Dead wood in European forest reserves - A reference for forest management

The amount of dead wood in managed forest is an important indicator for sustainability and biodiversity conservation and dead wood is one of nine pan-European biodiversity indicators for sustainable forest management. However, the knowledge on 'natural' amounts of dead wood in European forests is very limited. Based on published and unpublished studies from 116 forest reserves we analysed dead wood data in relation to forest types. Dead wood amounts varied with forest type, with typical average volumes ranging from 59 m3 ha(-1) in northern boreal coniferous forests to 216 m' ha(-1) in mixed mountain forest in central Europe. These values were comparable to dead wood volumes in similar forest types in eastern NorthAmerica. In contrast, typical dead wood in managed forests is 2-20 m(3) ha(-1) due to wood extraction and short rotations. Main factors influencing dead wood amounts are site productivity, decomposition rate and disturbance regime, which are all included in the concept of forest types. Because forest type plays a major role for potential dead wood quantities, we suggest a differentiated approach to dead wood as an indicator for sustainable forest management.