Previous descriptive and associative research approaches have identified associations between the amount of coarse woody debris (CWD) and either the occurrence or abundance of certain species of forest floor mammals and amphibians (e.g., Aubry et al. 1988, McComb et al. 1993). Managers are using information such as this along with observations regarding nutrient exchange sites around coarse woody debris to develop management guidelines for retention of woody debris following harvest. However, the hypothesis that retention of high levels of woody debris will result in the high numbers of certain species of forest floor vertebrates has not been tested in an experimental manner.
Brenda C McComb, Donald L. Henshaw, John H. Cissel, Steven L. Garman
We monitored the relative abundance of forest floor small mammals and amphibians for several seasons prior to logging and following logging in an experiment with 3 treatments: 1. No treatments (control), high CWD retention, and low CWD retention. We expect to provide managers with information that might allow them to identify the levels and types of woody debris that should be retained following harvest on similar sites in the Willamette National Forest and central Cascades region.