A few weeks ago, a comment by Stan Moore (see below)
elicited me to ponder the importance of other
organisms (2nd comment) keeping the status quo in a
forest, mainly due to the striking difference that one
can find between Mexican (any developing country for
that matter) and US forests; that is the impressive
amount of dead wood one can find latter.
Very few commented on the issue, (find them below)
which probably is a sign of how disjointed plant
ecologists are with other herp, ento, ornith
ecologists. But I still think it is a very important
issue if we are to develop "health" indicators as some
forestry policies are seeking. It seems a wonderful
area where Structural Equation Models can be
entertained.
Thank you for your responses,
______________________......________________________
I enjoyed perusing Jerome Jackson's book on searches
for
the ivory billed
woodpecker, and comments on the natural history and
ecology
of the species.
In one paragraph towards the end of the book, Dr.
Jackson
commented on
management practices which tend to occur even in
"protected" areas for
woodpeckers in which tree harvest protocols are
designed to
cull trees
before they are dead of dying and to salvage dead
trees
after insect
infestations, fires, etc. Dr. Jackson pointed out
that
dead trees often
have more value to a forest than live tress, and he
pointed
out that the
natural process of decay is important to the natural
biotic
community of the
forest, from fungus to beetle larvae to woodpeckers to
those animals which
use holes dug in trees by woodpeckers, etc. I
especially
liked the analogy
of such decay to a time release vitamin capsule that
slowly
releases
nutrients back into the forest. I would have bought
the
book today if the
line at the bookstore had not been so long, but I
recommend
this neat little
book for the discussion of the woodpecker as well as
the
ecological lessons
that I found well-expressed.
Stan Moore San Geronimo, CA
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
___________________...._______________
Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2005 12:20:23 -0800
From: Abraham de Alba <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Forest DEcay
Greetings to all:
The comment on the woodpecker's ecological role
(ivory) has been in my mind for a while, particularly
because I work in forests that are actively been used
by people that are after the wood, that is in
developing countries, the price of gas does impact
directly on the amount of wood burning, and Mèxico has
been on an energy cruch at the personal level (high
oil prices don't necessarly reflect on one's pocket).
So, something that has always impressed me of
mexican forests is that they are very easy to walk
around, no fallen dead trees no obstructing big
branches that I remermer form my younger years at the
US.
I wonder if anyone has done some deadwood "load"
effects on other biotic niches or guilds, most of us
would almost acertain that a large load should be
essential for a "healthy" forest ecosystem, is there
any avidence supporting that?? What would be a good
indicator?? number of beetles per sq. meter?
-------------------------:::::::---------------------
Simon Grove from Forestry Tasmania (Australia) did his
PhD thesis on the effect of wood removal on beetle
communities (I think).
A little brochure attached and his current email is:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Good luck,
Liana Joseph
University of Queensland
____________________...._________________
There have been studies addressing some of this.
Amphibians and reptiles are strongly influence by the
number of
fallen logs on the forest floor. This has been
estimated in
several publications in herpetology. Depending on the
species of woodpecker, dead trees can be a significant
influence
on the number of adults in an area. These are
referred to
as SNAGS in the literature. IF you do a lit search
you
should find numberous references in which abundance of
snags
are examined. THis research has led to establishing
the
"wildlife tree" program in which snags are
deliberately
maintained for wildlife use. I don't have the
citations for you
but maybe this will help you find some. use "snags,"
"tree
hole," fallen timber, etc. as search terms in a good
lit
search.
Malcolm L. McCallum
Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
Texas A&M University Texarkana
2600 Robison Rd.
Texarkana, TX 75501
O: 1-903-233-3134
H: 1-903-791-3843
Homepage:
https://www.eagle.tamut.edu/faculty/mmccallum/index.html
_________________________......___________________________
Very good question you are asking here. I am
wondering the same as I have recently relied more
heavily on wood burning instead of natural gas due to
high natural gas prices in the Tahoe Basin.
You are also much correct that Mexican Forests seem
to be depleted of dead wood and I have rarely seen
clear cut or thinning the way it is done in the U.S.
for firewood.
Please pass along any info you gather.
Thanks,
Laurent.
<P>Abraham de Alba Avila</P>
<P>Terrestrial Plant Ecology</P>
<P>INIFAP-Ags</P>
<P> Ap. postal 20,</P>
<P> Pabellón Arteaga, 20660</P>
<P> Aguascalientes, MEXICO</P>
<P> Tel: (465) 95-801-67, & 801-86 ext. 118, FAX ext 102
alternate: [EMAIL PROTECTED]</P>
__________________________________________
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