[MCN] Montana conservationists right about dead trees

[Lance Olsen]

Montana conservationists have said that dead 
trees provide soil nutrients needed for a future 
forest. Timber industry reps have said that isn't 
so.

Meanwhile, research scientists have been studying 
the evidence on what dead trees do. The following 
summary from the National Science Foundation 
summarizes the evidence.

Excerpt from NSF summary:

Decomposing logs replenish soils
Scientists now know that some of the nutrients 
from a rotting log are returned to the forest 
floor to replenish the soil almost immediately.

Before Harmon's study, foresters often spent 
considerable expense and effort on removing dead 
trees and log debris. Now it's common for loggers 
to leave downed trees in the forest, a practice 
Harmon calls "morticulture."

Doing so creates a more diverse landscape, leaves 
nutrients on site, and provides habitat for 
species like bluebirds and woodpeckers that nest 
in tree cavities.

Dead wood: an important resource
Dead wood was long considered a wasted resource 
and a hazard in forest landscapes.

But it performs a range of ecological functions: 
as habitat and food sources for many terrestrial 
and aquatic species; seedbeds for plants, 
including new trees; a source of water, energy, 
carbon and nutrients for the entire forest; and 
an agent that controls stream structure and 
function, reports Harmon in a 2013 paper in the 
journal Forest Ecology and Management.

Research on dead wood has since gone global. Dead 
wood is now a key feature of understanding forest 
biodiversity and carbon cycling as well as how 
stream systems function.

Knowing the ecological value of dead wood 
influenced forestry practices and development in 
the Pacific Northwest. That, in turn, changed 
forest management plans throughout North America 
and around the world.

Today, many stream habitat restoration projects, 
for example, focus on the reintroduction and 
maintenance of large pieces of dead wood in 
channels to create habitat for species such as 
salmon.

End excerpt, full summary here:
http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=136524&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
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