Coarse woody debris

Coarse woody debris (CWD) or coarse woody habitat (CWH) refers to fallen dead trees and the remains of large branches on the ground in forests and in rivers or wetlands. A dead standing tree is known as a snag and provides many of the same functions as coarse woody debris. The minimum size required for woody debris to be defined as "coarse" varies by author, ranging from 2.5–20 cm (1–8 in) in diameter.

Since the 1970s, forest managers worldwide have been encouraged to allow dead trees and woody debris to remain in woodlands, recycling nutrients trapped in the wood and providing food and habitat for a wide range of organisms, thereby improving biodiversity. The amount of coarse woody debris is considered to be an important criterion for the evaluation and restoration of temperate deciduous forest. Coarse woody debris is also important in wetlands, particularly in deltas where woody debris accumulates.

Coarse woody debris comes from natural tree mortality, disease, and insects, as well as catastrophic events such as fires, storms and floods.

Ancient, or old growth, forest, with its dead trees and woody remains lying where they fell to feed new vegetation, constitutes the ideal woodland in terms of recycling and regeneration. In healthy temperate forests, dead wood comprises up to thirty per cent of all woody biomass. In recent British studies, woods managed for timber had between a third and a seventh less fallen debris than unmanaged woods that had been left undisturbed for many years, while in recently coppiced woods the amount of CWD was almost zero.

In old growth Douglas fir forests of the Pacific Northwest of North America, CWD concentrations were found to be from 72 metric tons/hectare (64,000 pounds/acre) in drier sites to 174 t/ha (155,000 lb/acre) in moister sites.Australian native forests have mean CWD concentrations ranging from 19 t/ha (17,000 lb/acre) to 134 t/ha (120,000 lb/acre), depending on forest type.

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