| Coarse Woody Debris (CWD) is classified as any downed bole or limb larger than 10 cm in diameter and longer than 1 m in length. As CWD decays it performs various roles within the ecosystem, and at different stages of decay the physiochemical properties of the samples also change. We classified samples on a I-V scale with I being freshly fallen and V being predominantly powder wood. Samples were collected via chainsaw, and standard dendrochronological techniques were used to date samples. Species used for analysis include: Fagus americana, Fraxinus spp., Liriodendron tulipifera, Quercus subgenus Erythrobalanus (red oak), and Quercus subgenus Lepidobalanus (white oak). Red oak samples were analyzed for elemental concentrations in the sap and heartwood areas using ICP-OES. A series of one- and two-way ANOVAs with a Bonferroni post hoc test were used to determine significant differences ( P < 0.05) between means. Differences in residence time (length of time a sample stays on the ground after death) do exist between different species of hardwood trees, with beech, tulip poplar, and red oak samples decaying differently than ash. White oak and ash did not have significant differences in their residence times. When decay class alone was analyzed, class I was different from class II. Classes III and IV were similar compared with each other, but were significantly different from I and II. This could mean that the class III and IV classifications are solely physical. Red oak samples showed higher elemental concentration in the sapwood region, with the exception of potassium, which had similar concentrations in both regions. |
