Assessing and modeling standing deadwood attributes under alternative silvicultural regimes in the Acadian Forest region of Maine, USA

Estimating the amount of standing deadwood in forests is crucial for assessing wildlife habitat and determining carbon stocks. In this analysis, snags (standing dead trees) in various stages of decay were inventoried across eight silvicultural treatments in eastern spruce-fir forests in central Maine nearly 60 years after treatments were initiated. Several modeling strategies were developed to estimate number of snags per hectare in various stages of decay. An unmanaged reference area displayed the highest basal area and volume of snags (5.4 [+ or -] 3.1 [m.sup.2] * [ha.sup.-1] and 29.4 [+ or -] 23.6 [m.sup.3] * [ha.sup.-1], respectively, (mean [+ or -] standard deviation)), while the lowest basal area and volume (0.9 [+ or -] 1.0 [m.sup.2] * [ha.sup.-1] and 3.1 [+ or -] 5.2 [m.sup.3] * [ha.sup.-1]) were observed in selection system with a 5-year cutting cycle. Models indicated that snag abundance was related to stand density, depth to water table, and the average harvest interval of the treatment. At a fixed stand density, approximately 140% more snags were predicted to occur in treatments with an average harvest interval of 55 compared with 5 years. An index of error reflecting the number of snags found in certain decay classes was reduced by 40% when predictions from count regression models fit with a mixed modeling strategy were used over ordinal regression. Results from these analyses can help to reduce the disparities between observed and modeled snag stocking levels and further our understanding of the relationships between live and standing dead trees inherent to eastern spruce-fir forests. Resume: Il est essentiel d'estimer la quantite de bois mort debout dans les forets pour evaluer l'habitat faunique et determiner les stocks de carbone. Dans cette etude, les chicots (arbres morts debout) a differents stades de decomposition ont ete inventories dans huit traitements sylvicoles dans des peuplements melanges d'epicea et de sapin situes dans le centre du Maine, presque 60 ans apres le debut des traitements. Plusieurs strategies de modelisation ont ete developpees pour estimer le nombre de chicots a l'hectare rendus a differents stades de decomposition. Une zone temoin non amenagee avait la surface terriere et le volume les plus eleves de chicots, soit respectivement (moyenne [+ or -] ecart type) 5,4 [+ or -] 3,1 [m.sup.2]*[ha.sup.-1] et 29,4 [+ or -] 23,6 [m.sup.3]*[ha.sup.-1], tandis que la surface terriere et le volume les plus faibles (0,9 [+ or -] 1,0 [m.sup.2]*[ha.sup.-1] et 3,1 [+ or -] 5,2 [m.sup.3]*[ha.sup.-1]) ont ete observes dans la coupe de jardinage avec une rotation de cinq ans. Les modeles indiquaient que l'abondance de chicots etait reliee a la densite du peuplement, a la profondeur de la nappe phreatique et a la l'intervalle moyen entre les recoltes. Avec une densite de peuplement fixe, les modeles predisaient approximativement 140% plus de chicots dans les traitements dont l'intervalle entre les recoltes etait de 55 ans comparativement a cinq ans. Un indice d'erreur refletant le nombre de chicots observes dans certaines classes de decomposition a ete reduit de 40% lorsqu'on utilisait les predictions des modeles de regression de variables explicatives de denombrement ajustes avec une strategie de modelisation mixte plutot que la regression ordinale. Les resultats de ces analyses peuvent contribuer a reduire les ecarts entre les niveaux observes de densite relative des chicots et ceux qui sont predits par les modeles et ameliorer notre comprehension des relations entre les arbres vivants et les arbres morts sur pied propres aux forets melangees d'epicea et de sapin. [Traduit par la Redaction]
Introduction Snags (standing dead trees) play an important role in forest carbon dynamics (Harmon et al. 2011) and are key elements for maintaining forest biodiversity and providing a heterogeneous forest [...]