-release fertilization. The lasting quality of large fallen trees
creates stable habitats in which large woody debris accumulates. Scattered accumulations
of large woody debris are associated with openings in the forest canopy. Large fallen
trees in such an area often contact each other physically, creating external habitats
of intense biological activity (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
115. Decaying, fallen trees contribute to long-term accumulation of soil organic
matter, partly because the carbon constituents of well-decayed wood are 80-90 percent
residual lignin and humus. Decaying wood in the soil and establishment of conifer
seedlings and mycorrhizal fungi on dry sites are positively correlated. Fallen trees also
18
create and maintain diversity in forest communities. Soil properties of pits and mounds
differ from those of surrounding soil; such chemical and topographic diversity in
turn affects forest regeneration processes. All this, especially large fallen trees that
reside on the forest floor for long periods, adds to spatial, chemical, and biotic
diversity of forest soils, and to the processes that maintain long-term forest productivity
(Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
116. Mycorrhizal fungi can colonize logs presumably using them as sources of
water and essential elements. (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al. others, 1981).
117. Coarse woody debris is a significant factor in essential element cycling
processes (Harmon et al. 1986; Caza 1993). Although the relative concentration of
essential elements in wood and bark is low, much of the essential elements capital and
carbon are stored here because of the large biomass involved (Harmon et al. 1986; Caza
1993) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
118. Symplastless wood facilitates a slow release of essential elements,
ameliorates leaching, and provides a growing substrate for bryophytes. These buffer
water and essential element release from duff and aboveground processes, especially
processes such as nitrogen fixation in aboveground plants such as hepatics (Harmon et al.
1986; FEMAT 1993; Samuelsson et al. 1994) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
119. Free-living bacteria in woody residues and soil wood fix 30-60% of the
nitrogen in the forest soil. In addition, 20% of soil nitrogen is stored in these components
(Harvey et al. 1987). Harmon et al. (1986) reported that CWD accounted for as much as
45% of aboveground stores of organic matter. Symplastless wood in terrestrial
ecosystems is a primary location for fungal colonization and often acts as refugia for
mycorrhizal fungi during ecosystem disturbance (Triska and Cromack 1979; Harmon et
al. 1986; Caza 1993) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
120. Colonization of symplastless wood by fungi and microbes may be one of
the most important stages in essential element cycling (Caza 1993); however, these
processes are still relatively poorly understood. Soil wood contains a disproportionate
amount of the coniferous non-woody roots or ectomycorrhizae in forests (Harvey et al.
1987). As one of the dominant sources of organic matter, symplastless wood is an
important determinant in soil formation and composition (Caza 1993) (Voller and
Harrison, 1998)
121. Symplastless wood provides physical structure to the ecosystem and fills
such roles as sediment storage (Wilford 1984), protecting the forest floor from mineral
soil erosion and mechanical disturbance during harvesting activities. It ameliorates the
affects of cold air drainage on plants, helps stabilize slopes, and minimizes soil
erosion (Maser et al. 1988). Symplastless wood provides elevated germination
platforms with reduced duff fall accumulation and relatively consistent moisture regimes
(Harmon et al. 1986; Maser et al. 1988; Caza 1993; D.F. Fraser, pers. comm., 1995). In
stream ecosystems it protects stream banks from erosion and maintains channel stability
19
(Triska and Cromack 1979; Sedell et al. 1988). Features that influence the ability to
fulfill these functions include size (length and diameter), whether roots are still attached,
orientation, degree of burial, and proportion of the piece that remains submerged (Sedell
et al. 1988) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
122. The substrate of poorest quality is the decay-resisting outer bark, which is
low in moisture, carbohydrates, cellulose, and carbon to nitrogen (C:N) ratio but high in
lignin, taxifolin, total extractives, and density. (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg 11).
123. In class IV element content of the fallen tree at this stage may exceed the
original content because minerals have been added by duff fall from the canopy and by
throughfall of rain, have been brought in by animals or have been translocated from
underlying soil by fungi or roots. Nitrogen may be added by similar means and by
biological fixation. These circumstances provide an excellent rooting medium for plants.
A great variety of fungi, both decomposers and symbionts, thrive in the complex of
niches within the fallen tree (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg 26-par 5, pg 27-par 1).
124. Conclusion: What purpose and need is there, that the capacity and ability,
of CWD, to function as a nutrient and essential element storehouse, go unobserved in this
“Burn and Clearcut Project”? Technical reports clearly point out that the long-term
continuity of decaying trees, are structural components of forests. CWD are reservoirs
for nutrients as well as essential elements for long periods of time. CWD provides a
source of energy and essential element flow. Timber harvest and salvage after
disturbances reduces pool of stable nutrients and essential elements. Symplastless trees
are structural components of great importance for forest dynamics and forest biodiversity.
Many species of plants, fungi and animals are dependent on symplastless trees for
nutrients, essential elements, habitat or substrate and nesting. The benefits and their
persistence, in the cycling of essential elements and providing nutrients is a function
which contributes to system health and a obligatory function to operate at a high quality
state, i.e., operating about the means in which is was designed. Therefore the removal of
such materials that would provide a physical link – an essential element savings account
– through time and across successional stages is not indicative or technically published to
be, a treatment, which would protect or increase forest health. In all honestly, it will
reduce protection thus forest health as well.
.
4. Coarse Woody Debris – Reduction of Browsing of
Sensitive Plants
125. Preservation of a threatened or endangered species involves preservation of its
habitat and the diversity that habitat entails. When such becomes a goal of forest
management, managers need information not only on owls or small mammals, but also
on the mycorrhizal fungi that form the base of the food web. Removal of
ectomycorrhizal tree hosts removes the energy source of ectomycorrhizal fungi, which
will not fruit without their host plants (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar, 1994).
20
126. With respect to fallen trees. Furrows in the bark on the upper side fill with leaf
duff and provide sites for several years for seeds to germinate. Where the bark is intact,
seedlings generally die during summer drought. If a seedlings roots find a crack or hole
in the bark and grow into the decomposed layer between bark and wood, however, it may
find enough moisture to survive the summer (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg 25-par 3).
127. Some of the mycorrhizal fungi that inhibit both mineral soil and so called rotten
wood develop much more strongly in the wood than in the soil, and some appear to be
restricted to so called rotten wood (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg 29-par 1). Mycorrhizae
increase plant vitality and therefore such materials that strengthen the latter also increase
survival of a species.
128. Many insects and animals eat fungi and disperse the spores and probably occur
through all decay stages of a tree. The fungal grazers are food for predators, so the
animal-plant interactions are a prelude to animal-animal interactions (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, pg 29-par 2) (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
129. I have learned, the reasonability of the public and the USFS is to see these
organisms have a high quality life, i.e., the fauna and flora. The Eastside Project is
an example or better yet, proof - that the USFS is not capable of doing the job right.
130. Fungi feeders, E.g., In the Northwest - California red-backed voles to black
tailed deer, may obtain some of their protein nitrogen from decaying trees by feeding on
fungal fruiting bodies, such as what some call truffles and mushrooms (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, pg 36-par 3).
131. Certainly our knowledge of biological processes and their interactions within
forest is incomplete, and we know too little about the cumulative effect of a wide range
of stresses on the ecosystem. But integrative research at the ecosystem level shows
clearly that the many processes operating within forest inter-connect in important ways.
Further, diversity of microscopic and macroscopic plant and animal species is a key
factor in maintaining these processes (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
132. Forests containing mature and maturing trees conserve essential elements,
whereas forests containing very young trees are susceptible to erosion and essential
element loss. Forests of the Coast Range interior valleys produce less wood than do those
on more moist sites nearer the ocean. And internally, the old managed forest is more
diverse than many young and mid-age forests. Old forests have deeper, multi layered
canopies, larger accumulations, of coarse woody debris (any symplastless standing or
fallen tree stem at least 4 inches in diameter at breast height (d.b.h.) on snags and at the
large end on fallen trees), and more "specialized plants and animals” than forests
containing young trees have (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
133. About 140 years are needed for essential elements to cycle in large, fallen trees
and more than 400 years for such trees to become incorporated into the forest floor; they
21
therefore interact with the plants and animals of the forest floor and soil over a long
period of forest and stand successional history (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin,
1988).
134. The manner, which a fallen tree comes to rest on the forest floor greatly,
influences subsequent diversity of both external and internal plant and animal habitats.
The decomposing fallen tree provides a changing spectrum of habitats over many
decades’ even centuries. It provides diversity within a given successional stage and
forms a physical-chemical link through the many successional stages of a forest (Maser,
Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
135. A fallen tree interacts with its environment through internal surface areas. A
newly fallen tree is not yet a habitat for plants or most animals. But once organisms gain
entrance to the interior they consume and break down wood cells and fibers. Larger
organisms – mites, collembolans, spiders, millipedes, centipedes, amphibians, and small
mammals must await the creation of internal spaces before they can enter. The flow of
plant and animal populations, air, water, and essential elements between a fallen tree and
its surroundings increases as decomposition continues (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and
Franklin, 1988). The point, if you please, is that when you remove the masses you
disrupt, deplete thus causing dysfunction (leading to Death by means of Killing) the
designed essential environmental health needs of plant, animal populations, air, water and
essential elements. Than man claims that the system is not returning to the conditions
prior logging (given many fancy names), then points the finger to deer claiming they are
responsible for the problem. The problem is that things big and small are leaving this
planet. As latter statements mention, much needed material for health is removed in
logging which would have benefited the deer and system. Why not call the forest a deer
system (heart – lungs – liver – kidneys – feet = parts of system) Man is the only known,
organism that makes decisions regarding trees out of the ignorance of tree biology
and than adds insult to injury.
136. Decaying, fallen trees contribute to long-term accumulation of soil organic
matter, partly because the carbon constituents of well-decayed wood are 80-90 percent
residual lignin and humus. Decaying wood in the soil and establishment of conifer
seedlings and mycorrhizal fungi on dry sites are positively correlated. Fallen trees also
create and maintain diversity in forest communities. Soil properties of pits and mounds
differ from those of surrounding soil; such chemical and topographic diversity in turn
affects forest regeneration processes. All this, especially large fallen trees that reside on
the forest floor for long periods, adds to spatial, chemical, and biotic diversity of
forest soils, and to the processes that maintain long-term forest productivity (Maser,
Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
137. Forest floor diversity is partly maintained by windthrown trees that create a pit-
and-mound topography as they are uprooted (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin,
1988). Coarse woody debris functions as seed beds or nurse logs for some trees species
and many species of bryophytes, fungi, and lichens, and some flowering plants (Table
22
7.6) (Samuelsson et al. 1994; D.F. Fraser, pers. comm., 1995; E.C. Lea, pers. comm.,
1995) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
138. ...dying and symplastless wood provides one of the two or three greatest
resources for animal species in a natural forest. ..if fallen timber and slightly decayed
trees are removed the whole system is gravely impoverished of perhaps more than a fifth
of its fauna (Maser and Trappe, 1984). ( The USFS calls removal (killing) -
“reforestation”).
139. Checklist of plants and animals – There are few checklists of either plants or
animals that inhabit fallen Douglas fir in Pacific Northwest. [Let alone in other areas
with other species in the USA – (Termed as profiles or unique features)]. No checklist
of the microorganisms in fallen trees of western old-growth forest is available [I know of
none in the east.]; the subject has hardly been studied. (Higher fungi have been cataloged
for many kinds of so-called rotten wood in Europe.) Lawton listed the mosses that occur
on so called rotten wood or stumps in the Pacific Northwest. Deyrup (1975, 1976) has
done a thorough job with insects and has identified about 300 species associated with
fallen Douglas fir. The only published checklist for vertebrates that use fallen trees is for
northeastern Oregon (Maser and others 1979 not listed in references here). (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, page 18-par 2)
140. NATIONAL WOOD FIBER NEEDS indicate substantial increases in
demand for wood fiber - based products. This demand has resulted in increased efforts to
remove all available fiber at harvesting sites. Intensive fiber removal or intense wildfire
potentially reduces the parent materials (duff and wood residues) available for the
production of organic reserves in forest soils. This reserve, primarily in the form of
humus, decayed wood, and charcoal, has been shown critical to the support of both
nonsymbiotic nitrogen fixing and ectomycorrhizal activities in forest soils of western
Montana. Harvest and fire-caused reductions of organic materials on and in
northern forest soils have been linked to reforestation problems (NOT DEER!). This
study was undertaken to provide a preliminary estimate of the impact of varying amounts
and kinds of soil organic matter on ectomycorrhizal development in mature western
Montana forests (Harvey, Jurgensen and Larsen, 1981). There is other data available
that shows where CWD increases, so called browsing problems decrease.
141. Conclusion: What purpose and need is there, that the capacity and ability,
of CWD, to reduce problems, which are blamed on animals such as deer, go unobserved
in this “Burn and Clearcut Project”? We know many animals such as deer and bear
use CWD for food supply. “Harvest and fire-caused reductions of organic materials
on and in northern forest soils have been linked to reforestation problems (Harvey,
Jurgensen and Larsen, 1981).
5. Coarse woody debris - Plant Bio-Diversity / Threatened and
Endangered Species
23
142. Much is repeated from (#4. Coarse Woody Debris – Reduction of Browsing
of Sensitive Plants).
143. What makes a healthy tree or plant? The availability in the proper
proportions of the right "STEW" - Space, Temperature, Elements and Water. And the
energy of the sun will be used optimally making a tree into the most efficient system on
earth. Everything is recycled.
144. Preservation of a threatened or endangered species involves preservation of
its habitat and the diversity that habitat entails. When such becomes a goal of forest
management, managers need information not only on owls or small mammals, but also
on the mycorrhizal fungi that form the base of the food web. Removal of
ectomycorrhizal tree hosts removes the energy source of ectomycorrhizal fungi, which
will not fruit without their host plants (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar, 1994).
145. With respect to fallen trees. Furrows in the bark on the upper side fill with
leaf duff and provide sites for several years for seeds to germinate. Where the bark is
intact, seedlings generally die during summer drought. If a seedlings roots find a crack or
hole in the bark and grow into the decomposed layer between bark and wood, however, it
may find enough moisture to survive the summer (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg 25-par
3).
146. Besides nitrogen, other essential elements such as Calcium, Magnesium,
Potassium, and Phosphorus and other essential elements play key roles in soil, plant and
tree health as well as the health of the other associated living organisms (Page-
Dumroese, Harvey, Jurgensen and Graham, 1991).
147. We know some, at least, plants are likely, obligate CWD user such as Red
Hackberry (Vaccinium parvifolium) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
148. Forest floor diversity is partly maintained by windthrown trees that create a
pit-and-mound topography as they are uprooted (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and
Franklin, 1988).
149. Decomposition of fallen trees releases essential elements for microbial and
plant growth (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
150. Woody duff, regardless of type or size, takes considerably longer to
decompose than needle and leaf duff do. Needles, leaves, and small twigs decompose
faster than larger woody material and essential elements are thereby recycled faster in the
forest floor. About 140 years are needed for essential elements to cycle in large, fallen
trees and more than 400 years for such trees to become incorporated into the forest floor;
they therefore interact with the plants and animals of the forest floor and soil over a long
period of forest and stand successional history (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin,
1988).
24
151. Certainly our knowledge of biological processes and their interactions
within forest is incomplete, and we know too little about the cumulative effect of a wide
range of stresses on the ecosystem. But integrative research at the ecosystem level shows
clearly that the many processes operating within forest inter-connect in important ways.
Further, diversity of microscopic and macroscopic plant and animal species is a key
factor in maintaining these processes (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
152. ...dying and symplastless wood provides one of the two or three greatest
resources for animal species in a natural forest. ..if fallen timber and slightly decayed
trees are removed the whole system is gravely impoverished of perhaps more than a fifth
of its fauna (Maser and Trappe, 1984). ( The USFS calls removal (killing) -
“reforestation”).
153. Fallen trees offer multitudes of both external and internal habitats that
change and yet persist through the decades. One needs an understanding of the
synergistic affects of constant small changes within a persistent large structure to
appreciate the dynamics of a fallen tree and its function in an ecosystem (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, pg 17-par 1).
154. Symplastless trees, especially with soil contact act as a storehouse for
moisture providing moisture for plants and animals during dry times such as summer, so
called, drought (Page-Dumroese, Harvey, Jurgensen and Graham, 1991).
155. During decomposition, logs and other forms of coarse woody debris (CWD)
reduce erosion, affect soil development, store essential elements, nutrients and water, are
a potentially large source of energy (nutrients) and essential elements, serve as a seed bed
for plants, and form an important habitat for fungi and arthropods (Kropp, 1982).
156. The flow of plant and animal populations, air, water, and essential elements
between a fallen tree and its surroundings increases as decomposition continues (Maser
and Trappe, 1984, pg 12).
157. Symplastless trees are structural components of great importance for forest
dynamics and forest biodiversity. The decomposition of trees provides an important link
in cycling of essential element in ecosystems (Kruys and Jonsson, 1999). In addition,
many species of plants, fungi, and animals are dependent on symplastless trees for
nutrients and essential elements, habitat or substrate and nesting (Kruys and Jonsson,
1999).
158. Fallen trees that are oriented along the contours of a slope seem to be used
more by vertebrates than are trees oriented across contours, especially on steep slopes.
Large, stable trees lying along contours help reduce erosion by forming "a barrier to
creeping and raveling soils. Soil, nutrients and essential elements deposited along the up
slope side of fallen trees reduce loss of nutrients and essential elements from the site.
Such spots are excellent for the establishment and growth of vegetation, including tree
25
seedlings. Vegetation becomes established on and helps stabilize this "new soil", and as
invertebrates and small vertebrates begin to burrow into the new soil, they not only
nutritionally enrich it with their feces and urine but also constantly mix it by their
burrowing activities (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg 4).
159. Plant-nutrient –essential element. The succession of plants on fallen trees is
mediated by changes in essential element availability and physical properties over time.
Three broad phases can be defined: initial, optimal, final. Early invaders prepare the tree
for later colonization by altering its physical and chemical properties during the initial
phase. The altered tree provides the best substrate for a wide array of organisms during
the optimal phase. Ultimately, the depletion of essential elements and physical
deterioration of the wood during the optimal phase diminish its value for many
organisms, so fewer species inhabit the final phase (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 25-par
5).
160. Large, fallen trees in various stages of decay contribute much-needed
diversity to terrestrial and aquatic habitats in western forests. When most biological
activity in soil is limited by low moisture availability in summer, the fallen tree-soil
interface offers a relatively cool, moist habitat for animals and a substrate for microbial
and root activity. Intensified utilization and management can deprive future forests of
large, fallen trees. The impact of this loss on habitat diversity and on long-term forest
productivity must be determined because management need sound information on which
to base resource management decisions (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
161. The interactions of fallen trees with soil are directly affected by steepness of
slope and ruggedness of terrain; a fallen tree on flat ground, for example, is much more
likely to contact the soil over its entire length than is one oriented either across or along
contours on steep or rough terrain. The proportion of a tree in contact with the soil affects
the water-holding capacity of the wood (Graham 1925). In our studies of fallen trees in
old-growth Douglas-fir forests, the moisture retention through the summer drought was
best in the side of trees in contact with the soil. The moisture-holding capacity of the
wood affects in turn its internal processes and therefore the succession of plants and
animals. In addition, the orientation of a fallen tree to aspect and compass direction and
the amount and duration of sunlight it receives, drastically affect its internal processes
and biotic community (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg 4).
162. It is in the class IV stage that the fallen tree presents the most diversified
habitat and hence supports the greatest array of inhabitants. The decayed heartwood (of
heartwood forming trees) is relatively stable, so plants that become established on it have
time to grow substantial root systems (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 17-par 3).
163. Fallen trees interact with essential element cycling processes in a forest
through such mechanisms as duff fall (freshly fallen or slightly decomposed plant
material from the canopy), throughfall (rain or dew that picks up elements as it falls
through the canopy), nitrogen fixation, and essential element uptake by plants associated
with the fallen trees (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
26
164. As a fallen tree decomposes, it creates a gradually changing myriad of
internal and external habitats. Plant and animal communities within a fallen tree are very
different from those outside, but both progress through a series of orderly changes. As a
fallen tree decomposes, its internal structure becomes simpler, whereas the structure of
the plant community surrounding the fallen tree becomes more complex (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, pg 36-par7).
165. External succession is related to the changes that take place in the plant
community surrounding a fallen tree. A fallen tree is a connector between the
successional stages of a community; it provides continuity of habitat from the previous
forest through subsequent successional stages. A large fallen tree therefore provides a
physical link – an essential element savings account – through time and across
successional stages. Because of its persistence, a fallen tree provides a long- term, stable
structure on which some animal (both invertebrate and vertebrate) populations appear to
depend on for survival (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 38-par 1).
166. Certainly our knowledge of biological processes and their interactions
within forest is incomplete, and we know too little about the cumulative effect of a wide
range of stresses on the ecosystem. But integrative research at the ecosystem level shows
clearly that the many processes operating within forest inter-connect in important ways.
Further, diversity of microscopic and macroscopic plant and animal species is a key
factor in maintaining these processes (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
167. The forest's character changes with succession. Net primary productivity is
greater in young forests than in old ones. Old forests conserve essential elements,
whereas very young forests are susceptible to erosion and essential element loss. Forests
of the Coast Range interior valleys produce less wood than do those on more moist sites
nearer the ocean. And internally, the old managed forest is more diverse than many
young and mid-age forests. Old forests have deeper, multi layered canopies, larger
accumulations, of coarse woody debris (any symplastless standing or fallen tree stem at
least 4 inches in diameter at breast height (d.b.h.) on snags and at the large end on fallen
trees), and more specialized plants and animals than so called young forests have (Maser,
Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
168. The manner, which a fallen tree comes to rest on the forest floor greatly,
influences subsequent diversity of both external and internal plant and animal habitats.
The decomposing fallen tree provides a changing spectrum of habitats over many
decades’ even centuries. It provides diversity within a given successional stage and
forms a physical-chemical link through the many successional stages of a forest (Maser,
Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
169. Decaying, fallen trees contribute to long-term accumulation of soil organic
matter, partly because the carbon constituents of well-decayed wood are 80-90 percent
residual lignin and humus. Decaying wood in the soil and establishment of conifer
seedlings and mycorrhizal fungi on dry sites are positively correlated. Fallen trees also
27
create and maintain diversity in forest communities. Soil properties of pits and mounds
differ from those of surrounding soil; such chemical and topographic diversity in turn
affects forest regeneration processes. All this, especially large fallen trees that reside on
the forest floor for long periods, adds to spatial, chemical, and biotic diversity of
forest soils, and to the processes that maintain long-term forest productivity (Maser,
Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
170. Logs also serve as sites for reproduction of tree species, especially western
hemlock. This is clearly an important function in natural stands since these seedlings and
saplings supply replacements as openings appear in the overstory canopy. In one old
growth stand at mid-elevation in the Cascade Range, over 64 percent of the western
hemlock and 4 percent of the Pacific silver fir reproduction was rooted in so called rotten
wood. The phenomenon of nurse logs is widespread in the forest types of the Pacific
North- west. Minore (1972) found that seedlings of both Sitka spruce and western
hemlock was more numerous and taller on so called rotten logs than on the adjacent
forest floor at Cascade Head Experimental Forest (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al.
others, 1981).
171. Coarse woody debris, functions as seed beds or nurse logs for some trees
species and many species of bryophytes, fungi, and lichens, and some flowering plants
(Table 7.6) (Samuelsson et al. 1994; D.F. Fraser, pers. comm., 1995; E.C. Lea, pers.
comm., 1995) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
172, In the Crowsnest Forest, 40-70% of natural seedlings were rooted in
decayed wood in old growth and 24% were rooted in decayed wood in cutblocks (S.
Berch, pers. comm., 1995). CWD may be important to the establishment of vascular
plants around wet sites such as ponds and bogs (Voller and Harrison, 1998) (Voller
and Harrison, 1998).
173. NOTE: Page 203 has a list of some vascular plants closely associated
with CWD in BC (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
174. We know other species are either associated with CWD or perhaps with the
fungi that use CWD as their parasitic intermediate, such as the gnome plant (Hypopitis
congestum), candystick (Allotropa virgata), and other ericaceous species. Ryan and
Fraser (1993) reported that cryptogam species richness in coastal Douglas-fir forests was
strongly influenced by available substrate. In forested sites, the presence and rock
substrates resulted in substantial increases in species richness. The review of Samuelsson
et al. (1994) states that distinct Succession of bryophyte and lichen communities occurs
as trees die, fall, and decay. In B.C., known decomposer macrofungi that are dependent
on CWD include 162 species of bracket or shelf fungi/ conks, 364 species of other
macrofungi, and some commercially harvested mushrooms, such as oyster mushrooms
(S. Berch, pers. comm., 1995). These communities play roles in the germination and
growth of other epiphytic and quasi-epiphytic communities. Climatic factors influence
epiphytic communities, with lichens dominating drier ecosystems and bryophytes
replacing them as conditions become wetter. The longevity of individual pieces is critical
28
to the persistence of many species with poor dispersal abilities. Dispersal in many species
is from one log to the next, so logs close to each other are required. Samuelsson et al.
(1994) note that large logs play a more important role than small logs in the ecology of
bryophytes and lichens. Large logs last longer, have greater surface area, and have
higher, steeper sides that prevent ground-dwelling species from invading. They may also
be important in providing a relatively duff-free substrate for the establishment of some
species of cryptogams (D.F. Fraser, pers. comm., 1995) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
175. Plant species diversity on river bars is related to the area, sediment, and
woody debris of river bars (Malanson and Butler 1990) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
176. In class IV element content of the fallen tree at this stage may exceed the
original content because minerals have been added by duff fall from the canopy and by
throughfall of rain, have been brought in by animals or have been translocated from
underlying soil by fungi or roots. Nitrogen may be added by similar means and by
biological fixation. These circumstances provide an excellent rooting medium for plants.
A great variety of fungi, both decomposers and symbionts, thrive in the complex of
niches within the fallen tree (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg 26-par 5, pg 27-par 1).
177. Checklist of plants and animals – There are few checklists of either plants or
animals that inhabit fallen Douglas fir in Pacific Northwest. [Let alone in other areas
with other species in the USA – (Termed as profiles or unique features)]. No checklist
of the microorganisms in fallen trees of western old-growth forest is available [I know of
none in the east.]; the subject has hardly been studied. (Higher fungi have been cataloged
for many kinds of so-called rotten wood in Europe.) Lawton listed the mosses that occur
on so called rotten wood or stumps in the Pacific Northwest. Deyrup (1975, 1976) has
done a thorough job with insects and has identified about 300 species associated with
fallen Douglas fir. The only published checklist for vertebrates that use fallen trees is for
northeastern Oregon (Maser and others 1979 not listed in references here). (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, page 18-par 2)
178. Conclusion: What purpose and need is there, that the capacity and ability,
of CWD, to enhance the health of threatened and endangered species go unobserved in
this “Burn and Clearcut Project”.
6. Coarse Woody Debris – Fungi Diversity – Mycorrhizae –
Bacteria / Endangered Species
179. Again, I mention many insects, fungi, bacteria, and other organisms are
thought to be harmful, yet very few of them are (SHIGO, 1999). The insects and
microorganisms have a job to do on earth. Many are "clean up" experts such as a fungus
that parasitizing another mushroom fruiting body of another fungus (SHIGO, 1999 -
Page 105 ). These organisms break down dead organisms to release or recycle elements
29
essential for new life. Some organisms attack others that no longer have a defense
system. A few attack living organisms that are healthy. In spite of abiotic destructive
forces and biotic agents such as insects, bacteria, and fungi, humans still rank as the
major destructive agent for trees in forests and cities. Ignorance of tree biology is a major
cause of this (SHIGO 1999). Less than 1% of the insects and fungi are harmful to
humans. Think about that when you use a product that kills everything (Shigo, 1999).
Bacteria are very small. They do big things (Shigo, 1999).
180. One great problem started with the false premise that wood was dead – this
is the foundation of the heart-rot concept. I have learned the heart-rot concept was the
foundation for labeling many fungi that were bonogens as pathogens.
181. People who think all fungi are bad should go without wine, cheese and
bread for starters (Shigo, 1999).
182. Some of the mycorrhizal fungi that inhibit both mineral soil and so called
rotten wood develop much more strongly in the wood than in the soil, and some appear to
be restricted to so called rotten wood (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg 29-par 1).
Mycorrhizae increase plant vitality and therefore such materials that strengthen the latter
also increase survival of a species.
183. Many insects and animals eat fungi and disperse the spores and probably
occur through all decay stages of a tree. The fungal grazers are food for predators, so the
animal-plant interactions are a prelude to animal-animal interactions (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, pg 29-par 2) (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
184. Debris has many functions ranging from soil protection to wildlife and
microbial habitat. The management of coarse woody debris is critical for maintaining
functioning ecosystems (Graham, Harvey, Jurgensen, Jain, Tonn and Page-
Dumroese, 1994).
185. Coarse woody debris management recommendations were developed by
using ectomycorrhizae as a bioindicator of healthy productive forest soils (Graham,
Harvey, Jurgensen, Jain, Tonn and Page-Dumroese, 1994). QUESTION – What
mycorrhizal research, was used to show, that thinning these areas and removing /
reducing, the present and future CWD, would bring about new healthy forest conditions
and enhance mycorrhizae?
186. In B.C. known decomposer macrofungi that are dependent on CWD include
162 species of bracket or shelf fungi/ conks, 364 species of other macrofungi, and some
commercially harvested mushrooms, such as oyster mushrooms (S. Berch, pers. comm.,
1995) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
30
187. Fallen trees harbor a myriad of organisms, from bacteria and actinomycetes
to higher fungi. Of these, only some of the fungi might be noticed by the causal observer
as mushrooms or bracket fungi. These structures, however, are merely the fruiting bodies
produced by mold colonies within the log. Many fungi fruit within the fallen tree, so they
are seen only when the tree is torn apart. Even when a fallen tree is torn apart, only a
fraction of the fungi present are noticed because the fruiting bodies of most appear only
for a small portion of the year. The smaller organisms, not visible to the unaided eye, are
still important components of the system (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 16-par 5).
188. Fungal diversity has usually been overlooked in considerations of the
management of forest. The more obvious plants and animals attract the attention of the
casual observer, but foresters and ecologists need to recognize that the health of the forest
depends on organisms and processes below ground (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar,
1994).
189. Forest floor diversity is partly maintained by windthrown trees that create a
pit-and-mound topography as they are uprooted (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and
Franklin, 1988).
190. Preservation of a threatened or endangered species involves preservation of
its habitat and the diversity that habitat entails. When such becomes a goal of forest
management, managers need information not only on owls or small mammals, but also
on the mycorrhizal fungi that form the base of the food web. Removal of
ectomycorrhizal tree hosts removes the energy source of ectomycorrhizal fungi, which
will not fruit without their host plants (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar, 1994).
191. Certainly our knowledge of biological processes and their interactions within
forest is incomplete, and we know too little about the cumulative effect of a wide range
of stresses on the ecosystem. But integrative research at the ecosystem level shows
clearly that the many processes operating within forest inter-connect in important ways.
Further, diversity of microscopic and macroscopic plant and animal species is a key
factor in maintaining these processes (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
192. Woody duff, regardless of type or size, takes considerably longer to
decompose than needle and leaf duff do. Needles, leaves, and small twigs decompose
faster than larger woody material and essential elements are thereby recycled faster in the
forest floor. About 140 years are needed for essential elements to cycle in large, fallen
trees and more than 400 years for such trees to become incorporated into the forest floor;
they therefore interact with the plants and animals of the forest floor and soil over a long
period of forest successional history (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
Which would mean, that over time the diverse amounts of gymnosperms and
angiosperms as CWD would support fungi of different species. Some are obligatory
for CWD of different types of wood. E.g., Ganoderma tsugae is obligatory for tsugae
31
snag or nurse log. Also this 400 years of contributing to fungi is a part of a system, made
up of multi- parts and processes that make healthy forest.
193. Decayed logs on the floor of a once fertile forest are a reservoir for nutrients
and well as essential elements. They also act as a storehouse for moisture providing
moisture for plants and animals during dry times such as summer, so called drought
(Page-Dumroese, Harvey, Jurgensen and Graham, 1991).
194. During decomposition, logs and other forms of coarse woody debris (CWD)
reduce erosion, affect soil development, store nutrients and water, are a potentially large
source of energy (nutrients) and essential elements, serve as a seed bed for plants, and
form an important habitat for fungi and arthropods (Kropp, 1982).
195. The flow of plant and animal populations, air, water, and essential elements
between a fallen tree and its surroundings increases as decomposition continues (Maser
and Trappe, 1984, pg 12).
196. Symplastless trees are structural components of great importance for forest
dynamics and forest biodiversity. The decomposition of trees provides an important link
in cycling of essential elements in ecosystems. In addition, many species of plants, fungi
and animals are dependent on symplastless trees for nutrients and essential elements,
habitat or substrate and nesting (Kruys and Jonsson, 1999).
197. Fallen trees that are oriented along the contours of a slope seem to be used
more by vertebrates than are trees oriented across contours, especially on steep slopes.
Large, stable trees lying along contours help reduce erosion by forming a barrier to
creeping and raveling soils. Soil, nutrients and essential elements deposited along the up
slope side of fallen trees reduce loss of nutrients and essential elements from the site.
Such spots are excellent for the establishment and growth of vegetation, including tree
seedlings. Vegetation becomes established on and helps stabilize this "new soil", and as
invertebrates and small vertebrates begin to burrow into the new soil, they not only
nutritionally enrich it with their feces and urine but also constantly mix it by their
burrowing activities (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg 4).
198. As a log decomposes, many organisms such as plant roots, mites,
collembolans, amphibians, and small mammals, must await the creations of the inner
space before they can enter. The flow of plant and animal populations, air, water and
essential elements between fallen tree and its surrounding increases as long as aging
process continues (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 12).
199. Plant-nutrient –essential element. The succession of plants on fallen trees is
mediated by changes in essential element availability and physical properties over time.
Three broad phases can be defined: initial, optimal, final. Early invaders prepare the tree
for later colonization by altering its physical and chemical properties during the initial
phase. The altered tree provides the best substrate for a wide array of organisms during
the optimal phase. Ultimately, the depletion of essential elements and physical
32
deterioration of the wood during the optimal phase diminish its value for many
organisms, so fewer species inhabit the final phase (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 25-par
5).
200. Studies show conifer logs, well rotted can be quite acid. Ectomycorrhizae
form with just a few fungi compared to adjacent less acid humus and soil (Trappe,
1977). Conifers include but not limited to, Eastern Hemlock and Eastern White
Pine.
201. Some of the trees we know to be ectomycorrhizae are Chestnut, Beech,
Birch, Hickory, Oak, Hemlock and White Pine. Ectomycorrhizae absorb moisture and
essential elements, and translocate them to their host plants, making ectomycorrhizae
essential for the development of such ecosystems (Harley and Smith 1983; Harvey and
others 1979; Harvey and others 1987; Marks and Kozlowski 1973; Maser 1990).
Therefore, we assume their presence and abundance to be a good indicator of a healthy,
functioning forest soil. Ectomycorrhizae have a strong positive relationship with soil
organic materials (Harvey and others 1981). Soil wood, humus, and the upper layers of
mineral soil that are rich in organic matter are the primary substrates for the development
of ectomycorrhizae. (Graham, Harvey, Jurgensen, Jain, Tonn and Page-Dumroese,
1994).
202. CWD affects temperature as well as moisture, which can have a benefit for
certain beneficial fungi (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar, 1994).
203. So called rotten wood served as mycorrhizal inoculum for containerized
western hemlock seedlings. So-called rotten wood from a clear-cutting was less effective
than that collected from a forest. (Kropp, 1982) NOTE – A clear cut where everything is
removed is NOT a FOREST!
204. NATIONAL WOOD FIBER NEEDS indicate substantial increases in
demand for wood fiber - based products. This demand has resulted in increased efforts to
remove all available fiber at harvesting sites. Intensive fiber removal or intense wildfire
potentially reduces the parent materials (duff and wood residues) available for the
production of organic reserves in forest soils. This reserve, primarily in the form of
humus, decayed wood, and charcoal, has been shown critical to the support of both
nonsymbiotic nitrogen fixing and ectomycorrhizal activities in forest soils of western
Montana. Harvest and fire-caused reductions of organic materials on and in
northern forest soils have been linked to reforestation problems. This study was
undertaken to provide a preliminary estimate of the impact of varying amounts and kinds
of soil organic matter on ectomycorrhizal development in mature western Montana
forests (Harvey, Jurgensen and Larsen, 1981).
205. Both season and site affect the relation between the number of active
ectomycorrhizae and soil organic matter in these ecosystems. In the dry season or on the
drier site, the high soil organic matter content yielded larger numbers of active
ectomycorrhizae than did the low organic matter conditions. Forest management
33
decisions with potential to disturb soils and reduce woody residues, particularly in dry
Northern Rocky Mountain habitat types, should take into consideration the importance of
soil organic reserves and their affects on ectomycorrhizae as a factor in forest soil quality.
A consistent effort should be made to retain a moderate quantity of large woody
materials. Preliminary estimates indicate that approximately 25-37 tons/hectare
(Harvey, Jurgensen and Larsen, 1981).
206. Abiotic forces as well as biotic agents play key roles in system health.
Fire, fungi and invertebrates are all heavily involved in the creation and decomposition .
Wind and fungi commonly function together to create CWD (Edmonds and Marra,
1999).
207. As fallen trees progresses from decay class I to class II, the scavengers are
replaced by competitors with the enzyme systems needed to decompose the more
complex compounds in wood. The fungi involved in this activity are often mutually
antagonistic, so that a given part of the tree may be occupied by only one fungus that
excludes others by physical or chemical means (Maser and Trappe, 1984). (We call
this altered area a niche)
208. Various mites, insects, slugs, and snails feed on higher plants that become
established on so called rotten wood. These plants also provide cover for animals, as do
the lichens, mosses, and liverworts that colonize fallen trees in decay class IV. Wood-
boring beetles, termites, and carpenter ants produce channels in heartwood (heartwood
forming trees) that provide passageways for roots. The fruiting bodies of the mycorrhizal
fungi, produced from energy supplied by the host plant, can also be a major source of
food for insects, arthropods, and small mammals such as the California red-backed vole
(Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 29-par 4).
209. Fallen trees harbor a myriad of organisms, from bacteria and actinomycetes
to higher fungi. Of these, only some of the fungi might be noticed by the causal observer
as mushrooms or bracket fungi. These structures, however, are merely the fruiting bodies
produced by mold colonies within the log. Many fungi fruit within the fallen tree, so they
are seen only when the tree is torn apart. Even when a fallen tree is torn apart, only a
fraction of the fungi present are noticed because the fruiting bodies of most appear only
for a small portion of the year. The smaller organisms, not visible to the unaided eye, are
still important components of the system (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg16-par 5).
210. Decayed heartwood (of heartwood forming trees) splits into chunks; roots
grow down the resulting cracks as well as along insect channels. Invertebrates – from
minute mites to centipedes, millipedes, slugs, and snails – find shelter in these openings
and passage along them. Vertebrates such as salamanders, shrews, shrew moles, and
voles, find cover under debris of sloughed bark and so called rotten wood alongside the
class IV tree; they also find the so called rotten wood on the underside of the tree
crumbly enough for digging tunnels or burrows. Fungi and other microorganisms abound
on the wood itself as well as on the new substrates offered by the feces of animals
(Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 17-par 4).
34
211. Ground contact by fallen trees creates opportunities for various interactions
with the biotic components of soil and duff. Fungi, for instance, translocate essential
elements within the soil- system, as both decomposers and root symbionts. Fungi also
immobilize translocated essential elements and thereby enrich the decomposing wood
substrates they inhabit. In addition, the colonization of decomposing fallen trees by
nitrogen-fixing bacteria permits additional nitrogen accretion within the decaying wood
(Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 19-par 3). (See my term organisms)
212. Colonization of decomposing wood by animals helps microbes to enter
interior surfaces of the wood and creates additional openings for entry of water and
essential elements; and penetration of the wood by roots of trees, such as western
hemlock, facilitates entry by mycorrhizal fungi (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
213. Fungi feeders, E.g., In the Northwest - California red-backed voles to black
tailed deer, may obtain some of their protein nitrogen from decaying trees by feeding on
fungal fruiting bodies, such as what some call truffles and mushrooms (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, pg 36-par3).
214. Logs may contribute significantly to reestablishment of animal populations
by providing pathways along which small mammals can venture into clearcuts and other
bare areas. This has relevance to the reestablishment of tree seedlings on bared areas
since survival and growth of new trees depend on development of appropriate
mycorrhizal associations. Surprisingly, fungal symbionts apparently disappear from
cutover areas shortly after their host trees are removed (Harvey et al. 1978a), and the sites
must be reinoculated with their spores. Many mycosymbionts have underground fruiting
bodies and completely depend on animals for dissemination of spores. Small mammals
are the vectors. They consume the fungus and carry spores to new areas, thereby
inoculating tree seedlings (Maser et al. 1978a, 1978b; Trappe and Maser 1978)
(Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al. others, 1981).
215. So called rotten wood is also critical as substrate for ectomycorrhizal
formation. In one forest which contained a coniferous stand of trees, over 95 percent of
all active mycorrhizae were in organic matter of which 21 percent were in decayed wood.
In another study in the northern Rocky Mountains, decayed wood in soil was important.
In moist, mesic, and arid habitat types (Harvey et al. 1979); it was the most frequent
substrate for active ectomycorrhizae on the dry site, probably because of high moisture
levels in the wood. Mycorrhizal fungi can colonize logs. presumably using them as
sources of water, essential elements and nutrients. (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al.
others, 1981).
216. The mycorrhizal relationships may be important factors in establishment of
seedlings on nurse logs; they are also important to mature trees. Just as quality and
special properties of wood products vary by tree species. The natural ecological
characteristics of logs also vary by species (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al. others,
1981).
35
217. Sound CWD provides secure travel corridors for small mammals (Maser
et al. 1979; Maser and Trappe 1984; Carter 1993), and provides subnivean habitat
during winter. The value of this habitat is positively correlated with piece size (Maser
and Trappe 1984; Hayes and Cross 1987; Carter 1993). Nordyke and Buskirk (1991)
found that southern red-backed vole abundance was positively correlated with the
decay stage of logs in the central Rocky Mountains. Maser and Trappe ,1984) and
Rhoades (1986) reported associations of small mammals with CWD because of the food
source provided by the fungal fruiting bodies growing in and on the CWD (Voller and
Harrison, 1998).
218. Coarse woody debris functions as seed beds or nurse logs for some trees
species and many species of bryophytes, fungi, and lichens, and some flowering plants
(Table 7.6) (Samuelsson et al. 1994; D.F. Fraser, pers. comm., 1995; E.C. Lea, pers.
comm., 1995) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
219. We know other species are either associated with CWD or perhaps with the
fungi that use CWD as their parasitic intermediate, such as the gnome plant (Hypopitis
congestum), candystick (Allotropa virgata), and other ericaceous species. Ryan and
Fraser (1993) reported that cryptogam species richness in coastal Douglas-fir forests was
strongly influenced by available substrate. In forested sites, the presence and rock
substrates resulted in substantial increases in species richness. The review of Samuelsson
et al. (1994) states that distinct Succession of bryophyte and lichen communities occurs
as trees die, fall, and decay. In B.C., known decomposer macrofungi that are dependent
on CWD include 162 species of bracket or shelf fungi/ conks, 364 species of other
macrofungi, and some commercially harvested mushrooms, such as oyster mushrooms
(S. Berch, pers. comm., 1995). These communities play roles in the germination and
growth of other epiphytic and quasi-epiphytic communities. Climatic factors influence
epiphytic communities, with lichens dominating drier ecosystems and bryophytes
replacing them as conditions become wetter. The longevity of individual pieces is critical
to the persistence of many species with poor dispersal abilities. Dispersal in many species
is from one log to the next, so logs close to each other are required. Samuelsson et al.
(1994) note that large logs play a more important role than small logs in the ecology of
bryophytes and lichens. Large logs last longer, have greater surface area, and have
higher, steeper sides that prevent ground-dwelling species from invading. They may also
be important in providing a relatively duff-free substrate for the establishment of some
species of cryptogams (D.F. Fraser, pers. comm., 1995) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
220. Symplastless wood facilitates a slow release of essential elements,
ameliorates leaching, and provides a growing substrate for bryophytes. These buffer
water and essential element release from duff and aboveground processes, especially
processes such as nitrogen fixation in aboveground plants such as hepatics (Harmon et al.
1986; FEMAT 1993; Samuelsson et al. 1994) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
221. Bacteria are very small. They do big things (SHIGO, 1999)
36
222. Free-living bacteria in woody residues and soil wood fix 30-60% of the
nitrogen in the forest soil. In addition, 20% of soil nitrogen is stored in these components
(Harvey et al. 1987). Harmon et al. (1986) reported that CWD accounted for as much as
45% of aboveground stores of organic matter. Symplastless wood in terrestrial
ecosystems is a primary location for fungal colonization and often acts as refugia for
mycorrhizal fungi during ecosystem disturbance (Triska and Cromack 1979; Harmon et
al. 1986; Caza 1993) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
223. Colonization of symplastless wood by fungi and microbes may be one of the
most important stages in essential element cycling (Caza 1993); however, these processes
are still relatively poorly understood. Soil wood contains a disproportionate amount of
the coniferous non-woody roots or ectomycorrhizae in forests (Harvey et al. 1987). As
one of the dominant sources of organic matter, symplastless wood is an important
determinant in soil formation and composition (Caza 1993) (Voller and Harrison, 1998)
224. Few studies have examined processes, other than nitrogen fixation, that are
responsible for net changes in essential element content of coarse woody debris. It is
tempting to assume that the processes are the same as in fine duff, but recent research
being conducted at Andrews indicates some differences. For example, during the early
stages of log decomposition, fungal sporocarps transfer nutrients to the forest floor. Thus,
in fine duff, fungi immobilize nitrogen, but in coarse woody debris they actively transfer
it to the soil. Another important consideration in understanding nutrient release from
coarse woody debris is that tree boles are composed of several distinct substrates. While
wood may be slowly releasing nutrients, other parts such as the inner bark (phloem)
decompose and release nutrients at rates similar to those of leaf duff. Hence an overall
pattern of release from symplastless trees may be a rapid loss of 10-20% of the nutrients
followed by an extended slower release of nutrients. Finally, the role of fragmentation in
transferring nutrients to fine duff in the later stages of woody debris decomposition is not
revealed by patterns of net accumulation. The omission of transfers via fragmentation
from previous calculations suggests (Harmon and Hua, 1991). (NOTE: it may be
specifically unclear whether the paper is referring to of essential elements or a true
nutrient. Both exist, and are essential for system health.)
225. Checklist of plants and animals – There are few checklists of either plants or
animals that inhabit fallen Douglas fir in Pacific Northwest. [Let alone in other areas
with other species in the USA – (Termed as profiles or unique features)]. No checklist
of the microorganisms in fallen trees of western old-growth forest is available [I know of
none in the east.]; the subject has hardly been studied. (Higher fungi have been cataloged
for many kinds of so-called rotten wood in Europe.) Lawton listed the mosses that occur
on so called rotten wood or stumps in the Pacific Northwest. Deyrup (1975, 1976) has
done a thorough job with insects and has identified about 300 species associated with
fallen Douglas fir. The only published checklist for vertebrates that use fallen trees is for
northeastern Oregon (Maser and others 1979 not listed in references here). (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, page 18-par 2)
37
226. Conclusion: What purpose and need is there, that the capacity and ability,
of CWD, to be a major habitat, substrate and in some cases niche for fungi and play a key
role in fungi diversity go unobserved in this “Burn and Clearcut Project”? What
purpose and need is there, that the capacity and ability, of CWD, to play key roles with
respect to beneficial bacteria go unobserved in this “Burn and Clearcut Project”?
7. Coarse woody Debris – Animals / Endangered Species
227. The question is this - Looked for shrews – “specifically where” “how”
“when” “how many times”?
228. Symplastless trees, especially with soil contact act as a storehouse for
moisture providing moisture for plants and animals during dry times such as summer so
called drought (Page-Dumroese, Harvey, Jurgensen and Graham, 1991).
229. Preservation of a threatened or endangered species involves preservation of
its habitat and the diversity that habitat entails. When such becomes a goal of forest
management, managers need information not only on owls or small mammals, but also
on the mycorrhizal fungi that form the base of the food web. Removal of
ectomycorrhizal tree hosts removes the energy source of ectomycorrhizal fungi, which
will not fruit without their host plants (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar, 1994).
230. Many insects and animals eat fungi and disperse the spores and probably
occur through all decay stages of a tree. The fungal grazers are food for predators, so the
animal-plant interactions are a prelude to animal-animal interactions (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, pg 29-par 2) (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
231. ...dying and symplastless wood provides one of the two or three greatest
resources for animal species in a natural forest. ..if fallen timber and slightly decayed
trees are removed the whole system is gravely impoverished of perhaps more than a fifth
of its fauna (Maser and Trappe, 1984). ( The USFS calls removal (killing) -
“reforestation”).
232. Certainly our knowledge of biological processes and their interactions
within forest is incomplete, and we know too little about the cumulative effect of a wide
range of stresses on the ecosystem. But integrative research at the ecosystem level shows
clearly that the many processes operating within forest inter-connect in important ways.
Further, diversity of microscopic and macroscopic plant and animal species is a key
factor in maintaining these processes (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
Maser et al. (1979) reported that 178 vertebrates use logs in the Blue Mountains 14
amphibians and reptiles, 115 birds, and 49 mammals; they tabulated use by log decay
classes for each species. Logs are considered important in early successional stages as
well as in old- growth forests. The persistence of large logs has special importance in
providing wildlife with habitat continuity over long periods and through major
disturbances (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al. others, 1981).
38
233. Logs become habitat for a variety of invertebrate species shortly after
falling. CWD is used by invertebrates as a source of food, for nesting and brooding sites,
for protection from predators and Environmental extremes, as a source of construction
material, and as overwintering and hibernating sites (Samuelsson et al. 1994) (Voller and
Harrison, 1998).
234. Debris has many functions ranging from soil protection to wildlife and
microbial habitat. The management of coarse woody debris is critical for maintaining
functioning ecosystems (Graham, Harvey, Jurgensen, Jain, Tonn and Page-
Dumroese, 1994).
235. Coarse woody debris plays numerous roles in providing habitat for
organisms in ecosystems (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
236. Many invertebrates use or require particular species, and different
communities of invertebrates occupy and use different decay stages (Harmon al. 1986;
Samuelsson et al. 1994) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
237. Insectivorous species such as woodpeckers, small mammals and bears
forage on insects dwelling in CWD (Maser et al. 1979; Maser and Trappe 1984;
Samuelsson et al. 1994) (Tables 7.3 Id 7.4). Coarse woody debris has been found to
provide thermal and security cover for a variety of small mammals in British Columbia
(Voller and Harrison, 1998).
238. Forest floor diversity is partly maintained by windthrown trees that create a
pit-and-mound topography as they are uprooted (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and
Franklin, 1988).
239. About 140 years are needed for essential elements to cycle in large, fallen
trees and more than 400 years for such trees to become incorporated into the forest floor;
they therefore interact with the plants and animals of the forest floor and soil over a long
period of forest and plant successional history (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin,
1988).
240. Symplastless trees are structural components of great importance for forest
dynamics and forest biodiversity. The decomposition of trees provides an important link
in cycling of nutrients and essential elements in ecosystems. In addition, many species of
plants, fungi, and animals are dependent on symplastless trees for nutrients, essential
elements, habitat or substrate and nesting (Kruys and Jonsson, 1999).
241. Fallen trees that are oriented along the contours of a slope seem to be used
more by vertebrates than are trees oriented across contours, especially on steep slopes.
Large, stable trees lying along contours help reduce erosion by forming "a barrier to
creeping and raveling soils.” Soil, nutrients and essential elements deposited along the
up slope side of fallen trees reduce loss of nutrients and essential elements from the site.
39
Such spots are excellent for the establishment and growth of vegetation, including tree
seedlings. Vegetation becomes established on and helps stabilize this "new soil", and as
invertebrates and small vertebrates begin to burrow into the new soil, they not only
nutritionally enrich it with their feces and urine but also constantly mix it by their
burrowing activities (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg 4).
242. As a log decomposes, many organisms such as plant roots, mites,
collembolans, amphibians, and small mammals, must await the creations of the inner
space before they can enter. The flow of plant and animal populations, air, water, and
nutrients as well as essential elements between fallen tree and its surrounding increases as
long as aging process continues (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 12).
243. The logs being removed would otherwise serve a key role as erosion control
and animal activity (Page-Dumroese, Harvey, Jurgensen and Graham, 1991).
244. Besides nitrogen, Calcium , Magnesium , Potassium, Phosphorus and other
essential elements play key roles in soil, plant and tree health as well as the health of the
other associated living organisms (Page-Dumroese, Harvey, Jurgensen and Graham,
1991).
245. The interactions of fallen trees with soil are directly affected by steepness of
slope and ruggedness of terrain; a fallen tree on flat ground, for example, is much more
likely to contact the soil over its entire length than is one oriented either across or along
contours on steep or rough terrain. The proportion of a tree in contact with the soil affects
the water-holding capacity of the wood (Graham 1925). In our studies of fallen trees in
old-growth Douglas-fir forests, the moisture retention through the summer drought was
best in the side of trees in contact with the soil. The moisture-holding capacity of the
wood affects in turn its internal processes and therefore the succession of plants and
animals. In addition, the orientation of a fallen tree to aspect and compass direction and
the amount and duration of sunlight it receives, drastically affect its internal processes
and biotic community (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg 4).
246. Various mites, insects, slugs, and snails feed on higher plants that become
established on so called rotten wood. These plants also provide cover for animals, as do
the lichens, mosses, and liverworts that colonize fallen trees in decay class IV. Wood-
boring beetles, termites, and carpenter ants produce channels in heartwood (heartwood
forming trees) that provide passageways for roots. The fruiting bodies of the mycorrhizal
fungi, produced from energy supplied by the host plant, can also be a major source of
food for insects, arthropods, and small mammals such as the California red-backed vole
(Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 29-par 4).
247. As the bark becomes loose on a late class II fallen tree, lungless
salamanders (Family Plethodontidae) join the internal community. Three species of
salamanders are associated, as predators. with rotten 'wood in western Oregon: Oregon
slender salamander, Oregon salamander, and clouded salamander (Maser and Trappe,
1984).
40
248. Decayed heartwood, i.e., of heartwood forming tree species, splits into
chunks; roots grow down the resulting cracks as well as along insect channels.
Invertebrates – from minute mites to centipedes, millipedes, slugs, and snails – find
shelter in these openings and passage along them. Vertebrates such as salamanders,
shrews, shrew moles, and voles, find cover under debris of sloughed bark and so called
rotten wood alongside the class IV tree; they also find the so called rotten wood on the
underside of the tree crumbly enough for digging tunnels or burrows. Fungi and other
microorganisms abound on the wood itself as well as on the new substrates offered by the
feces of animals (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 17-par 4).
249. Colonization of decomposing wood by animals helps microbes to enter
interior surfaces of the wood and creates additional openings for entry of water and
essential elements; and penetration of the wood by roots of trees, such as western
hemlock, facilitates entry by mycorrhizal fungi (Which is the base of the food web)
(Maser and Trappe, 1984).
250. One salamander, the clouded salamander, frequents so-called rotten
wood, particularly Douglas fir in late classes II through IV. These salamanders are often
found under the loose bark of large fallen trees in spaces excavated by, wood - eating
insects. In fact, young clouded salamanders show a striking affinity for bark (McKenzie
and Storm 1970). It has been found twenty feet up in standing trees (Maser and Trappe,
1984).
251. The final level of predation within large so called rotten, fallen Douglas Firs
in class III through V is probably that of small mammals, such as shrews and shrew
moles (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
252. Shrews are small, with short legs, tiny eyes, and long, pointed noses.
Although they cannot see well, their senses of touch, smell, and hearing are acute. The
common shrew in western Oregon Douglas-fir forests is the Trowbridge shrew. This
small, “nervous” mammal is abundant around fallen trees, particularly classes III and IV,
that are well settled on the forest floor and have been in place long enough to act as
shrew’s grocery. The Trowbridge shrew has the most catholic diet of western Oregon
shrews. It eats at least 47 types of food, the most important of which are centipedes,
spiders, internal organs of invertebrates (probably mostly beetles), slugs and snails. In
addition, it shows a definite affinity for fallen trees, as does some of its prey (Maser and
Trappe, 1984). The shrew-mole is ideally equipped to forage in and around fallen trees
because its nose is extremely sensitive to touch, it is much like a blindman’s cane. In
almost constant motion, it quickly identifies any object it contacts. Further, this mole’s
size, adaptions for digging, and Herculean strength make it an efficient, burrowing
predator within and beneath so called rotten wood (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
253. Fungi feeders, E.g., California red-backed voles to black tailed deer, may
obtain some of their protein nitrogen from decaying trees by feeding on fungal fruiting
bodies, such as what some call truffles and mushrooms (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg
36-par 3).
41
254. As a fallen tree decomposes, it creates a gradually changing myriad of
internal and external habitats. Plant and animal communities within a fallen tree are very
different from those outside, but both progress through a series of orderly changes. As a
fallen tree decomposes, its internal structure becomes simpler, whereas the structure of
the plant community surrounding the fallen tree becomes more complex (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, pg 36-par7).
255. The manner, which a fallen tree comes to rest on the forest floor greatly,
influences subsequent diversity of both external and internal plant and animal habitats.
The decomposing fallen tree provides a changing spectrum of habitats over many
decades’ even centuries. It provides diversity within a given successional stage and
forms a physical-chemical link through the many successional stages of a forest (Maser,
Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
256. A fallen tree interacts with its environment through internal surface areas. A
newly fallen tree is not yet a habitat for plants or most animals. But once organisms gain
entrance to the interior they consume and break down wood cells and fibers. Larger
organisms – mites, collembolans, spiders, millipedes, centipedes, amphibians, and small
mammals must await the creation of internal spaces before they can enter. The flow of
plant and animal populations, air, water, and essential elements between a fallen tree and
its surroundings increases as decomposition continues (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and
Franklin, 1988).
257. A fallen tree oriented along the contour of a slope. The upslope side is filled
with humus and inorganic material that allows invertebrates and small vertebrates to
tunnel alongside. The downslope side provides protective cover for larger vertebrates.
When under a closed canopy, such trees are also saturated with water and act as a
reservoir during the dry part of the year (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
258. Habitat Function. Logs provide essential habitat for a variety of
invertebrates and vertebrates. They are used as sites for lookouts, feeding and
reproduction, protection and cover, sources and storage of food, and bedding. The high
moisture content of logs makes them particularly important as habitat for amphibians
(Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al. others, 1981).
259. Logs may contribute significantly to reestablishment of animal populations
by providing pathways along which small mammals can venture into clearcuts and other
bare areas. This has relevance to the reestablishment of tree seedlings on bared areas
since survival and growth of new trees depend on development of appropriate
mycorrhizal associations. Surprisingly, fungal symbionts apparently disappear from
cutover areas shortly after their host trees are removed (Harvey et al. 1978a), and the sites
must be reinoculated with their spores. Many mycosymbionts have underground fruiting
bodies and completely depend on animals for dissemination of spores. Small mammals
are the vectors. They consume the fungus and carry spores to new areas, thereby
42
inoculating tree seedlings (Maser et al. 1978a, 1978b; Trappe and Maser 1978)
(Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al. others, 1981).
260. Sound CWD provides secure travel corridors for small mammals (Maser
et al. 1979; Maser and Trappe 1984; Carter 1993), and provides subnivean habitat
during winter. The value of this habitat is positively correlated with piece size (Maser
and Trappe 1984; Hayes and Cross 1987; Carter 1993). Nordyke and Buskirk (1991)
found that southern red-backed vole abundance was positively correlated with the
decay stage of logs in the central Rocky Mountains. Maser and Trappe, (1984) and
Rhoades, (1986) reported associations of small mammals with CWD because of the food
source provided by the fungal fruiting bodies growing in and on the CWD (Voller and
Harrison, 1998).
261. Gyug (1993) reported that fur-bearers (martens and weasels) used
clearcuts with logging debris more than those with no CWD; however, the level of use
was much less than that of the adjacent forest (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
262. The value of CWD to mustelids (particularly martens, weasels, and
fishers) is well documented (Baker 1992; Corn and Raphael 1992; Lofroth 1993; Buskirk
and Powell 1994; Buskirk and Ruggiero 1994; and others) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
263. Martens select habitats partly on the basis of thermal microhabitats
(Taylor 1993), such as those provided by CWD (Lofroth 1993; Buskirk and Powell 1994;
Buskirk and Ruggiero 1994). Corn and Raphael (1992) reported that martens selected
subnivean access points that had greater volumes of CWD, more layering of logs, more
sound and moderately decayed logs, and fewer highly decayed logs than random sites
(Voller and Harrison, 1998).
264. NOTE page 200 – 201 has charts on animals known now to be associated
with CWD (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
265. Aubry et al. (1988) found that some species of salamander were most
abundant around CWD. Dupuis (1993) concluded that salamander populations in
logged areas were limited by available moist microhabitats, primarily because of a
lack of large logs in intermediate and advanced stages of decay (Voller and
Harrison, 1998).
266. Salamanders use logs as reproduction sites, as foraging sites, and for cover,
and also lay their eggs in them (Table 7.5 pg202) (Samuelsson et al. 1994) (Voller and
Harrison, 1998).
267. Checklist of plants and animals – There are few checklists of either plants or
animals that inhabit fallen Douglas fir in Pacific Northwest. [Let alone in other areas
with other species in the USA – (Termed as profiles or unique features)]. No checklist
of the microorganisms in fallen trees of western old-growth forest is available [I know of
none in the east.]; the subject has hardly been studied. (Higher fungi have been cataloged
43
for many kinds of so-called rotten wood in Europe.) Lawton listed the mosses that occur
on so called rotten wood or stumps in the Pacific Northwest. Deyrup (1975, 1976) has
done a thorough job with insects and has identified about 300 species associated with
fallen Douglas fir. The only published checklist for vertebrates that use fallen trees is for
northeastern Oregon (Maser and others 1979 not listed in references here). (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, page 18-par 2)
268. Some of the mycorrhizal fungi that inhibit both mineral soil and so called
rotten wood develop much more strongly in the wood than in the soil, and some appear to
be restricted to so called rotten wood (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg 29-par 1).
Mycorrhizae increase plant vitality and therefore such materials that strengthen the latter
also increase survival of a species.
269. Conclusion: What purpose and need is there, that the capacity and ability,
of CWD, to function as habitat, foraging sites, protection, reproduction sites, moist
microhabitats, thermal microhabitats, secure travel corridors, lookouts, feeding site,
sources and storage of food, bedding over many decades even centuries and a physical-
chemical link through the many successional stages of a forest go unobserved in this
“Burn and Clearcut Project”?
8. Coarse Woody Debris – Temperature
270. What makes a healthy tree or plant? The availability in the proper
proportions of the right "STEW" - Space, Temperature, Elements and Water. And the
energy of the sun will be used optimally making a tree into the most efficient system on
earth. Everything is recycled. How about animals?
271. Sound CWD provides secure travel corridors for small mammals (Maser
et al. 1979; Maser and Trappe 1984; Carter 1993), and provides subnivean habitat
during winter. (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
273. Logs become habitat for a variety of invertebrate species shortly after
falling. CWD is used by invertebrates as a source of food, for nesting and brooding sites,
for protection from predators and Environmental extremes, as a source of construction
material, and as overwintering and hibernating sites (Samuelsson et al. 1994) (Voller
and Harrison, 1998).
274. CWD affects temperature as well as moisture, which can have a benefit for
certain beneficial fungi (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar, 1994).
275. As decay proceeds, a fallen tree begins to more closely be hugged by the
soil, it buffers it (the soil) against fluctuations in air temperature (Maser and Trappe,
1984, pg 13).
44
276. A fallen tree performs various ecological functions between the time it falls
and the time it is finally incorporated into the soil. If it lays up-and-down slope or falls
across other downed trees, most of its volume is initially suspended above the ground.
Such elevated relief adds complexity to the forest floor by creating cover and shade
(Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
277. Martens select habitats partly on the basis of thermal microhabitats
(Taylor 1993), such as those provided by CWD (Lofroth 1993; Buskirk and Powell 1994;
Buskirk and Ruggiero 1994) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
278. Symplastless wood provides physical structure to the ecosystem and fills
such roles as sediment storage (Wilford 1984), protecting the forest floor from mineral
soil erosion and mechanical disturbance during harvesting activities. It ameliorates the
affects of cold air drainage on plants, helps stabilize slopes and minimizes soil
erosion (Maser et al. 1988) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
279. Conclusion: What purpose and need is there, that the capacity and ability,
of CWD, to function as thermal microhabitats, cover, shade provider, subnivean habitat
during winter, protection provider as well as ameliorating the affects of cold air drainage
on plants and potential to buffer soil against fluctuations in air temperature go
unobserved in the “Burn and Clearcut Project”.
9. Coarse Woody Debris - Other Habitat and Potential Niches
280. The fasted way to destroy an organism is to destroy its niche – the place
where it lives and reproduces (A New Tree Biology Dictionary, Shigo).
281. Large fallen trees are a finite resource that creates a myriad of
changing habitats through time as they decompose and recycle into the forest soil
and new, living trees benefit. (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
282. Often, decay classifications, are based on the external characteristics of a
fallen tree and do not adequately convey the internal diversity of niches. We have found,
however, that internal development of niches relates reasonably well to decay class
(Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg 5).
283. We especially need to know more about the fallen tree – soil interface,
probably the single most important habitat and potential niche for the survival of
organisms in drastically altered systems (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
284. Recent and current research in Old-growth forest are revealing much about
the roles and qualities of fallen trees. Understanding this information may allow use of
45
fallen trees as sensitive barometers of “habitat health” of a system (Maser and Trappe,
1984).
285. Logs provide essential habitat for a variety of invertebrates and vertebrates.
They are used as sites for lookouts, feeding and reproduction, protection and cover,
sources and storage of food, and bedding. The high moisture content of logs makes them
particularly important as habitat for amphibians (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al.
others, 1981).
286. Fallen trees offer multitudes of both external and internal habitats that
change and yet persist through the decades. One needs an understanding of the
synergistic affects of constant small changes within a persistent large structure to
appreciate the dynamics of a fallen tree and its function in an ecosystem (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, pg 17-par 1).
287. Forest floor diversity is partly maintained by windthrown trees that create a
pit-and-mound topography as they are uprooted (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and
Franklin, 1988).
288. About 140 years are needed for essential elements to cycle in large, fallen
trees and more than 400 years for such trees to become incorporated into the forest floor;
they therefore interact with the plants and animals of the forest floor and soil over a long
period of forest and stand successional history (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin,
1988).
289. During decomposition, logs and other forms of coarse woody debris
(defined as wood pieces more than ten centimeters in diameter and more than one meter
in length) reduce erosion and affect soil development, store essential elements and water,
provide a source of energy and nutrient flow, serve as seedbeds, and provide habitat for
decomposers and heterotrophs (Harmon and Hua, 1991).
290. During decomposition, logs and other forms of coarse woody debris (CWD)
reduce erosion, affect soil development, store nutrients and water, are a potentially large
source of energy (nutrients) and essential elements, serve as a seed bed for plants, and
form an important habitat for fungi and arthropods (Kropp, 1982).
291. The flow of plant and animal populations, air, water, and essential elements
between a fallen tree and its surroundings increases as decomposition continues (Maser
and Trappe, 1984, pg 12).
292. Symplastless trees are structural components of great importance for forest
dynamics and forest biodiversity. The decomposition of trees provides an important link
in cycling of nutrients and essential elements in ecosystems. In addition, many species of
plants, fungi, and animals are dependent on symplastless trees for nutrients and essential
elements, habitat or substrate and nesting (Kruys and Jonsson, 1999).
46
293. Fallen trees that are oriented along the contours of a slope seem to be used
more by vertebrates than are trees oriented across contours, especially on steep slopes.
Large, stable trees lying along contours help reduce erosion by forming "a barrier to
creeping and raveling soils. Soil, nutrients and essential elements deposited along the up
slope side of fallen trees reduce loss of nutrients and essential elements from the site.
Such spots are excellent for the establishment and growth of vegetation, including tree
seedlings. Vegetation becomes established on and helps stabilize this "new soil", and as
invertebrates and small vertebrates begin to burrow into the new soil, they not only
nutritionally enrich it with their feces and urine but also constantly mix it by their
burrowing activities (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg 4).
294. As a log decomposes, many organisms such as plant roots, mites,
collembolans, amphibians, and small mammals, must await the creations of the inner
space before they can enter. The flow of plant and animal populations, air, water, and
nutrients as well as essential elements between fallen tree and its surrounding increases as
long as aging process continues (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 12).
295. The logs being removed would otherwise serve a key role as erosion control
and animal activity (Page-Dumroese, Harvey, Jurgensen and Graham, 1991).
296. Debris has many functions ranging from soil protection to wildlife and
microbial habitat. The management of coarse woody debris is critical for maintaining
functioning ecosystems (Graham, Harvey, Jurgensen, Jain, Tonn and Page-
Dumroese, 1994).
297. Preservation of a threatened or endangered species involves preservation of
its habitat and the diversity that habitat entails. When such becomes a goal of forest
management, managers need information not only on owls or small mammals, but also
on the mycorrhizal fungi that form the base of the food web. Removal of
ectomycorrhizal tree hosts removes the energy source of ectomycorrhizal fungi, which
will not fruit without their host plants (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar, 1994).
298. Large, fallen trees in various stages of decay contribute much-needed
diversity to terrestrial and aquatic habitats in western forests. When most biological
activity in soil is limited by low moisture availability in summer, the fallen tree-soil
interface offers a relatively cool, moist habitat for animals and a substrate for microbial
and root activity. Intensified utilization and management can deprive future forests of
large, fallen trees. The impact of this loss on habitat diversity and on long-term forest
productivity must be determined because management need sound information on which
to base resource management decisions (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
299. Every living conifer is composed of tissues that perform specific functions.
When a tree dies, the various tissues provide distinguishable substrates that provide
different niches (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg10).
47
300. As fallen trees progress from decay class I to class II, the scavengers are
replaced by competitors with the enzyme systems needed to decompose the more
complex compounds in wood. The fungi involved in this activity are often mutually
antagonistic, so that a given part of the tree may be occupied by only one fungus that
excludes others by physical or chemical means (Maser and Trappe, 1984). (We call
this altered area a niche)
301. As the fallen tree progresses through decay Classes II and III of
decomposition, slippage of the bark, and eventually decayed sapwood, removes a
favorable environment and the organisms within it from the top and sides of the tree; that
material, however, does not disappear. Most of it accumulates loosely alongside the log
to provide a new habitat favorable to many of the same organisms as before, plus larger
animals, such as slugs, snails, salamanders, and small mammals (Maser and Trappe,
1984, pg 29-par 3).
302. It is in the class IV stage that the fallen tree presents the most diversified
habitat and hence supports the greatest array of inhabitants. The decayed heartwood (of
heartwood forming trees) is relatively stable, so plants that become established on it have
time to grow substantial root systems (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 17-par 3).
303. As a fallen tree decomposes, it creates a gradually changing myriad of
internal and external habitats. Plant and animal communities within a fallen tree are very
different from those outside, but both progress through a series of orderly changes. As a
fallen tree decomposes, its internal structure becomes simpler, whereas the structure of
the plant community surrounding the fallen tree becomes more complex (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, pg 36-par7).
304. External succession is related to the changes that take place in the plant
community surrounding a fallen tree. A fallen tree is a connector between the
successional stages of a community; it provides continuity of habitat from the previous
forest through subsequent successional stages. A large fallen trees therefore provides a
physical link – an essential element savings account – through time and across
successional stages. Because of its persistence, a fallen tree provides a long- term, stable
structure on which some animal (both invertebrate and vertebrate) populations appear to
depend on for survival (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 38-par 1).
305. Machine entry on an area, which contains trees, reduces diversity because
heavy equipment fragments and scatters class IV and V so called rotten wood. (Sorry to
mention equipment) Habitat diversity declines to a fraction of what had been available,
probably fewer kinds of organisms can thrive. Further, because woody substrates serve
as long-term soil organic material and essential element reservoirs, increasingly intensive
timber management, coupled with shorter rotations, could significantly alter the role of
decaying wood in the essential element cycling processes (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg
48-par 1).
48
306. A fallen tree interacts with its environment through internal surface areas. A
newly fallen tree is not yet a habitat for plants or most animals. But once organisms gain
entrance to the interior they consume and break down wood cells and fibers. Larger
organisms – mites, collembolans, spiders, millipedes, centipedes, amphibians, and small
mammals must await the creation of internal spaces before they can enter. The flow of
plant and animal populations, air, water, and essential elements between a fallen tree and
its surroundings increases as decomposition continues (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and
Franklin, 1988).
307. Habitats, both external and internal, are influenced by tree size. An
uninterrupted supply of new, immature wood in young forests decomposes and recycles
essential elements and energy rapidly. Habitats provided by the death of the symplast of
young trees are short-lived and rapidly changing. (E.g., specifically speaking,
heartwood-forming trees lack chemical alterations required for production on heartwood).
In contrast, the less frequent, more irregular mortality of the symplast of large trees in old
forests is analogous to slow-release fertilization. The lasting quality of large fallen trees
creates stable habitats in which large woody debris accumulates. Scattered accumulations
of large woody debris are associated with openings in the forest canopy. Large fallen
trees in such an area often contact each other physically, creating external habitats of
intense biological activity (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
308. Decaying, fallen trees contribute to long-term accumulation of soil organic
matter, partly because the carbon constituents of well-decayed wood are 80-90 percent
residual lignin and humus. Decaying wood in the soil and establishment of conifer
seedlings and mycorrhizal fungi on dry sites are positively correlated. Fallen trees also
create and maintain diversity in forest communities. Soil properties of pits and mounds
differ from those of surrounding soil; such chemical and topographic diversity in turn
affects forest regeneration processes. All this, especially large fallen trees that reside on
the forest floor for long periods, adds to spatial, chemical, and biotic diversity of
forest soils, and to the processes that maintain long-term forest productivity (Maser,
Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
309. Maser et al. (1979) reported that 178 vertebrates use logs in the Blue
Mountains 14 amphibians and reptiles, 115 birds, and 49 mammals; they tabulated use by
log decay classes for each species. Logs are considered important in early successional
stages as well as in old- growth forests. The persistence of large logs has special
importance in providing wildlife with habitat continuity over long periods and through
major disturbances (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al. others, 1981).
310. So called rotten wood is also critical as substrate for ectomycorrhizal
formation. In one forest which contained coniferous trees, over 95 percent of all active
mycorrhizae were in organic matter of which 21 percent were in decayed wood. In
another study in the northern Rocky Mountains, decayed wood in soil was important. In
moist, mesic, and arid habitat types (Harvey et al. 1979); it was the most frequent
substrate for active ectomycorrhizae on the dry site, probably because of high moisture
levels in the wood. Mycorrhizal fungi can colonize logs, presumably using them as
49
sources of water, essential elements and nutrients. (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al.
others, 1981).
311. Coarse woody debris plays numerous key roles in providing habitat for
organisms in ecosystems (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
312. Many invertebrates use or require particular species, and different
communities of invertebrates occupy and use different decay stages (Harmon al. 1986;
Samuelsson et al. 1994) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
313. The manner, which a fallen tree comes to rest on the forest floor greatly,
influences subsequent diversity of both external and internal plant and animal habitats.
The decomposing fallen tree provides a changing spectrum of habitats over many
decades’ even centuries. It provides diversity within a given successional stage and
forms a physical-chemical link through the many successional stages of a forest (Maser,
Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
314. Checklist of plants and animals – There are few checklists of either plants or
animals that inhabit fallen Douglas fir in Pacific Northwest. [Let alone in other areas
with other species in the USA such as hickory – (Termed as profiles or unique
features of trees)]. No checklist of the microorganisms in fallen trees of western old-
growth forest is available [I know of none in the east.]; the subject has hardly been
studied. (Higher fungi have been cataloged for many kinds of so-called rotten wood in
Europe.) Lawton listed the mosses that occur on so called rotten wood or stumps in the
Pacific Northwest. Deyrup (1975, 1976) has done a thorough job with insects and has
identified about 300 species associated with fallen Douglas fir. The only published
checklist for vertebrates that use fallen trees is for northeastern Oregon (Maser and others
1979 not listed in references here). (Maser and Trappe, 1984, page 18-par 2)
315. Conclusion: Logging does not increase habitat. System health and habitat
interconnect. What purpose and need is there, that the capacity and ability, of CWD, to
function as habitat, go unobserved, in the “Burn and Clearcut Project”?
10. Coarse Woody Debris – Insects and Other Bonogens /
Endangered Species
316. Note : Also see (#6. Coarse Woody Debris – Fungi Diversity – Mycorrhizae
– Bacteria / Endangered Species”)
317. Many insects, fungi, bacteria, and other organisms are thought to be harmful,
yet very few of them are (SHIGO, 1999). The insects and microorganisms have a job to
do on earth. Many are "clean up" experts such as a fungus that parasitizing another
mushroom fruiting body of another fungus (SHIGO, 1999 - Page 105 ). These
50
organisms break down dead organisms to release or recycle elements essential for new
life. Some organisms attack others that no longer have a defense system. A few attack
living organisms that are healthy. In spite of abiotic destructive forces and biotic agents
such as insects, bacteria, and fungi, humans still rank as the major destructive agent for
trees in forests and cities. Ignorance of tree biology is a major cause of this (SHIGO
1999).
318. Something to consider. Certainly our knowledge of biological processes and
their interactions within forest is incomplete, and we know too little about the cumulative
effect of a wide range of stresses on the ecosystem. But integrative research at the
ecosystem level shows clearly that the many processes operating within forest inter-
connect in important ways. Further, diversity of microscopic and macroscopic plant and
animal species is a key factor in maintaining these processes (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe
and Franklin, 1988).
319. Insects connect. Bark Beetles are animal that connect the inside world with
the outside of a tree. E.g., The bark beetle (Scoltidae) (an animal) chews through the
bark and thus connects the outside world with the inside of the tree. As the beetle enters
and begins to use the tree, it not only introduces fungal spores but also initiates the
nutrient cycle with its first deposit of bodily, so-called, waste (bodily products) (Maser
and Trappe, 1984, pg 20-par 3)
320. Insectivorous species such as woodpeckers, small mammals and bears
forage on insects dwelling in CWD (Maser et al. 1979; Maser and Trappe 1984;
Samuelsson et al. 1994) (Tables 7.3 Id 7.4) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
321. Besides nitrogen, other essential elements such as Calcium, Magnesium ,
Potassium, and Phosphorus and other essential elements play key roles in soil, plant and
tree health as well as the health of the other associated living organisms (Page-
Dumroese, Harvey, Jurgensen and Graham, 1991). See: (3. Coarse woody debris –
Nutrients and Essential Elements)
322. Various mites, insects, slugs, and snails feed on higher plants that become
established on so called rotten wood. These plants also provide cover for animals, as do
the lichens, mosses, and liverworts that colonize fallen trees in decay class IV. Wood-
boring beetles, termites, and carpenter ants produce channels in heartwood (heartwood
forming trees) that provide passageways for roots. The fruiting bodies of the mycorrhizal
fungi, produced from energy supplied by the host plant, can also be a major source of
food for insects, arthropods, and small mammals such as the California red-backed vole
(Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 29-par 4).
323. Because of all of the internal activity, the longer a fallen tree rests on the
forest floor, the greater the development of its internal surface area. Most internal surface
area results from biological activity the cumulative affects of which not only increase
through time but also act synergistically – insect activity promotes decomposition
51
through microbial activity that encourages the establishment and rooting of plants
(Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 12).
324. Decayed heartwood (of heartwood forming trees) splits into chunks; roots
grow down the resulting cracks as well as along insect channels. Invertebrates – from
minute mites to centipedes, millipedes, slugs, and snails – find shelter in these openings
and passage along them. Vertebrates such as salamanders, shrews, shrew moles, and
voles, find cover under debris of sloughed bark and so called rotten wood alongside the
class IV tree; they also find the so called rotten wood on the underside of the tree
crumbly enough for digging tunnels or burrows. Fungi and other microorganisms abound
on the wood itself as well as on the new substrates offered by the feces of animals
(Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 17-par 4).
325. One salamander the clouded salamander frequents so called rotten wood,
particularly Douglas fir in late classes II through IV. These salamanders are often found
under the loose bark of large fallen trees in spaces excavated by, wood eating insects. In
fact, young clouded salamanders show a striking affinity for bark (McKenzie and Storm
1970). It has been found twenty feet up in standing trees (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
326. Internal succession is also influenced by temperature, moisture, and stage of
decay. A class I fallen tree, for example, has many readily available essential elements
that support opportunistic colonizers. As decay proceeds its moisture holding capacity
increase but essential elements become less available because either they have been used
or the remain locked in the more decay resistant compounds of the wood. Ultimately, the
rapidly growing opportunists are succeeded by organisms with more sophisticated
enzyme systems, and decay continues (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
327. The manner, which a fallen tree comes to rest on the forest floor greatly,
influences subsequent diversity of both external and internal plant and animal habitats.
The decomposing fallen tree provides a changing spectrum of habitats over many
decades’ even centuries. It provides diversity within a given successional stage and
forms a physical-chemical link through the many successional stages of a forest (Maser,
Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
328. A fallen tree interacts with its environment through internal surface areas. A
newly fallen tree is not yet a habitat for plants or most animals. But once organisms gain
entrance to the interior they consume and break down wood cells and fibers. Larger
organisms – mites, collembolans, spiders, millipedes, centipedes, amphibians, and small
mammals must await the creation of internal spaces before they can enter. The flow of
plant and animal populations, air, water and essential elements between a fallen tree and
its surroundings increases as decomposition continues (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and
Franklin, 1988).
329. Decaying, fallen trees contribute to long-term accumulation of soil organic
matter, partly because the carbon constituents of well-decayed wood are 80-90 percent
residual lignin and humus. Decaying wood in the soil and establishment of conifer
52
seedlings and mycorrhizal fungi on dry sites are positively correlated. Fallen trees also
create and maintain diversity in forest communities. Soil properties of pits and mounds
differ from those of surrounding soil; such chemical and topographic diversity in turn
affects forest regeneration processes. All this, especially large fallen trees that reside on
the forest floor for long periods, adds to spatial, chemical, and biotic diversity of
forest soils, and to the processes that maintain long-term forest productivity (Maser,
Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
330. As the fallen tree progresses through decay Classes II and III of
decomposition slippage of the bark, and eventually of decayed sapwood, removes that
favorable environment and the organisms within it from the top and sides of the tree; that
material, however, does not disappear. Most of it accumulates loosely alongside the log
to provide a new habitat favorable to many of the same organisms as before, plus larger
animals, such as slugs, snails, salamanders, and small mammals (Maser and Trappe,
1984, pg 29-par 3).
331. Conclusion: What purpose and need is there, that the capacity and ability,
of CWD, to function as an habitat for insects, thus a food source for insectivorous species
of animals such as woodpeckers, small mammals and bears go unobserved in the “Burn
and Clearcut Project”?
332. What purpose and need is there, that the capacity and ability, of CWD, to
function as a changing spectrum of habitats over many decades even centuries go
unobserved in the “Burn and Clearcut Project”?.
333. Checklist of plants and animals – There are few checklists of either plants or
animals that inhabit fallen Douglas fir in Pacific Northwest. [Let alone in other areas
with other species in the USA – (Termed as profiles or unique features)]. No checklist
of the microorganisms in fallen trees of western old-growth forest is available [I know of
none in the east.]; the subject has hardly been studied. (Higher fungi have been cataloged
for many kinds of so-called rotten wood in Europe.) Lawton listed the mosses that occur
on so called rotten wood or stumps in the Pacific Northwest. Deyrup (1975, 1976) has
done a thorough job with insects and has identified about 300 species associated with
fallen Douglas fir. The only published checklist for vertebrates that use fallen trees is for
northeastern Oregon (Maser and others 1979 not listed in references here) (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, page 18-par 2).
334. Many insects and animals eat fungi and disperse the spores and probably
occur through all decay stages of a tree. The fungal grazers are food for predators, so the
animal-plant interactions are a prelude to animal-animal interactions (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, pg 29-par 2) (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
335. What purpose and need is there, that the capacity and ability, of CWD, to
function as diversity within a given successional stage and form a physical-chemical link
through the many successional stages of a forest go unobserved in the “Burn and
Clearcut Project”?
53
11. Coarse Woody Debris – Humic Acids, Horizons, Buffers and
pH
336. What methods were used to determine soil health in these areas? In other
words, what were the bio-indicators used?
337. Forest managers need to know what actually happens in order to plan
harvests that will protect essential element and nutrient cycles and streams from low pH
precipitation (Hornbeck, 1992, page 151).
338. We especially need to know more about the fallen tree – soil interface,
probably the single most important habitat and potential niche for the survival of
organisms in drastically altered systems (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
339. Humus formation is important in regulating the incorporation of nitrogen
into humic materials. Because of its high cation exchange capacity and slow
decomposition, so called rotten wood can retain available mineral nitrogen from
throughfall and decomposition as well as organic nitrogen compounds mineralized within
the wood chemical matrix. Roots and mycorrhizae of plant species that colonize
decaying wood use its available nitrogen (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin,
1988).
340. The substrate of poorest quality is the decay-resisting outer bark, which is
low in moisture, carbohydrates, cellulose, and carbon to nitrogen (C:N) ratio but high in
lignin, taxifolin, total extractives, and density. (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg 11).
341. The long-term input by nitrogen fixation in decaying fallen trees and by
canopy inhabiting lichens maintains a positive balance of nitrogen in the ecosystem
(Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
342. Decaying wood has long-term potential for contributing nitrogen for tree
growth as residual lignin and humus are decomposed (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and
Franklin, 1988).
343. Woody duff, regardless of type or size, takes considerably longer to
decompose than needle and leaf duff do. Needles, leaves, and small twigs decompose
faster than larger woody material and essential elements are thereby recycled faster in the
forest floor. About 140 years are needed for essential elements to cycle in large, fallen
trees and more than 400 years for such trees to become incorporated into the forest floor;
they therefore interact with the plants and animals of the forest floor and soil over a long
period of forest and stand successional history (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin,
1988).
54
344. Lignin is important in later stages of decomposition because it affects the
proportions of different residues that may be incorporated into humic materials. Woody
duff components are generally higher in initial lignin than are nonwoody components
(table 2.13); high lignin content results in formation of large quantities of humus in latter
stages of decay (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
345. Studies show conifer logs, so called well rotted, can be quite acid.
Ectomycorrhizae form with just a few fungi compared to adjacent less acid humus and
soil (Trappe, 1977).
346. What is being removed would be termed “soil wood” in the future (Page-
Dumroese, Harvey, Jurgensen and Graham, 1991).
347. Coarse woody debris can be incorporated into the surface soil horizon as
freezing and thawing cycles move CWD into the soil. Additionally, CWD can be covered
as soil moves downhill. Depending on the forest type, large amounts can be left in the
form of decaying tree roots. All of these materials, in the advanced stages of decay, can
be active parts of the soil system as soil wood. (Carbon Based Cellulose) Because CWD
is an important component of a functioning ecosystem, a portion of this material must be
maintained. As the demand for forest products and the ability to utilize more fiber
increases, less material is being left after timber harvesting or after salvage operations.
These operations, in combination with past practices of slash disposal and site
preparation, have reduced organic material in the forest floor, making CWD management
critical (Harvey and others 1987). Consequently, recommendations for maintaining CWD
for different ecosystems and forest types are needed (Graham, Harvey, Jurgensen,
Jain, Tonn and Page-Dumroese, 1994).
348. Some examples of trees associated with ectomycorrhizae are - Chestnut,
Beech, Birch, Hickory, Oak, Hemlock and White Pine. Ectomycorrhizae absorb moisture
and essential elements, and translocate them to their host plants, making ectomycorrhizae
essential for the development of such ecosystems (Harley and Smith 1983; Harvey and
others 1979; Harvey and others 1987; Marks and Kozlowski 1973; Maser 1990).
Therefore, we assume their presence and abundance to be a good indicator of a healthy,
functioning forest soil. Ectomycorrhizae have a strong positive relationship with soil
organic materials (Harvey and others 1981). Soil wood, humus, and the upper layers of
mineral soil that are rich in organic matter are the primary substrates for the development
of ectomycorrhizae. (Graham, Harvey, Jurgensen, Jain, Tonn and Page-Dumroese,
1994).
349. NATIONAL WOOD FIBER NEEDS indicate substantial increases in
demand for wood fiber - based products. This demand has resulted in increased efforts to
remove all available fiber at harvesting sites. Intensive fiber removal or intense wildfire
potentially reduces the parent materials (duff and wood residues) available for the
production of organic reserves in forest soils. This reserve, primarily in the form of
humus, decayed wood, and charcoal, has been shown critical to the support of both
nonsymbiotic nitrogen fixing and ectomycorrhizal activities in forest soils of western
55
Montana. Harvest and fire-caused reductions of organic materials on and in
northern forest soils have been linked to reforestation problems. This study was
undertaken to provide a preliminary estimate of the impact of varying amounts and kinds
of soil organic matter on ectomycorrhizal development in mature western Montana
forests (Harvey, Jurgensen and Larsen, 1981).
350. Much of the heartwood will merge into the humus becoming incorporated
into the soil profile (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
351. As decay proceeds a fallen tree begins to more closely be hugged by the
soil, it buffers it (the soil) against fluctuations in air temperature (Maser and Trappe,
1984, pg 13).
352. Further, decomposing wood undergoes changes in other chemical
constituents and pH as well as physical structure. Very old, decayed wood can even
become somewhat humified and leave long lasting substrate resistant to further decay
(Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 16-par 4).
353. Decaying, fallen trees contribute to long-term accumulation of soil organic
matter, partly because the carbon constituents of well-decayed wood are 80-90 percent
residual lignin and humus. Decaying wood in the soil and establishment of conifer
seedlings and mycorrhizal fungi on dry sites are positively correlated. Fallen trees also
create and maintain diversity in forest communities. Soil properties of pits and mounds
differ from those of surrounding soil; such chemical and topographic diversity in turn
affects forest regeneration processes. All this, especially large fallen trees that reside on
the forest floor for long periods, add to spatial, chemical, and biotic diversity of forest
soils, and to the processes that maintain long-term forest productivity (Maser, Tarrant,
Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
354. A fallen tree oriented along the contour of a slope, has unique
characteristics. The upslope side is filled with humus and inorganic material that allows
invertebrates and small vertebrates to tunnel alongside. The downslope side provides
protective cover for larger vertebrates. When under a closed canopy, such trees are also
saturated with water and act as a reservoir during the dry part of the year (Maser,
Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
355. Logs also serve as sites for reproduction of tree species, especially western
hemlock. This is clearly an important function in natural stands since these seedlings and
saplings supply replacements as openings appear in the overstory canopy. In one old
growth stand at mid-elevation in the Cascade Range, over 64 percent of the western
hemlock and 4 percent of the Pacific silver fir reproduction was rooted in so called rotten
wood. The phenomenon of nurse logs is widespread in the forest types of the Pacific
Northwest. Minore (1972) found that seedlings of both Sitka spruce and western hemlock
was more numerous and taller on so called rotten logs than on the adjacent forest floor at
Cascade Head Experimental Forest (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al. others, 1981).
56
356. So called rotten wood is also critical as substrate for ectomycorrhizal
formation. In one forest which contained a coniferous stand of trees, over 95 percent of
all active mycorrhizae were in organic matter of which 21 percent were in decayed wood.
In another study in the northern Rocky Mountains, decayed wood in soil was important.
In moist, mesic, and arid habitat types (Harvey et al. 1979); it was the most frequent
substrate for active ectomycorrhizae on the dry site, probably because of high moisture
levels in the wood. Mycorrhizal fungi can colonize logs. presumably using them as
sources of water, essential elements and nutrients. (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al.
others, 1981).
357. Symplastless wood facilitates a slow release of essential elements,
ameliorates leaching, and provides a growing substrate for bryophytes. The latter buffer
water and essential element release from duff and aboveground processes, especially
processes such as nitrogen fixation in aboveground plants such as hepatics (Harmon et al.
1986; FEMAT 1993; Samuelsson et al. 1994) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
358. Colonization of symplastless wood by fungi and microbes may be one of
the most important stages in essential element cycling (Caza 1993); however, these
processes are still relatively poorly understood. Soil wood contains a disproportionate
amount of the coniferous non-woody roots or ectomycorrhizae in forests (Harvey et al.
1987). As one of the dominant sources of organic matter, symplastless wood is an
important determinant in soil formation and composition (Caza 1993) (Voller and
Harrison, 1998)
359. Conclusion: What purpose and need is there that humus, humic acids,
pH and the health of the soil – horizons with respect to forest (system) health, go
unobserved, has it is, in the “Burn and Clearcut Project”. Claims that system health
will increase by removing (killing) present and future CWD and its processes / functions,
are absurd. What are clearly shown are a purpose and a need to correct past false
promise-based treatments, which are still being used as a foundation for treatments
proposed and approved in the “Burn and Clearcut Project”. Sound science, with
respect to system health, needs to be considered in order to protect this once fertile forest;
i.e., including but not limited to – animals and plants as well as diverse fungi and their
connections and functions. We especially need to know more about the fallen tree and
soil interface, probably the single most important habitat and potential niche for the
survival of organisms in drastically altered systems. As the demand for forest products
and the ability to utilize more fiber increases, less material is being left after timber
harvesting or after salvage operations such as the “Burn and Clearcut Project”. These
operations, in combination with past practices of slash disposal and site preparation, have
reduced organic material in the forest floor, making CWD management critical for this
project. Consequently, no recommendations for maintaining CWD for this project area
have been considered, nor have bio-indicators been taken into consideration (that we
know of). Thus, a purpose and need exist, for such data, before such treatments be
considered. Ectomycorrhizae absorb moisture and essential elements and translocate
them to their host plants, making ectomycorrhizae essential for the development of such
ecosystems. Therefore, we interpret their presence and abundance to be a good indicator
57
of a healthy, functioning forest soil. Ectomycorrhizae have a strong positive relationship
with soil organic materials. Soil wood, humus, and the upper layers of mineral soil that
are rich in organic matter are the primary substrates for the development of
ectomycorrhizae.
This project as approved, demands efforts to remove all available fiber at
harvesting sites! We know intensive fiber removal reduces the parent materials (duff
and wood residues) available for the production of organic reserves in forest soils. This
reserve, primarily in the form of humus, decayed wood, and charcoal, has been shown
critical to the support of both nonsymbiotic nitrogen fixing and ectomycorrhizal activities
in forest soils of western Montana.
360. Harvest of organic materials on and in northern forest soils have been
linked to reforestation problems –not deer! This study was undertaken to provide a
preliminary estimate of the impact of varying amounts and kinds of soil organic matter on
ectomycorrhizal development in mature western Montana forests.
361. The substrate of poorest quality is the decay-resisting outer bark, which is
low in moisture, carbohydrates, cellulose, and carbon to nitrogen (C:N) ratio but high in
lignin, taxifolin, total extractives, and density. (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg11).
362. The whole-tree harvest resulted in a total production of about 30000 eq H+
ha-l due to biomass removal. In contrast, wet and dry deposition at rates measured in this
study could add more than 50000 eq H+ ha-l in the 65-year period before the next
harvest. Reducing the intensity of harvest may lessen long-term impacts of these sources
of H+ on acidification of soils and streams (Hornbeck, 1992, page 151).
363. Recent studies by Johnson et al. (1988) show that biomass removed during
whole-tree harvesting in the United States contains from 12-82 kmol ha-1 of base cations.
When combined with increased nitrification and leaching of cations that accompany
harvesting, there is potential for significant net increases in H+ on harvested sites. At the
same time, soil disturbances that accompany logging create fresh weathering surfaces and
a new environment that may favor increased consumption of H+ (Hornbeck, 1992, page
151).
364. A post-logging survey of soil disturbance showed that only 8% of the
surface area remained undisturbed, and that organic matter was displaced or mixed to the
extent that mineral soil was exposed on 18% of the harvested catchment (Hornbeck,
1992, page 153).
365. The soil data suggest that by year 2 after harvest, pH had increased by about
0.4 unit in the forest floor, and perhaps half that much in mineral soil horizons
(Hornbeck, 1992, page 153)
366. A concern is whether effects of harvest (both in terms of biomass removal
and increases in weathering and mineralization) and atmospheric deposition might
58
eventually reduce soil acid neutralizing capacity to the degree that soil solution and
surface waters become chronically acidified (Hornbeck, 1992, page 154).
12. Coarse Woody Debris –Soil Erosion, Soil Mixing and
Churning
367. We especially need to know more about the fallen tree – soil interface,
probably the single most important habitat and potential niche for the survival of
organisms in drastically altered systems (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
368. Fallen trees that are oriented along the contours of a slope seem to be used
more by vertebrates than are trees oriented across contours, especially on steep slopes.
Large, stable trees lying along contours help reduce erosion by forming "a barrier to
creeping and raveling soils (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg 4).
369. Woody duff, regardless of type or size, takes considerably longer to
decompose than needle and leaf duff do. Needles, leaves, and small twigs decompose
faster than larger woody material and essential elements are thereby recycled faster in the
forest floor. About 140 years are needed for essential elements to cycle in large, fallen
trees and more than 400 years for such trees to become incorporated into the forest floor;
they therefore interact with the plants and animals of the forest floor and soil over a long
period of forest and stand successional history (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin,
1988).
370. The logs being removed would otherwise serve a key role as erosion
control and animal activity (Page-Dumroese, Harvey, Jurgensen and Graham, 1991).
371. Debris has many functions ranging from soil protection to wildlife and
microbial habitat. The management of coarse woody debris is critical for maintaining
functioning ecosystems (Graham, Harvey, Jurgensen, Jain, Tonn and Page-
Dumroese, 1994).
372. Coarse woody debris can be incorporated into the surface soil horizon as
freezing and thawing cycles move CWD into the soil. Additionally, CWD can be covered
as soil moves downhill. Depending on the forest type, large amounts can be left in the
form of decaying tree woody roots. All of these materials, in the advanced stages of
decay, can be active parts of the soil system as soil wood (Carbon Based Cellulose).
Because CWD is an important component of a functioning ecosystem, a portion of this
material must be maintained. As the demand for forest products and the ability to utilize
more fiber increases, less material is being left after timber harvesting or after salvage
59
operations. These operations, in combination with past practices of slash disposal and site
preparation, have reduced organic material in the forest floor, making CWD management
critical (Harvey and others 1987). Consequently, recommendations for maintaining CWD
for different ecosystems and forest types are needed (Graham, Harvey, Jurgensen,
Jain, Tonn and Page-Dumroese, 1994).
373. Symplastless wood is also the dominant store of organic matter in stream
ecosystems (Harmon et al. 1986); as such, it is an important source of essential element
and organic matter input. Symplastless wood traps leaf and duff within aquatic systems,
which extends the length of time this material remains and provides essential elements
through decomposition (Triska and Cromack 1979; Harmon et al. 1986). Symplastless
wood provides physical structure to the ecosystem and fills such roles as sediment
storage (Wilford 1984), protecting the forest floor from mineral soil erosion and
mechanical disturbance during harvesting activities. It ameliorates the affects of cold
air drainage on plants, helps stabilize slopes, and minimizes soil erosion (Maser et
al. 1988). Symplastless wood provides elevated germination platforms with reduced duff
fall accumulation and relatively consistent moisture regimes (Harmon et al. 1986; Maser
et al. 1988; Caza 1993; D.F. Fraser, pers. comm., 1995). In stream ecosystems it protects
stream banks from erosion and maintains channel stability (Triska and Cromack 1979;
Sedell et al. 1988). Features that influence the ability of CWD to fulfill these functions
include size (length and diameter), whether roots are still attached, orientation, degree of
burial, and proportion of the piece that remains submerged (Sedell et al. 1988) (Voller
and Harrison, 1998).
374. Conclusion: What purpose and need is there, that the function of soil
protection and churning with respect to forest (system) health go unobserved has it is in
the “Burn and Clearcut Project”.
Claims that system health will increase by this product – processes – function being
removed, is absurd. What it clearly shows, is there is a purpose and a need to correct
past false promise based treatments, which are still being used as a foundation for
treatments proposed and approved in the “Burn and Clearcut Project”. Sound science,
with respect to system health needs to be considered in order to protect this once fertile
forest, i.e., including but not limited too – animals and plants as well as fungi diversity
and their connections and functions
What need and purpose is there to remove materials that would have functioned for
more than 200 years and when removed the system would have to recover and then
take at least 100 – 200 years to replace the mass which than would take 200 or more
years to function functions as CWD? That would only be true is the system was
growing back just the way it was before harvest. Data shows that it not.
375. Something to think about: By removing trees in the “Burn and Clearcut
Project” future uprooting and churning, will be severely reduced.
376. The uprooting of trees lifts and mixes soil of the once fertile forest, an
important ecological process. In some areas soil churning by the woody roots of wind
60
thrown trees retards development in the soil of impervious layers of mineral deposits,
known as iron pan. Without these processes, standing pools of water would eventually
produce swampy forest sites (Franklin, Shugart and Harmon, 1987, pg 551).
377. When it comes to ecological stages of trees and their importance with
respect to forest health, in scooping, the USFS replies we do not foster those ideas or
concepts here. Here being the timber sale project. What parts and processes of the
system do they foster?
13. Coarse Woody Debris – Present To Future Wood Quality
378. Just as quality and special properties of wood products vary by tree species.
the natural ecological characteristics of logs also vary by species (Franklin, Cromack,
Kermit, et al. others, 1981). So, monoculture and black cherry farming is very harmful.
379. Future forests will contain much less coarse woody debris (CWD), and that
debris will be smaller and of different quality than that seen today. We have the
technology to remove most coarse woody debris from the forest; in fact, current wood
utilization standards encourage such removal. .Moreover, converting natural forests to
intensively manipulated stands reduces tree life spans from centuries to decades; future
trees will be much smaller than they are today, and wood quality will undoubtedly be
different from that of today’s forest (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
380. The environment greatly affects the quality of the wood. Such as the sound
of a violin.
381. Decaying, fallen trees contribute to long-term accumulation of soil organic
matter, partly because the carbon constituents of well-decayed wood are 80-90 percent
residual lignin and humus. Decaying wood in the soil and establishment of conifer
seedlings and mycorrhizal fungi on dry sites are positively correlated. Fallen trees also
create and maintain diversity in forest communities. Soil properties of pits and mounds
differ from those of surrounding soil; such chemical and topographic diversity in turn
affects forest regeneration processes. All this, especially large fallen trees that reside on
the forest floor for long periods, adds to spatial, chemical, and biotic diversity of
forest soils, and to the processes that maintain long-term forest productivity (Maser,
Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
382. The mycorrhizal relationships may be important factors in establishment of
seedlings on nurse logs; they are also important to mature trees. Just as quality and
special properties of wood products vary by tree species. the natural ecological
characteristics of logs also vary by species (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al. others,
1981).
383. The mycorrhizal relationships may be important factors in establishment of
seedlings on nurse logs; they are also important to mature trees. Just as quality and
special properties of wood products vary by tree species. The natural ecological
61
characteristics of logs also vary by species (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al. others,
1981).
384. Conclusion: What purpose and need is there that the USFS does not
maintain a record of the different types of wood, which would represent the quality of
product in the “Burn and Clearcut Project”, E.g. Which species are heartwood
forming, false heartwood, no heartwood etc.?
385. These different qualities represent different forms of protection wood. Thus
the lumber degrade factors are preset when the product was a growing symplast
containing tree. I believe, I may be wrong, I have been wrong before, so this would just
be another one of those times I am wrong, but, is there not a legal responsibility, when
forest health is addressed, to provide high quality material or so called goods? And then I
wonder how can they determine this, without knowing the anatomy of the structures
harvested. Would you go to a doctor who flunked anatomy (Shigo, 1999)?
14. Coarse Woody Debris – Some Recommendations Made
386. Public perception as messy logging that wastes wood has influenced CWD
management. This has led to a policy of 'zero waste tolerance.' The importance of CWD
in stream ecosystems and the role of snags are more widely accepted. Management
requires increased understanding of its importance in the forest management arena, the
environmental community, and the general public (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
387. Future forests will contain much less coarse woody debris (CWD), and that
debris will be smaller and of different quality than that seen today. We have the
technology to remove most coarse woody debris from the forest; in fact, current wood
utilization standards encourage such removal. Moreover, converting natural forests to
intensively manipulated stands reduces tree life spans from centuries to decades; future
trees will be much smaller than they are today, and wood quality will undoubtedly be
different from that of today’s forest (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
388. Forest floor diversity is partly maintained by windthrown trees that create a
pit-and-mound topography as they are uprooted (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and
Franklin, 1988).
389. NOTE Class system chart is on Page 32 (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and
Franklin, 1988).
390. Certainly our knowledge of biological processes and their interactions
within forest is incomplete, and we know too little about the cumulative effect of a wide
range of stresses on the ecosystem. But integrative research at the ecosystem level shows
clearly that the many processes operating within forest inter-connect in important ways.
Further, diversity of microscopic and macroscopic plant and animal species is a key
factor in maintaining these processes (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
62
391. Forest managers need to know what actually happens in order to plan
harvests that will protect essential element and nutrient cycles and streams from low pH
precipitation (Hornbeck, 1992, page 151).
392. With the latter information known, we need to know more about the fallen
trees contribution to the forest as a whole and to the quality of the soil in particular
(Maser and Trappe, 1984).
393. Managers, of once fertile forest, need to know how the system will benefit
from fallen trees over the long run (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
394. The physical qualities of a fallen tree – moisture, temperature, essential
element content, and pH are likely to change markedly with so called but poorly defined
“stand removals, regeneration, reforestation and so called regrowth” (Maser and
Trappe, 1984). Note, especially when they are removed.
395. Recent and current research in Old-growth forest are revealing much about
the roles and qualities of fallen trees. Understanding this information may allow use of
fallen trees as sensitive barometers of “habitat health” of a system (Maser and Trappe,
1984).
396. Large, fallen trees are unique, critical, dynamic components of forests
(Maser and Trappe, 1984).
397. Up to a century ago western stream systems also characteristically
contained abundant pieces and aggregations of large, woody debris, but that debris has
been systematically removed to improve navigation, flood control, and drainage. We now
have the technological capability to remove more and more woody debris from the forest
floor. Conversion of forests from virgin to managed status reduces rotation ages from
centuries to decades with a consequent reduction in average size of trees and change in
wood quality (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
398. Coarse woody debris can be incorporated into the surface soil horizon as
freezing and thawing cycles move CWD into the soil. Additionally, CWD can be covered
as soil moves downhill. Depending on the forest type, large amounts can be left in the
form of decaying tree roots. All of these materials, in the advanced stages of decay, can
be active parts of the soil system as soil wood. (Carbon Based Cellulose) Because CWD
is an important component of a functioning ecosystem, a portion of this material must be
maintained. As the demand for forest products and the ability to utilize more fiber
increases, less material is being left after timber harvesting or after salvage operations.
These operations, in combination with past practices of slash disposal and site
preparation, have reduced organic material in the forest floor, making CWD management
critical (Harvey and others 1987). Consequently, recommendations for maintaining CWD
for different ecosystems and forest types are needed (Graham, Harvey, Jurgensen,
Jain, Tonn and Page-Dumroese, 1994).
63
399. Obviously, not all of the organic matter in the forest floor is derived from
CWD; some is derived from foliage, fine woody material, or other organic components.
Harmon and others (1986) summarized the few studies showing the contribution to the
forest floor and found it to range from 24 to 74 percent. Our past work showed that CWD
contributed up to 58 percent of the organic materials to the forest floor; in this study
CWD contributed up to 100 percent of the organic materials. Because of this variation,
the range of 25 to 50 percent seemed suitable and conservative for the sites we sampled
in the Rocky Mountains (Graham, Harvey, Jurgensen, Jain, Tonn and Page-
Dumroese, 1994). Question: What percentage of organic matter is added by CWD in
old growth areas in the ANF? What bio-indicator was used to determine the amount of
CWD needed for the functionality of the systems parts and processes with respect to
soil, fauna and flora survival?
400. Ectomycorrhizae absorb moisture and essential elements, and translocate
them to their host plants, making ectomycorrhizae essential for the development of such
ecosystems (Harley and Smith 1983; Harvey and others 1979; Harvey and others 1987;
Marks and Kozlowski 1973; Maser 1990). Therefore, we assume their presence and
abundance to be a good indicator of a healthy, functioning forest soil. Ectomycorrhizae
have a strong positive relationship with soil organic materials (Harvey and others 1981).
Soil wood, humus, and the upper layers of mineral soil that are rich in organic matter are
the primary substrates for the development of ectomycorrhizae. (Graham, Harvey,
Jurgensen, Jain, Tonn and Page-Dumroese, 1994).
401. Further more, woody debris is one of the slowest components of the
ecosystem to recover after disturbance. Therefore, short intervals between timber harvests
can reduce ecosystem carbon storage in coarse woody debris even when the living
portion of the ecosystem has recovered. Conversely, allowing debris to accumulate would
result in more carbon, being stored in the ecosystem than has been predicted by current
projections, which assume that a steady state is reached in less than 100 years (Harmon
and Hua, 1991).
402. Past efforts at estimating global detrital storage (including duff, coarse
woody debris, and soil organic matter) have assumed that only a small fraction of carbon
is stored in coarse woody debris. This assumption, at least for old-growth forests, is a
mistake. Given the tack of data on the mass of coarse woody debris in various biomes,
global carbon storage in woody debris cannot yet be directly estimated (Harmon and
Hua, 1991).
403. Studies of a forest containing Fagus – Betula in New England have 29%
of the total detritus in coarse woody debris. A forest containing trees of the Quercus
species has been noted to have 9%. More than half the total detritus (54%) at Andrews in
Coarse Woody Debris (Harmon and Hua, 1991).
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404. Models of forest recovery that exclude symplastless wood do not account
for the substantial amount of carbon that is being absorbed by recovering forest in the
later stages of succession. (Harmon and Hua, 1991).
405. Preservation of a threatened or endangered species involves preservation of
its habitat and the diversity that habitat entails. When such becomes a goal of forest
management, managers need information not only on owls or small mammals, but also
on the mycorrhizal fungi that form the base of the food web. Removal of
ectomycorrhizal tree hosts removes the energy source of ectomycorrhizal fungi, which
will not fruit without their host plants (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar, 1994).
406. Fungal diversity has usually been overlooked in considerations of the
management of forest. The more obvious plants and animals attract the attention of the
casual observer, but foresters and ecologists need to recognize that the health of the forest
depends on organisms and processes below ground (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar,
1994).
407. Data shows leaving materials behind with soil contact is what is needed
for once fertile forest health and not removal of such (Amaranthus, Trappe and
Bednar, 1994).
408. NATIONAL WOOD FIBER NEEDS indicate substantial increases in
demand for wood fiber - based products. This demand has resulted in increased efforts to
remove all available fiber at harvesting sites. Intensive fiber removal or intense wildfire
potentially reduces the parent materials (duff and wood residues) available for the
production of organic reserves in forest soils. This reserve, primarily in the form of
humus, decayed wood, and charcoal, has been shown critical to the support of both
nonsymbiotic nitrogen fixing and ectomycorrhizal activities in forest soils of western
Montana. Harvest and fire-caused reductions of organic materials on and in
northern forest soils have been linked to reforestation problems. This study was
undertaken to provide a preliminary estimate of the impact of varying amounts and kinds
of soil organic matter on ectomycorrhizal development in mature western Montana
forests (Harvey, Jurgensen and Larsen, 1981).
409. Both season and site affect the relation between the number of active
ectomycorrhizae and soil organic matter in these ecosystems. In the dry season or on the
drier site, the high soil organic matter content yielded larger numbers of active
ectomycorrhizae than did the low organic matter conditions. Forest management
decisions with potential to disturb soils and reduce woody residues, particularly in dry
Northern Rocky Mountain habitat types, should take into consideration the importance of
soil organic reserves and their affects on ectomycorrhizae as a factor in forest soil quality.
A consistent effort should be made to retain a moderate quantity of large woody
materials. Preliminary estimates indicate that approximately 25-37 tons/hectare
(Harvey, Jurgensen and Larsen, 1981).
65
410. Evidence that soil organic reserves, particularly wood, play important
roles in maintaining forest site quality emphasizes the need to properly manage woody
materials. Thus, the viewpoint that woody residue represents only waste or a fire hazard
must be reassessed. Forest users and managers must recognize the benefits, equivalent to
long-term fertilization, which woody and other organic reserves contribute to forest
ecosystems (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
411. Woody debris is generally removed from streams or forests in the name
of economic progress, but what are the short-term and long-term biological
consequences? (Maser and Trappe, 1984)
412. How is habitat diversity affected, and what is the impact on long-term site
productivity? (Maser and Trappe, 1984)
413. Forests of the future will have far less woody material contributed to the
forest floor than forests of the past, and that material will differ in size and quality from
the woody debris that has been historically prominent in forest habitats (Maser and
Trappe, 1984).
414. Large, fallen trees in various stages of decay contribute much-needed
diversity to terrestrial and aquatic habitats in western forests. When most biological
activity in soil is limited by low moisture availability in summer, the fallen tree-soil
interface offers a relatively cool, moist habitat for animals and a substrate for microbial
and root activity. Intensified utilization and management can deprive future forests of
large, fallen trees. The impact of this loss on habitat diversity and on long-term forest
productivity must be determined because management need sound information on which
to base resource management decisions (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
415. Decaying trees comprise considerable accumulations of mass, nutrients
and elements in unmanaged, old growth forest. Some of the largest accumulations occur
in the unmanaged forest of the Pacific Northwest. Coarse woody debris can range from
130 to 276 tons per acre in stands from 100 to more than 1,000 years old. Although here
we are concerned with Douglas fir, neither decaying wood nor research data are unique
to forests of the Pacific Northwest. McFee and Stone ( 1966) Observed that decaying
wood persisted for more than 100 years in New York and others pointed out that
substantial accumulations in old-growth forest in Poland. These observations evidence
the long-term continuity of decaying trees as structural components in forest (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, pg 16).
416. Please note that other recommendations are provided with respect to
streams, water, oceans, wetlands, etc. in several docs, one being (Maser, Tarrant,
Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
417. In New England, intensive harvesting (wood removal) in the form of whole-
tree clearcutting results in important losses of plant essential elements such as Ca, K, and
N. Shortages of plant-available essential elements might develop in regenerating stands,
66
particularly in the years immediately after harvest when leaching losses and plant uptake
are high. Net losses in input-output budgets and preferential uptake by trees for essential
elements such as Ca suggest that there also could be essential element limitations during
future rotations. Until these concerns are researched more carefully, whole-tree
clearcutting should be applied with caution (Hornbeck et al., 1990, page 63)
418. Checklist of plants and animals. There are few checklists of either plants or
animals that inhabit fallen Douglas fir in Pacific Northwest. [Let alone, in other areas
with other species, in the USA – (Termed as profiles or unique features)]. No checklist
of the microorganisms in fallen trees of western old-growth forest is available [I know of
none in the east.]; the subject has hardly been studied. (Higher fungi have been cataloged
for many kinds of so-called rotten wood in Europe.) Lawton listed the mosses that occur
on so called rotten wood or stumps in the Pacific Northwest. Deyrup (1975, 1976) has
done a thorough job with insects and has identified about 300 species associated with
fallen Douglas fir. The only published checklist for vertebrates that use fallen trees is for
northeastern Oregon (Maser and others 1979 not listed in references here). (Maser and
Trappe, 1984, page 18-par 2)
420. Conclusion: What parts and processes of this once fertile forest were
knowingly sacrificed to the mere interest of production of board foot and or lumber
degrade factors?
What were the tools, indicators, used to understand these parts and processes?
What was the major factor to determine one to be sacrificed?
In summation, we must not sacrifice the options of future generations on the altar of cost-
effectiveness through decisions based on insufficient data. It is the professional charge of
researchers to obtain the needed data and of managers to apply it (Maser and Trappe,
1984).
421. They claim to foster concepts of tree biology in old growth areas. Does this
mean they claim to have no responsibility to flora and fauna here in this “Burn and
Clearcut Project”?
15. Coarse Woody Debris – Space
422. What makes a healthy tree or plant? The availability in the proper
proportions of the right "STEW" - Space, Temperature, Elements and Water. And the
energy of the sun will be used optimally making a tree into the most efficient system on
earth. Everything is
recycled.
423. With respect to space and coarse woody debris, the importance of reduction
of space by fallen trees with respect to endangered species, browsing by deer,
temperature changes, moisture changes, essential element capacity, animals, fungi
diversity and more, the latter references only suggest a benefit of fallen trees while
67
showing that removal is only a depleting act causing dysfunction and disruption to the
system here, known as a once fertile forest.
424. With respect to the thoughts of removing trees from the once fertile forest in
order to create space, add sunlight (thinning - logging) the The Self Thinning Rule of
Ecology has done a good job for a long time (Hardwick, 1987).
425. Once fertile forest, were logged in the past, or treated in ways, out of the
ignorance of tree biology. This project is proof that it continues. This is a worldwide
problem for trees of a forest and cities. Now, the promoters of logging today want us to
believe that coarse woody debris serve no purpose, are fire hazards, are supposed to be
unsightly, and if removed would address drought problems of the past as well as help the
forest in future drought. They (USFS practicing foresters on (“Burn and Clearcut
Project”) also want us to believe that applying ammonium nitrate, herbicides, putting
up deer fences, road building and planting non-native grass will replace all the
functionality, over time, of the material mentioned to be removed in the “Burn and
Clearcut Project”. Not to mention, they claim the latter will increase the structural
functionality above as well as below ground and thus increase forest health (sorry
again for going beyond committed boundaries in this document). Thus the foundation
of the false premise, that coarse woody debris serves no purpose to system health, while
removal would? Magicians convince you that the hat is empty. They start with a false premise
(SHIGO, 1999).
16. Coarse Woody Debris – Fire Protection
426. Logging on National Forests INCREASES the risk of forest fires more than
any other human activity, according to the government’s own study.
427. Fire is a natural and beneficial part of ecosystems. Without it, the
ecosystem quickly degrades.
428. But avoiding catastrophic fire risk is often used to justify logging.
Ironically, however, according to the Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project Final Report to
Congress, "Timber harvest, through its affects on forest structure, local microclimate, and
fuel accumulation, has increased fire severity more than any other recent human activity."
429. Clearcutting can change fire climate so that fires start more easily, spread
faster, and burn hotter. If the intent is to seek the most environmentally sound and cost
effective means to reduce the fuel hazard and fire risk, then the Forest Service should be
instructed and fully funded to implement understory prescribed burning without
commercial logging. The long-term goal should be full restoration of ecological
processes, including fire.
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430. Logs become habitat for a variety of invertebrate species shortly after
falling. CWD is used by invertebrates as a source of food, for nesting and brooding sites,
for protection from predators and environmental extremes, as a source of construction
material, and as overwintering and hibernating sites (Samuelsson et al. 1994) (Voller and
Harrison, 1998).
431. Free-living bacteria in woody residues and soil wood fix 30-60% of the
nitrogen in the forest soil. In addition, 20% of soil nitrogen is stored in these components
(Harvey et al. 1987). Harmon et al. (1986) reported that CWD accounted for as much as
45% of aboveground stores of organic matter. Symplastless wood in terrestrial
ecosystems is a primary location for fungal colonization and often acts as refugia for
mycorrhizal fungi during ecosystem disturbance (Triska and Cromack 1979; Harmon
et al. 1986; Caza 1993) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
432. An unbelievable story is the PHLIGHT OF THE KOALA’S.
433. The plight of this partially blind koala is due to ignorance of tree basics.
Koalas eat the leaves of only about six species of Eucalyptus. Man loved the koala’s so
much, he built his homes close to the Eucalyptus Groves because he wanted to be close to
them. But, the Eucalyptus Groves go up very fast and burn very hot. So, out of the
ignorance of tree biology, man dug fire trenches. In doing so, the trees were injured
below ground (woody and non-woody roots – for starters). When trees are threatened or
injured – they do something – they respond. Because of the fire ditches to reduce the
threat of fire and over development, most of the leaves on the declining trees in the area
tanned. Tanning is a chemical process of combining phenol-based substances with
proteins, and the disruption of hydrogen bonds leaves the protein indigestible. In one
sense the hydrogen bonds, are held open by toothpicks. The enzymes of the koala would
enter to digest the leaves. Tanning is like, removing the toothpicks. The animals ate and
ate, but received little nutrition. Lots of moisture, wet spot developed. A spirochete
similar to syphilis entered and was passed along by mating. Many koalas died. The good
news is that development in the area was not only stopped, but many developed areas will
be returned to their original state.
434. Checklist of plants and animals – There are few checklists of either plants or
animals that inhabit fallen Douglas fir in Pacific Northwest. [Let alone, in other areas
with other species, in the USA – (Termed as profiles or unique features of organisms)].
No checklist of the microorganisms in fallen trees of western old-growth forest is
available [I know of none in the east.]; the subject has hardly been studied. (Higher fungi
have been cataloged for many kinds of so-called rotten wood in Europe.) Lawton listed
the mosses that occur on so called rotten wood or stumps in the Pacific Northwest.
Deyrup (1975, 1976) has done a thorough job with insects and has identified about 300
species associated with fallen Douglas fir. The only published checklist for vertebrates
that use fallen trees is for northeastern Oregon (Maser and others 1979 not listed in
references here). (Maser and Trappe, 1984, page 18-par 2)
69
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