178. Logging of ectomycorrhizal tree hosts removes the energy
source of ectomycorrhizal fungi, which will not fruit without their host
plants. Preservation of a threatened or endangered species involves
preservation of its habitat and the diversity that habitat entails.
When such becomes a goal of forest management, managers need information
not only on owls or small mammals, but also on the mycorrhizal fungi that
form the base of the food web (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar, 1994).
179. Certainly our knowledge of biological processes and their interactions
within forest is incomplete, and we know too little about the cumulative
effect of a wide range of stresses on the ecosystem. But integrative,
research at the ecosystem level shows clearly that the many processes operating
within forest inter- connect in important ways. Further, diversity
of microscopic and macroscopic plant and animal species is a key factor in
maintaining these processes (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988, pg1-par2).
179. Logging is removing material along with its ability to interact
with the plants and animals of the forest floor and soil over a long period
of forest successional history. Large fallen trees can take more than
400 years to become incorporated into the forest floor (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe
and Franklin, 1988, pg37-last par). Without this massive part of an organism,
how do the associates function? Which would mean, that over time the
diverse amounts of gymnosperms and angiosperms removed would have served
support for fungi of different species. An example of a fungi obligatory
for CWD of different types of wood is Ganoderma tsugae which is obligatory
for tsugae snags or nurse logs. Also, this 400 years of contributing
to fungi, is a part of a system, made up of multi- parts and processes that
make healthy forest.
180. Logging is removing a storehouse for moisture, which would have
provided moisture for plants and animals during dry times such as summer
drought, as it may be called (Page-Dumroese, Harvey, Jurgensen and Graham,
1991).
181. Logging increases soil erosion. Logging affects soil development
in an unhealthy fashion. Logging removes designed storehouses for nutrients,
essential elements and water for soil, animals and plants. Logging
removes a potentially large source of energy (nutrients) and essential elements.
Logging removes seedbeds for plants. Logging removes important habitat
for fungi and arthropods. We know, During decomposition, logs and other forms
of coarse woody debris (CWD) reduce erosion, affect soil development, store
nutrients and water, are a potentially large source of energy (nutrients)
and essential elements, serve as a seed bed for plants, and form an important
habitat for fungi and arthropods (Kropp, 1982).
182. Logging is removing structural components of great importance
for forest dynamics and forest biodiversity. The decomposition of trees
provides an important link in cycling on nutrients in ecosystems. In
addition, many species of plants, fungi and animals are dependent on symplastless
trees for salts of essential elements, nutrients, habitat or substrate and
nesting (Kruys and Jonsson, 1999).
183. Logging reduces and or removes future CWD. Fallen trees that are
oriented along the contours of a slope seem to be used more by vertebrates
than are trees oriented across contours, especially on steep slopes. Large,
stable trees lying along contours help reduce erosion by forming a barrier
to creeping and raveling soils. Soil, nutrients and essential elements
deposited along the up slope side of fallen trees reduce loss of nutrients
and essential elements from the site. Such spots are excellent for the establishment
and growth of vegetation, including tree seedlings. Vegetation becomes
established on and helps stabilize this "new soil", and as invertebrates
and small vertebrates begin to burrow into the new soil, they not only nutritionally
enrich it with their feces and urine but also constantly mix it by their
burrowing activities (Maser and Trappe, 1984 pg 4).
184. Logging is removing initial, optimal and final stages of fallen
trees. Plant - nutrient / essential elements - and the succession of plants
on fallen trees is mediated by changes in essential element availability
and physical properties over time. Three broad phases can be defined: initial,
optimal, final. Early invaders prepare the tree for later colonization by
altering its physical and chemical properties during the initial phase.
The altered tree provides the best substrate for a wide array of organisms
during the optimal phase. Ultimately, the depletion of essential elements
and physical deterioration of the wood during the optimal phase diminish
its value for many organisms, so fewer species inhabit the final phase (Maser
and Trappe, 1984, pg 25-par 5).
184. Logging alters species of plants within the system. Studies show
conifer logs, so called well rotted can be quite acid. Ectomycorrhizae
form with just a few fungi compared to adjacent less acid humus and soil
(Trappe, 1977). Conifers include but not limited to, Eastern Hemlock
and Eastern White Pine. Hickory is associated with ectomycorrhizae
species.
186. Logging not only has an effect on the chemistry of the life of
owls or small mammals but also on the mycorrhizal fungi that form the base
of the food web. Preservation of a threatened or endangered species
involves preservation of its habitat and the diversity that habitat entails.
Logging often is removal of ectomycorrhizal tree hosts, which removes the
energy source of ectomycorrhizal fungi, which will not fruit without their
host plants (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar, 1994).
187. Ectomycorrhizae absorb moisture and essential elements, and translocate
them to their host plants, making ectomycorrhizae essential for the development
of such ecosystems (Harley and Smith 1983; Harvey and others 1979; Harvey
and others 1987; Marks and Kozlowski 1973; Maser 1990). Therefore,
we assume their presence and abundance to be a good indicator of a healthy,
functioning forest soil. Ectomycorrhizae have a strong positive relationship
with soil organic materials (Harvey and others 1981). Soil wood, humus, and
the upper layers of mineral soil that are rich in organic matter are the
primary substrates for the development of ectomycorrhizae (Graham,
Harvey, Jurgensen, Jain, Tonn and Page-Dumroese, 1994). (To mention
some associated trees with ectomycorrhizae - Chestnut, Beech, Birch, Hickory,
Oak, Hemlock and White Pine)
188. Logging removes present as well as future CWD, which causes a
temperature change as well as moisture. The presence of CWD affects
temperature as well as moisture that can have a benefit for certain beneficial
fungi (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar, 1994).
189. Most planned logging overlooks fungal diversity in considerations
of the management of forest. The more obvious plants and animals attract
the attention of the casual observer, but foresters and ecologists need to
recognize that the health of the forest depends on organisms and processes
below ground (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar, 1994).
190. Logging has been noted to reduce the quality of materials left.
So called rotten wood served as mycorrhizal inoculum for containerized western
hemlock seedlings. So-called rotten wood from a clear-cutting was less effective
than that collected from a forest. (Kropp, 1982) NOTE – A clear cut
where everything is removed is NOT a FOREST!
191. Logging has been noted to be the primary cause linked to reforestation
problems where studies on logging were done (NOT DEER).
NATIONAL WOOD FIBER NEEDS indicate substantial increases in demand for wood
fiber - based products. This demand has resulted in increased efforts to
remove all available fiber at harvesting sites. Intensive fiber removal or
intense wildfire potentially reduces the parent materials (duff and wood
residues) available for the production of organic reserves in forest soils.
This reserve, primarily in the form of humus, decayed wood, and charcoal,
has been shown critical to the support of both nonsymbiotic nitrogen fixing
and ectomycorrhizal activities in forest soils of western Montana.
Harvest and fire-caused reductions of organic materials on and in northern
forest soils have been linked to reforestation problems. This study was undertaken
to provide a preliminary estimate of the impact of varying amounts and kinds
of soil organic matter on ectomycorrhizal development in mature western Montana
forests (Harvey, Jurgensen and Larsen, 1981).
192. Logging reduces soil organic matter thus reducing mycorrhizae
during dry times or at dryer sites.
Both season and site affect the relation between the number of active ectomycorrhizae
and soil organic matter in these ecosystems. In the dry season or on the
drier site, the high soil organic matter content yielded larger numbers of
active ectomycorrhizae than did the low organic matter conditions. Forest
management decisions with potential to disturb soils and reduce woody residues,
particularly in dry Northern Rocky Mountain habitat types, should take into
consideration the importance of soil organic reserves and their affects on
ectomycorrhizae as a factor in forest soil quality. A consistent effort should
be made to retain a moderate quantity of large woody materials. Preliminary
estimates indicate that approximately 25-37 tons/hectare (Harvey, Jurgensen
and Larsen, 1981).
193. Logging is removing materials that abiotic forces as well as biotic
agents were designed to connect with, to establish good forest or system
health.
In other words abiotic forces as well as biotic agents play key roles in
system health.
Fire, fungi and invertebrates are all heavily involved in the creation and
decomposition of CWD. Wind and fungi commonly function together to create
CWD (Edmonds and Marra, 1999).
194. Logging removes habitat for the establishment of niches. As a
symplastless fallen tree would have progressed from decay class I to class
II, the scavengers would have been replaced by competitors with the enzyme
systems needed to decompose the more complex compounds in wood. The fungi
that would have been involve in this activity are often mutually antagonistic,
so that a given part of the tree may have been occupied by only one fungus
that would have excluded others by physical or chemical means (Maser and
Trappe, 1984). (We call this altered area a niche) This
fungus would be a part or the system. How would this fungus survive
without proper habitat for a niche?
195. Logging often consist of removing heartwood - forming trees. Thus
removing the unique features of the system, such as, but not limited too,
various mites, insects, slugs, and snails which feed on higher plants that
become established on so called rotten wood. These plants also provide
cover for animals, as do the lichens, mosses, and liverworts that colonize
fallen trees in decay class IV. Wood-boring beetles, termites, and
carpenter ants produce channels in heartwood (heartwood forming trees) that
would have provided passageways for roots. The fruiting bodies of the
mycorrhizal fungi, produced from energy supplied by the host plant, can also
be a major source of food for insects, arthropods, and small mammals such
as the California red-backed vole (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 29-par 4).
196. Logging is removing present and future materials that would have
harbored a myriad of organisms, from bacteria and actinomycetes to higher
fungi. In fact, of these, only some of the fungi might be noticed by
the causal observer as mushrooms or bracket fungi. These structures,
however, are merely the fruiting bodies produced by mold colonies within
the log. Many fungi fruit within the fallen tree, so they are seen
only when the tree is torn apart. Even when a fallen tree is torn apart,
only a fraction of the fungi present are noticed because the fruiting bodies
of most appear only for a small portion of the year. The smaller organisms,
not visible to the unaided eye, are still important components of the system
(Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg16-par 5).
197. Logging is removing mold colony habitat.
198. Logging breaks many connections and processes of the ecosystem.
E.g., decayed heartwood (of heartwood forming trees) splits into chunks,
(i.e., if not removed or shall I say if not killed); roots grow down the
resulting cracks as well as along insect channels.
Thus logging is removing shelter which invertebrates – from minute mites
to centipedes, millipedes, slugs, and snails – would have found in these
openings and passage along them, i.e., the cracks over many years (Maser
and Trappe, 1984, pg 17-par 4).
199. Logging is removing present as well as future cover for vertebrates
such as salamanders, shrews, shrew moles, and voles, which would have found
cover under debris of sloughed bark and so called rotten wood alongside the
class IV tree; they also would have found the so called rotten wood on the
underside of the tree crumbly enough for digging tunnels or burrows. Fungi
and other microorganisms abound on the wood itself as well as on the new
substrates offered by the feces of animals (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 17-par
4).
200. Logging is removing opportunities for various interactions with
the biotic components of soil and duff. Fungi, for instance, translocated
essential elements within the soil- system, as both decomposers and root
symbionts. Fungi also would have immobilized translocated essential elements
and thereby enriched the decomposing wood substrates they would have inhabited.
In addition, the colonization of decomposing fallen trees by nitrogen-fixing
bacteria would have permitted additional nitrogen accretion within the decaying
wood (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 19-par 3).
201. Logging removes material that animals were designed to Colonize.
Colonization of decomposing wood by animals would have helped microbes to
enter interior surfaces of the wood and created additional openings for entry
of water and essential elements; and penetration of the wood by roots of
trees, such as western hemlock for example, would have facilitated entry
by mycorrhizal fungi (Maser and Trappe, 1984).
202. Logging is removing a source of protein for fungi feeders. Fungi
feeders, E.g., In the Northwest - California red-backed voles to black tailed
deer, may obtain some of their protein nitrogen from decaying trees by feeding
on fungal fruiting bodies, such as what some call truffles and mushrooms
(Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 36-par 3).
203. Logging is removing materials that in time would be decaying and
would have contributed to long-term accumulation of soil organic matter,
partly because the carbon constituents of the future well-decayed wood would
have 80-90 percent residual lignin and humus (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe, and
Franklin, 1988,pg44-par3).
204. Logging is removing material that would be incorporated in the
soil and would have aided the establishment of conifer seedlings and mycorrhizal
fungi on dry sites. (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe, and Franklin, 1988, pg44-par3).
205. Logging is removing material that in time would have added to
spatial, chemical, and biotic diversity of forest soils, and to the processes
that maintain long-term forest productivity (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe, and
Franklin, 1988,pg44-par3).
206. Logging removes what may have contributed significantly to reestablishment
of animal populations by providing pathways along which small mammals can
venture into clearcuts and other bare areas. This has relevance to the reestablishment
of tree seedlings on bared areas since survival and growth of new trees depend
on development of appropriate mycorrhizal associations. Surprisingly, fungal
symbionts apparently disappear from cutover areas shortly after their host
trees are removed (Harvey et al. 1978a), and the sites must be reinoculated
with their spores. Many mycosymbionts have underground fruiting bodies and
completely depend on animals for dissemination of spores. Small mammals are
the vectors. They consume the fungus and carry spores to new areas, thereby
inoculating tree seedlings (Maser et al. 1978a, 1978b; Trappe and Maser 1978)
(Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al. others, 1981).
207. Logging is removing so called rotten wood or so called rotten
wood to be. So-called, rotten wood is critical as substrate for ectomycorrhizal
formation. E.g., in one forest which contained a coniferous stand of
trees (Eastern Hemlock and White Pine are coniferous), over 95 percent of
all active mycorrhizae were in organic matter of which 21 percent were in
decayed wood. In another study in the northern Rocky Mountains, decayed
wood in soil was important. In moist, mesic, and arid habitat types
(Harvey et al. 1979) it was the most frequent substrate for active ectomycorrhizae
on the dry site, probably because of high moisture levels in the wood.
Mycorrhizal fungi can colonize logs, presumably using them as sources of
water, essential elements and nutrients. (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit,
et al. others, 1981).
208. Logging is presumably removing a source of water, essential elements
and nutrients for mycorrhizae (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al. others,
1981).
209. Logging removes present and future nurse logs, which mycorrhizae
relationships may be an important factor to the establishment of seedlings
on the latter. These removed parts and processes would also be important
to mature trees. Just as quality and special properties of wood products
vary by tree species. The natural ecological characteristics of logs also
vary by species (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al. others, 1981).
210. Logging removes sound CWD, which would have provided secure travel
corridors for small mammals (Maser et al. 1979; Maser and Trappe 1984, pg12; Carter
1993), and would have provided subnivean habitat during winter. The value
of this habitat is positively correlated with piece size (Maser and Trappe
1984; Hayes and Cross 1987; Carter 1993). Nordyke and Buskirk (1991) found
that southern red-backed vole abundance was positively correlated with the
decay stage of logs in the central Rocky Mountains. Maser and Trappe, 1984)
and Rhoades (1986) reported associations of small mammals with CWD because
of the food source provided by the fungal fruiting bodies growing in and
on the CWD (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
211. Logging is removing a sound food source for small mammals (fungal
fruiting bodies growing in and on CWD) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
212. Logging removes present and future CWD, which would have functioned
as seedbeds or nurse logs for some trees species and many species of bryophytes,
fungi, and lichens, and some flowering plants (Table 7.6) (Samuelsson et
al. 1994; D.F. Fraser, pers. comm., 1995; E.C. Lea, pers. comm., 1995) (Voller
and Harrison, 1998).
213. Logging removes future substrate, which has been known to strongly
influence species richness. Many plant species are either associated
with CWD or perhaps with the fungi that use CWD as their parasitic intermediate,
such as the gnome plant (Hypopitis congestum), candystick (Allotropa virgata),
and other ericaceous species. Ryan and Fraser (1993) reported that cryptogam
species richness in coastal Douglas-fir forests was strongly influenced by
available substrate (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
214. Logging, in areas with trees, reduces, if not eliminates, the
presence of CWD presently or over time. In areas with rock substrate
this logging would result in substantial decrease of species richness (Voller
and Harrison, 1998).
215. Logging kills. Dying, not killing, supports communities
of a forest. The review of Samuelsson et al. (1994) of CWD states that
distinct Succession of bryophyte and lichen communities occurs as a trees
symplast dies, fall, and decay (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
216. Logging removes (kills) CWD which studies in B.C., reveal that
macrofungi are dependant on for survival. Known decomposer macrofungi
that are dependent on CWD include 162 species of bracket or shelf fungi/
conks, 364 species of other macrofungi, and some commercially harvested mushrooms,
such as oyster mushrooms (S. Berch, pers. comm., 1995). These communities
play roles in the germination and growth of other epiphytic and quasi-epiphytic
communities. Climatic factors influence epiphytic communities, with lichens
dominating drier ecosystems and bryophytes replacing them as conditions become
wetter. The longevity of individual pieces of CWD is critical to the persistence
of many species with poor dispersal abilities. Dispersal in many species
is from one log to the next, so logs close to each other are required. Samuelsson
et al. (1994) note that large logs play a more important role than small
logs in the ecology of bryophytes and lichens. Large logs last longer, have
greater surface area, and have higher, steeper sides that prevent ground-dwelling
species from invading. They may also be important in providing a relatively
duff-free substrate for the establishment of some species of cryptogams (D.F.
Fraser, pers. comm., 1995) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
217. Logging is removing material that would have facilitated a slow
release of essential elements, ameliorated leaching, and provided a growing
substrate for bryophytes. (Harmon et al. 1986; FEMAT 1993; Samuelsson et
al. 1994) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
218. Logging is removing material that would have buffered water and
essential elements released from duff and above-ground processes, especially
processes such as nitrogen fixation in above-ground plants such as hepatics
(Harmon et al. 1986; FEMAT 1993; Samuelsson et al. 1994) (Voller and Harrison,
1998).
219. Bacteria are very small. They do big things (Shigo, 1999, #216
pg34)
220. Logging is removing present and future woody residues and soil
wood, which would have contained free-living bacteria, which would have fixed
30-60% the nitrogen in the soil of the forest. In addition, 20% of
soil nitrogen would have been stored in these components removed (Harvey
et al. 1987). Harmon et al. (1986) reported that CWD accounted for as much
as 45% of aboveground stores of organic matter (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
221. Logging removes present and future symplastless wood, which in
terrestrial ecosystems would be primary location for fungal colonization
and would have often acted as refugia for mycorrhizal fungi during ecosystem
disturbance (Triska and Cromack 1979; Harmon et al. 1986; Caza 1993) (Voller
and Harrison, 1998).
222. Logging is removing maternal that is needed for colonization by
fungi and microbes. This is thought to be disrupting one of the most
important stages in essential element cycling (Caza 1993); however, these
processes are still relatively poorly understood (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
223. Logging reduces soil wood. Soil wood contains a disproportionate
amount of the coniferous non-woody roots or ectomycorrhizae in forests (Harvey
et al. 1987) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
224. Logging is removing one of the dominant sources of organic matter
(Voller and Harrison, 1998).
225. Logging is removing an important determinant in soil formation
and composition (Caza 1993) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
226. Logging is not what man thought it was several years ago.
We should not blame people of the past. Just recently have we learned
about DNA. Shigo, 1997 suggest there was one driving belief that set
the stage for the growth of arboriculture in the United States. That belief
is now over three centuries old, and it has moved as a wave. When a wave
hits the shoreline, the crash back into the water is much more intense than
the inward rush of water. The belief that grew after our country was colonized
in 1620 was that the trees were endless and they were the enemy. Trees were
in the way of farms, homes, towns and roads. Yes, they did have some value
for buildings and for fires, but their size and abundance made them more
of a problem than a benefit. Over time, the value of trees did increase,
but the belief in endless forests continued.
In recent decades, the great wave with power of more than three centuries
behind it hit a very steep shoreline. The crash of the wave signaled the
end of the belief that the forests were endless.
Man sometimes – learns the hard way. But now we know and need to act
appropriately. Few studies have examined processes, other than nitrogen
fixation, that are responsible for net changes in nutrient and essential
element content of coarse woody debris. It was tempting in the past to assume
that the processes are the same as in fine duff, but recent research being
conducted at Andrews indicates some differences.
1. For example, during the early stages
of log decomposition, fungal sporocarps transfer nutrients to the forest
floor. Thus, in fine duff, fungi immobilize nitrogen, but in coarse woody
debris they actively transfer it to the soil.
2. Another important consideration in
understanding nutrient release from coarse woody debris is that tree boles
are composed of several distinct substrates. While wood may be slowly releasing
nutrients, other parts such as the inner bark (phloem) decompose and release
nutrients at rates similar to those of leaf duff. Hence an overall pattern
of release from symplastless trees may be a rapid loss of 10-20% of the nutrients
followed by an extended slower release of nutrients.
3. Finally, the role of fragmentation
in transferring nutrients to fine duff in the later stages of woody debris
decomposition is not revealed by patterns of net accumulation. The omission
of transfers via fragmentation from previous calculations suggests (Harmon
and Hua, 1991). (NOTE: it may be specifically unclear whether
the paper is referring to salts of essential elements or a true nutrient.
Both exist, and are essential for system health.)
227. Conclusion: The capacity and ability, of CWD, to be a major
habitat, substrate and in some cases niche for fungi and play a key role
in fungi diversity too often goes unobserved in this Painter Run Windthrow
Salvage Project. What purpose and need is there, that the capacity
and ability, of CWD, to play key roles with respect to beneficial bacteria
go unobserved in such cases as the Painter Run Windthrow Salvage Project?
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