Coarse woody debris in late-successional Picea abies forests in northern Europe: Variability in quantities and models of decay class dynamics

Coarse woody debris pools and their decay class dynamics were studied in three areas of unmanaged boreal forest in northern Finland, and in the Murmansk and Arkhangelsk provinces in northwestern Russia. The study areas had varying climatic and edaphic conditions, and disturbance histories. Living and dead trees (diameter at 1.3 m height ≥10 cm) were measured in five late-successional Picea abies-dominated stands in each of the three areas. Wood density and time since death were determined from randomly sampled dead P. abies, and their decay class dynamics were modeled using stage-based matrix models.