1st of 3 Part Training Series

Christopher Woodall

INTRODUCTION TO THE P2+ DOWN

WOODY MATERIALS INDICATOR

Why Collect DWM data?What is P2+ DWM?What are Down Woody Materials?Sampling Design Theory

OUTLINE

Forest StructureWildlife HabitatFuel LoadingCarbon StocksNutrient Cycles

WHY COLLECT DWM DATA?

Measure structural attributes missed by phase 2

FOREST STRUCTURE

Coarse Woody Debris

Fine Woody Debris

Litter

Duff

WILDLIFE

The DWM Inventory describes the amount and condition of wildlife habitat

WILDLIFE

0200

400

600800

1000

1200

14001600

1800

2000

Il IN IA KS MI MN MO NE ND SD WI

State

ft3 /ac

re

Mean estimates of CWD volumes for forests of the North Central Region

WILDLIFE

68%

17%

14%

1%

3.0-7.9 8.0-12.9 13.0-17.9 18.0+

Transect Diameter (in)A40%

1%

20%6%

33%

1 2 3 4 5

Decay ClassB

Proportions of coarse woody debris pieces per acre by transect diameter (A) and decay class (B) (1=least decayed, 5=most decayed), Indiana, 2001-2003

FUELS

1-hr

10-hr

100-hr

Total Fine Woody Debris

LANDFIRE: National Mapping of Fuel LoadingsFuels Management: Allocation of Fuel Management

FundingResource Assessments: Relationships to ownership

and managementForest Vegetation Simulator Fuel Estimates

FIRE SCIENCE

CARBON STOCKS

Climate Negotiations

Wood energy policies and availability

Climate change mitigation

DWM AND OTHER PLOT MEASUREMENTS

Completes inventory of trees from living, to dead, to fully decomposed

Microplot Sapling

Sub-plot Tree

Sub-plot Standing

Dead

DWM Down and Dead

FUTURE OF DWM MEASUREMENT

Declining Budgets

DWM Measurement Critical to Numerous Resource Assessments

Major User Groups Request Continued Collection of DWM

= A More Efficient version of P3 DWM aka P2+

WHAT IS DWM P2+?

Collect detailed DWM data on a few plots

Collect only most important DWM data on many plots

Vs

THEORY BEHIND P2+

May better meet user’s needs using a “rapid” protocol to measure most requested data items on a “substantial” panel of plots:

Fuel loadings (including piles)Carbon stocks (including fine woody debris)

Biomass assessments

Use QA/QC information and user/field crew feedback to improve/remove variables

WHAT WAS DROPPED FROM PREVIOUS P3?

Fuelbed DepthAll microplot measurementsCWD end-point and length

measurementsOne transect per subplot

WHAT WAS REVISED?

Transect locationsOnly 2 transects per subplotSlash piles measured along

transectOnly CWD attributes at point of

intersection measuredNon-sampled statuses for

numerous components

BEHOLD NEW PLOT DESIGN

N

4 45

225

90

270

135

360

180

3

2

1

FWD < 0.25”& 0.26 – 0.9”

FWD 1.0 – 2.9””

6 ft. HD.

10 ft. HD.

24 ft. HD

HD.=horizontal dist.

Subplot

CWD Transect

FWD Transect

CWD≥ 3.00”

Duff/Litter Sample Points

315

Subplot Center

Avoids transect orientation bias while reducing number of transects…imagine it as one big “Y” transect from old P3 design

WHY THE NEW TRANSECTS?

N

4 45

225

90

270

135

360

180

3

2

1

315

Final subplot 1 transect balanceslarger “Y” orientation

DEFINITION OF DWM STAYS THE SAME

Dead material within forests in various stages of decay such as fallen trees, branches, and leaf

litter

The FIA program places numerous forest ecosystem components into the DWM

Indicator

DWM COMPONENTS

Coarse Woody Debris

Duff Slash

FineWoodyDebris

Litter

COARSE AND FINE WOODY DEBRIS

Transect Diameter Class Name

0.00-0.24 inches Small FWD

0.25-0.99 inches Medium FWD

1.00-2.99 inches Large FWD

3.00+ inches CWD

FUEL-HOUR CLASSES

Transect Diameter Class Name Hour-Class

0.00-0.24 inches Small FWD 1-hour

0.25-0.99 inches Medium FWD 10-hour

1.00-2.99 inches Large FWD 100-hour

3.00+ inches CWD 1000+-hour

DUFF AND LITTER

“unrecognizable plant parts”

“dead plant material on forest floor

surface”

SLASH/RESIDUE PILES

Piles of CWD

DWM SAMPLING THEORY

DWM Component Sampling Design

CWD, FWD, Slash Piles Transect

Duff and Litter Simple Random Sampling at Specified Points in Sub-plot

DWM diversity requires a diversity of sampling methods

DEPTH ESTIMATES ON SUBPLOT

Duff

Litter

In order to estimate depth of duff and

litter on a subplot…

8 sample points located for measurement on

subplots at the end of each transect

N

4 45

225

90

270

135

360

180

3

2

1

315

DEPTH ESTIMATES ON SUBPLOTS

Sample Locations

If point covered in snow or water it can now be indicated and not sampled

However, if rock or log is at point then it is sampled with potentially no duff/litter at location

DEPTH SAMPLING STATUS

Old P3 Calculation

11 points with rocks = null1 point with deep litter = 5 inches

Plot Average = 5 inches

P2+ Calculation

11 points with rocks = 01 point with deep litter = 5 inches

Plot Average = 0.4 inches

Potentially Biased!

TRANSECT SAMPLING

FWD and CWD pieces are not all counted within a

given arearather…

All FWD and CWD pieces that intersect a sampling

plane are tallied

TRANSECT SAMPLING

Probability of match stick intersecting

randomly placed line related to

number of sticks and length of line

TRANSECT SAMPLING PLANES

Fuel Bed

IntersectingSampling

Plane

CWD Pieces

DWM Sample Protocol establishes sampling transects that radiate from FIA subplot centers to intersect fine and coarse woody pieces

CWD AND FWD TRANSECTS

Use 2 transects established on each subplot to sample CWD,

one transect on each subplot to

sample FWD

N

4 45

225

90

270

135

360

180

3

2

1

315

ONLY MEASURE PIECE INFORMATION AT POINT OF

INTERSECTION

Transect imaginary sampling plane

VOLUME/BIOMASS ESTIMATION FROM JUST TRANSECT

MEASUREMENT?

We have only been using transect diameter for fine woody debris estimation for over a decade…now we apply similar estimator to coarse woody debris

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BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER

N

4 45

225

90

270

135

360

180

3

2

1

FWD < 0.25”& 0.26 – 0.9”

FWD 1.0 – 2.9””

6 ft. HD.

10 ft. HD.

24 ft. HD

HD.=horizontal dist.

Subplot

CWD Transect

FWD Transect

CWD≥ 3.00”

Duff/Litter Sample Points

315

Subplot Center

CONCLUSIONS

• The DWM indicator estimates numerous ecosystem components

• Data Crucial to Fire, Carbon, and Wildlife Sciences

• Integral Part of National FIA Program, Completes Tree Life Cycle

• A variety of sampling techniques for estimation of various DWM components

•P2+ should be more efficient and robust

QUESTIONS

Blast from PastP3 National TrainingMacon, GA2002