344. We especially need to know more about the fallen tree –
soil interface, probably the single most important habitat and potential
niche for the survival of organisms in drastically altered systems (Maser
and Trappe, 1984, pg49-par1).
345. Some of the largest accumulations of CWD occur in the unmanaged
forest of the Pacific Northwest. CWD can range from 130 to 276 tons per acre
in stands from 100 to more than 1,000 years old. Although here we are concerned
with Douglas fir, neither decaying wood nor research data are unique to forests
of the Pacific Northwest. McFee and Stone (1966) Observed that decaying wood
persisted for more than 100 years in New York and others pointed out that
substantial accumulations of CWD in old-growth forest in Poland. These
observations evidence the long-term continuity of decaying trees as structural
components in forest (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 16-par1).
346. Logging is removing material that would have played a key role
in humus formation and regulator of the incorporation of nitrogen into humic
materials. This is an important feature. Because of its high
cation exchange capacity and slow decomposition, so called rotten wood can
retain available mineral nitrogen from throughfall and decomposition as well
as organic nitrogen compounds mineralized within the wood chemical matrix.
Non-woody roots and mycorrhizae of plant species that colonize decaying
wood use its available nitrogen (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe, and Franklin, 1988, pg39-par1).
347. Logging is removing the long-term input by nitrogen fixation in
decaying fallen trees and by canopy inhibiting lichens which would have maintained
a positive balance of nitrogen in the ecosystem (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe,
and Franklin, 1988, pg40-par3).
348. Logging removing materials that would be decaying wood which would
have had long term potential for contributing nitrogen for tree growth as
residual lignin and humus are decomposed (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe, and Franklin,
1988, pg40-par1).
349. Logging is removing materials that would have performed ecological
functions, in many cases, for more than 400 years. Woody duff, regardless
of type or size, takes considerably longer to decompose than does needle
and leaf duff. Needles, leaves, and small twigs decompose faster than
larger woody material and essential elements are thereby recycled faster
in the forest floor. About 140 years are needed for essential elements to
cycle in large, fallen trees and more than 400 years for such trees to become
incorporated into the forest floor; they therefore interact with the plants
and animals of the forest floor and soil over a long period of forest and
stand successional history (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988, pg36-last
par).
350. Logging greatly reduces humus formation. In fact:
Lignin is important in later stages of decomposition because it affects the
proportions of different residues that may be incorporated into humic materials.
Woody duff components are generally higher in initial lignin than are nonwoody
components (table 2.13); high lignin content results in formation of large
quantities of humus in latter stages of decay (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and
Franklin, 1988, pg39-par1).
351. Logging alters the soil chemistry by creating a less acid and
less humic soil in many cases. 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).
352. Logging removes the source of much needed “soil wood” (Page-Dumroese,
Harvey, Jurgensen and Graham, 1991).
353. Logging is removing future needed active parts of the soil system
as soil wood. In fact: Coarse woody debris can be incorporated
into the surface soil horizon as freezing and thawing cycles move CWD into
the soil. Additionally, CWD can be covered as soil moves downhill. Depending
on the forest type, large amounts can be left in the form of decaying tree
roots. All of these materials, in the advanced stages of decay, can be active
parts of the soil system as soil wood. (Carbon Based Cellulose) Because CWD
is an important component of a functioning ecosystem, a portion of this material
must be maintained. As the demand for forest products and the ability to
utilize more fiber increases, less material is being left after timber harvesting
or after salvage operations. These operations, in combination with past practices
of slash disposal and site preparation, have reduced organic material in
the forest floor, making CWD management critical (Harvey and others 1987).
Consequently, recommendations for maintaining CWD for different ecosystems
and forest types are needed (Graham, Harvey, Jurgensen, Jain, Tonn and Page-Dumroese,
1994).
354. Logging reduces the soil of the forest, health.
355. 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). Some examples of trees associated
with ectomycorrhizae are - Chestnut, Beech, Birch, Hickory, Oak, Hemlock
and White Pine.
356. Logging, such as the Painter Run Windthrow Salvage Project, has
demands 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).
357. Logging often is removing heartwood of heartwood forming trees,
which would have merged into humus becoming incorporated into the soil profile
(Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg11-par6).
358. Logging is removing material that would have been hugged by the
soil and would have buffered it against fluctuations in air temperature.
Further, decomposing wood undergoes changes in other chemical constituents
and pH as well as physical structure. Very old, decayed wood can even
become somewhat humified and leave long-lasting substrate resistant to further
decay (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 13, pg 19-par. 4).
359. Logging is removing present and future material that would have
contributed to long-term accumulation of soil organic matter, partly because
the carbon constituents of well-decayed wood are 80-90 percent residual lignin
and humus (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988, pg44-par3). Logging is removing
present and future materials on dry sites in the soil, which the establishment
of conifer seedlings and mycorrhizal fungi are positively correlated
(Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988, pg44-par3). Logging is removing present
and future materials that would have also created and maintained diversity
in forest communities. (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe and Franklin, 1988).
Soil properties of pits and mounds differ from those of surrounding soil;
such chemical and topographic diversity in turn affects forest regeneration
processes. All this, especially large fallen trees that reside on the
forest floor for long periods, add 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,pg43-3).
360. Logging is removing fallen tress or future fallen trees that when
oriented along the contour of a slope, the upslope side would be filled with
humus and inorganic material which would have allowed invertebrates and small
vertebrates to tunnel alongside. The downslope side would have provided protective
cover for larger vertebrates. When under a closed canopy, such trees would
have also been saturated with water and act as a reservoir during the dry
part of the year (Maser, Tarrant, Trappe, and Franklin, 1988,pg44-fig2.4).
361. Logging removes future sites that would have served for reproduction
of tree species (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al. others, 1981).
362. Logging is removing a clearly important function of a system containing
trees (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al. others, 1981).
363. Note: The phenomenon of nurse logs is widespread in the forest
types of the Pacific North- west. Minore (1972) found that seedlings of both
Sitka spruce and western hemlock were more numerous and taller on so called
rotten logs than on the adjacent forest floor at Cascade Head Experimental
Forest (Franklin, Cromack, Kermit, et al. others, 1981).
364. 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).
365. 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).
366. 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).
367. 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).
368. 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).
369. 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).
370. Logging is removing one of the dominant sources of organic matter
(Voller and Harrison, 1998).
371. Logging is removing an important determinant in soil formation
and composition (Caza 1993) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
372. Conclusion: What purpose and need is there that humus, humic
acids, pH and the health of the soil – horizons with respect to forest (system)
health, go unobserved, has it is in the Painter Run Windthrow Salvage Project.
Claims that system health will increase by removing (killing) present and
future CWD and its processes / functions, are absurd. What is clearly
shown is a purpose and a need to correct past false promise-based treatments,
which are still being used as a foundation for treatments proposed and approved
in the Painter Run Windthrow Salvage Project. Sound science, with respect
to system health, needs to be considered in order to protect this once fertile
forest; i.e., including but not limited to – animals and plants as well as
diverse fungi and their connections and functions. We especially need to
know more about the fallen tree and soil interface, probably the single most
important habitat and potential niche for the survival of organisms in drastically
altered systems. As the demand for forest products and the ability to utilize
more fiber increases, less material is being left after timber harvesting
or after salvage operations such as the Painter Run Windthrow Salvage Project.
These operations, in combination with past practices of slash disposal and
site preparation, have reduced organic material in the forest floor, making
CWD management critical for this project. Consequently, no recommendations
for maintaining CWD for this project area have been considered, nor have
bio-indicators been taken into consideration (that we know of). Thus,
a purpose and need exist, for such data, before such treatments be considered.
Ectomycorrhizae absorb moisture and essential elements and translocate them
to their host plants, making ectomycorrhizae essential for the development
of such ecosystems. Therefore, we interpret 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. 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.
This project as approved, demands efforts to remove all available fiber at
harvesting sites! We know intensive fiber removal 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 of organic materials on and in northern forest soils have been linked
to reforestation problems –not deer! 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.
Dictionary MAIN PAGE