The effects of variable retention forestry on coarse woody debris dynamics and concomitant impacts on American marten habitat after 27 years

• Main Authors: Farnell, Ingrid, Elkin, Ché, Lilles, Erica, Roberts, Anne-Marie, Venter, Michelle
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: NRC Research Press (a division of Canadian Science Publishing) 2020
• Subjects: Canada; British Columbia; American marten; Martes americana
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/101943; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjfr-2019-0417

Coarse woody debris (CWD) in the form of logs, downed wood, stumps and large tree limbs is an important structural habitat feature for many small mammal species, including the American marten (Martes americana). At a long-term experimental trial in northern temperate hemlock-cedar forests of British Columbia, Canada, we analysed the impact of varying amounts of overstory basal area retention: 0% (clearcut), 40%, 70%, and 100% (unharvested) on CWD volume, decay class, and inputs from windthrow over 27 years. We used CWD attributes (diameter, length, decay class, and height above the ground) known to be favourable for martens to create an index for assessing the impact of harvesting intensity on CWD habitat features. Stands with 70% retention had CWD attributes that resulted in CWD habitat features similar to unharvested stands. Clearcuts contained pieces that were smaller, more decayed, and closer to the ground, which contributed to a habitat that was less valuable, compared with stands that had higher retention. Over the 27-year period, windthrown trees were the majority of CWD inputs, and volume change was positively related to percent retention. Our results highlight that forest management influences CWD size and input dynamics over multiple decades, and the need for consideration of these impacts when undertaking long-term multiple-use forestry planning. The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author.