Patterns of deadwood volume and dynamics in Slovenian forests

Abstract

Deadwood, and its temporal and spatial variation, plays an important role in several forest ecosystem services. This study demonstrates the assessment of deadwood dynamics using data from Slovenian national forest inventory permanent sampling plots, employing a mass-balance approach. Our results reveal that deadwood volume is a highly variable metric across regions, deadwood types and tree species. Despite the influx of large volumes of new deadwood due to recent natural disturbances, only moderate increases in deadwood volume were observed between 2007 and 2018. This was mainly offset by deadwood losses due to salvage logging and decomposition. The extent of deadwood losses varied considerably by species. We discuss the implications of the calculation method on estimating changes in deadwood volume, compare these findings with existing literature on deadwood and highlight promising areas for future research activities to better understand deadwood dynamics.