%0 Research article
%T The volume and composition of dead wood on traditional and forest fuel harvested clear-cuts
%A Eräjää, Sini
%A Halme, Panu
%A Kotiaho, Janne S.
%A Markkanen, Anni
%A Toivanen, Tero
%D 2010
%J Silva Fennica
%V 44
%N 2
%R doi:10.14214/sf.150
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/150
%X Logging residue and cut stumps are increasingly used as a renewable  energy source known as forest fuel. Forest fuel harvesting obviously  reduces the volume of dead wood and is likely to alter the dead wood  composition, but the magnitude of the change is not known. Such  information is important for the evaluation of the effects of forest  fuel harvesting on biodiversity because a large proportion of forest  dwelling species are directly dependent on dead wood. We measured the  volume and characteristics of all dead wood units with a minimum  diameter of 2 cm and a minimum length of 20 cm on 10 forest-fuel  harvested and 10 traditional (control) clear-cuts. The total volume of  dead wood at forest fuel harvested and control clear-cuts was 26.0 and  42.3 m<sup>3</sup>/ha, respectively. The volumes were much greater than  expected suggesting that the volume of dead wood on clear-cuts has been  underestimated in previous studies. Forest fuel harvested clear-cuts had  42% less branches and 81% less cut stumps than control clear-cuts but  there were no differences in the volume of logs and pieces of logs,  snags or roots. The volume of fine woody debris was negatively affected  by forest fuel harvesting. We conclude that fine woody debris and cut  stumps form a considerable resource on clear-cuts that is reduced by  forest fuel harvesting. These components of dead wood have potential to  be of importance in managed forests and thus deserve more attention in  future biodiversity studies.