Lodgepole Pine Bole Wood Density And Decay Rate 1, 11, And 22 Years After Felling In Central Montana, United States

Estimates of dead and down woody material (DWM) biomass are important for nutrient cycling, wildlife habitat assessment, fire effects and climate change science. Most methods used to sample woody material initially assess volume then estimates of wood density are used to convert volume to biomass. To assess initial wood density and decomposition rate, this study examined in situ wood density of lodgepole pine logs at the Tenderfoot Creek Experimental Forest (TCEF), central Montana, United States, 1, 11, and 22 years after felling. Mean wood density decreased from 0.39 to 0.27 g cm(-3 )over 22 years and the single exponential decay rate was k = 0.012 yr(-1) 1 and 11-years post-felling and 0.022 yr(-1) 11 and 22 years post-felling. A common 5-category decay classification system was evaluated for estimating wood density by decay class, which identified significant difference in three of four observed classes.