41. Logging is altering the carbon to nitrogen ratio over time.
Something to keep in mind - Reports from some countries indicate an abundance
of soluble nitrogen compounds in runoff water and even in ground water. This
is a strong indication that the carbon-nitrogen ratio has been disrupted
in the soil. It is well established from studies of the physiology
of fungal parasitism that the degree of parasitism is often determined by
the carbon-nitrogen ratio. It is probably similar for other organisms
(Shigo, 1996).
42. 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).
43. Logging is removing present and future decayed logs, which act
like a sponge to absorb water and retain much of the water throughout the
following growing season. This water would be a survival feature during
drought for members of the system (Page-Dumroese, Harvey, Jurgensen and Graham,
1991).
44. Logging is removing materials, that when soil contact was made,
would have played key roles with the cation exchange capacity, water - holding
capacity, bulk density, essential element and nutrient budgets and erosion
potential (Page-Dumroese, Harvey, Jurgensen and Graham, 1991).
45. Logging is removing woody material that has been identified as
playing several important roles in the functioning of the region's forests.
In southwest Oregon, brown-cubical-rotted CWD acts as a perched water reservoir,
the spongy decayed wood being able to hold over twice its own weight in water.
This material thus would have otherwise been a major source of moisture for
fungi and roots well into the summer drought that characterizes the region
(Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar, 1994). The same has been seen in the
Allegheny Mountains in the Cook State Park Forest – Protected area, i.e.,
protected from logging. Animals also utilize stored water.
46. Logging stops the processes, which would take place between a fallen
tree and its surroundings, which would have increased, as decomposition would
have continued. E.g., the flow of plant and animal populations, air, water,
and essential elements. (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg 12). Logging kills
this system processes by means of disruption and depletion causing dysfunction.
47. Logging is the removal and reduction of the forming of Large Stumps
such as in old-growth trees, which are a finite resource, and their loss
from the forest affects both soil shear strength and watershed hydrology
(Maser, Tarrant, Trappe, and Franklin, 1988, pg44-fig2.6).
48. Logging is the removal of CWD, and the associated epiphytic bryophytes,
which act as both essential element and moisture buffers for the ecosystems
(FEMAT 1993). This buffering would allow the slow release of water and essential
elements to surrounding plants. In mature and old growth coastal forests,
a large proportion of western hemlock and Sitka spruce seedlings germinate
and grow on CWD substrates (Harmon and Franklin 1989; G. Davis, pers. comm.,
1994).
49. Logging is the removal of CWD, which would affect temperature as
well as moisture, which would have had the capacity to benefit certain beneficial
fungi (Amaranthus, Trappe and Bednar, 1994).
50. Logging is removing large, fallen trees or trees that will fall,
in various stages of decay. Logging is removing parent material, which
would contribute much-needed diversity to terrestrial and aquatic habitats
in forests. When most biological activity in soil is limited by low moisture
availability in summer, the material removed, fallen tree-soil interface,
would have offered a relatively cool, moist habitat for animals and a substrate
for microbial and root activity. Intensified utilization and management can
deprive future forests of large, fallen trees. The impact of this loss on
habitat diversity and on long-term forest productivity must be determined
because management needs sound information on which to base resource management
decisions (Maser and Trappe, 1984, Abstract-par2).
51. Logging removes wood and its moisture-holding capacity thus eliminating
its internal processes and therefore the succession of plants and animals.
This affects the biotic community (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg4-par3).
52. Logging is removing snags, which may have accumulated moisture
– carried essential elements and had a higher essential element capital when
it fell than does a tree with symplast (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg19-par2).
53. Logging stops colonization of decomposing wood by animals which
would help microbes to enter interior surfaces of the wood and create additional
openings for entry of water and essential elements; and penetration of the
wood by roots of trees, such as western hemlock, which in turn facilitates
entry by mycorrhizal fungi (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg19-par4).
54. Logging is removing many readily available essential elements that
support opportunistic colonizers as well as the remaining essential elements,
which would be locked in the more decay resistant compounds of the wood.
Ultimately, organisms, with more sophisticated enzyme systems would, have
succeeded the rapidly growing opportunists. (Maser and Trappe, 1984, pg37-par2)
55. 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 down slope 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, pg45-par3).
56. 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).
57. Where we are. Endangered species. Logging is removing present
and future available moist microhabitats, primarily because of a lack of
large logs in intermediate and advanced stages of decay. Aubry et al.
(1988) found that some species of salamander were most abundant around CWD.
Dupuis (1993) concluded that salamander populations in logged areas were
limited by available moist microhabitats, primarily because of a lack of
large logs in intermediate and advanced stages of decay (Voller and Harrison,
1998).
Note: There are salamander species on T & E list.
58. Logging in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, is removing
present and future symplastless wood, which would have functioned as a reservoir
of moisture, ameliorating drought conditions and providing a 'perched water
table' (Triska and Cromack 1979) (Voller and Harrison, 1998).
59. Conclusion: The capacity and ability, of CWD, to provide
water / moisture for fauna and flora during dryer times too often goes unobserved,
such as the case in this Painter Run Windthrow Salvage Project? Coarse
woody debris / ecoart nurse logs play a key role in providing the requirements
of water/moisture for survival of species of animals as well as plants, be
they listed as threatened and endangered or not. This function it plays
a key role during hot, drier times. To fully comprehend the importance
one must consider time. This function must be thoroughly considered
before making a decision to remove this function from the system or not.
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