The Ecology of Dead Wood in the Southeast

The Ecology of Dead Wood in the Southest is a comprehensive research report written by Alexander M. Evans. The report was funded by the Forest Guild? wiith funding provided by Environmental Defense Fund. The information was reviewed by a panel of scientific reviewers from the southeastern region of the U.S. The goal of the report was to provide a concise summary that can be utilized as a tool to inform discussions about biomass harvesting standards? in the Southeast.

Although dead wood and decaying trees have historically had little commercial value, their ecological value is immense. This report reviews scientific literature to provide the background necessary to craft recommendations about the amount and type of dead wood that should be retained in the forest types of the southeastern U.S. Establishing the ecological requirements for dead wood and other previously low-value material is important because of an increased interest in this material for energy and fuel. More intensive extraction of biomass from forests may affect a forest’s ability to support wildlife, provide clean water, sequester carbon?, and regenerate a diverse suite of plants.

This background paper covers the general topics of dead wood, water quality?, nutrient conservation?, and wildlife habitat? in southeastern forests generally as well as in specific forest types, including southern Appalachian hardwoods, upland hardwood and mixed pine–hardwood forests?, bottomland hardwoods?, and piedmont pinelands? and coastal plain pinelands?. This report complements The Ecology of Dead Wood in the Northeast ¹

The goal of this review is to provide a concise summary that can inform discussions about
biomass harvesting standards in the Southeast. However, it is important to note that this
document makes no suggestions about how a biomass harvest should be conducted or what
should be left in the forest after a harvest. Rather, the report attempts to provide the basic science
on which such recommendations can be built. The full 39-page report can be found at the link below.

Footnotes

^₁ Evans and Kelty 2010

External Links

Ecology of Dead Wood in the Southeast