COMPARISON OF STORAGE OF COARSE WOODY DEBRIS BETWEEN HUZHONG FOREST BUREAU AND HUZHONG NATURAL RESERVE IN DA HINGGAN MOUNTAINS,CHINA

Aims Coarse woody debris (CWD) plays an important role in maintaining biodiversity,providing critical habitat for organisms and cycling of carbon and nitrogen in forest systems. Our objective was to understand the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on CWD in Da Hinggan Mountains as the key to forest health and sustainable forest management. Methods We compared CWD storage using a line-intercept method in Huzhong Forest Bureau,which represented forest affected by anthropogenic disturbance,with Huzhong Natural Reserve,which repre-sented primary forest unaffected by anthropogenic disturbance,of Da Hinggan Mountains. Important findings Storage of CWD varied between 5.92–43.53 m3.hm–2 in Huzhong Natural Reserve and 12.70–47.59 m3.hm–2 in Huzhong Forest Bureau. Anthropogenic disturbance had greater effects on mixed and coniferous forest than broadleaf forest. More CWD occurred in mixed forest and less CWD in coniferous forest,and the proportion of the advanced decay class CWD increased and snags de-creased with anthropogenic disturbance. The storage of CWD in managed forest (8.20–25.60 m3.hm–2) is less than that in virgin forest (18.70–36.99 m3.hm–2). Residue from harvesting should be maintained to retain the natural forest characteristics of CWD.