1. Economic and Ecological Effects of Coarse Woody Debris
Cecilia Hennessy LaBonte PhD, Dept of Forestry and Natural Resources (FNR), Purdue
John B. Dunning PhD, FNR, Purdue
Michael Saunders PhD, FNR, Purdue
Eva Haviarova PhD, FNR, Purdue
Keith Summerville PhD, College of Arts and Sciences, Drake University
Jeff Holland PhD, Dept of Entomology, Purdue
Patrick Ruhl MS, FNR, Purdue

2. Economic and Ecological Impacts of Biomass Harvest
Biomass: coarse woody debris (CWD) that typically remains after a timber harvest
Tree tops, roots, small diameter trees, rotting wood, etc.
In the past, this was considered to have no value, so it was left behind
Recent advances in wood pellets and cellulosic ethanol production
Potential new markets for CWD

3. Economic Benefits
Does the landowner recoup the cost of labor and equipment?
What are the estimated costs of labor and equipment?
What are the estimated costs of shipment to processing plant?
Online biomass calculator
Manuscript: “Leave the chips where they lay, or cash them in? Weighing the costs of collecting and processing biomass material as part of a hardwood harvest” – In Prep

8. Ecological Impacts
What effect does removal of post-harvest biomass have on animal communities?
Compare species richness and abundance between treatments
What effect does removal have on pollinators and detritivores?
Future forest regeneration and health
Beetle and moth communities used

9. Ecological Products Masters Thesis: Patrick Ruhl
Effects of Biomass Harvest on Red-Backed Salamanders
Field-testing an estimation technique for eastern red-backed salamanders – Journal of Herpetology
Effect of biomass harvesting on the abundance and physiological health of eastern red-backed salamanders – Journal of Wildlife Management
1 Beetle, 1 Moth manuscript each, in prep
1 meta-analysis manuscript of salamander, beetle, and moth communities, in prep

10. Study Area: Jennings County
IN DNR

11. SEPAC 2010
USDA Farm Service

12. SEPAC 2013 Harvest occurred Sept 2012
Control
Control
Clear
CWD
Clear
Control
CWD
Clear
CWD

13. Importance of Woodland Salamanders
Indicator taxon for forest ecosystem health
Completely terrestrial
Nearly ubiquitous distribution
Specific microclimate requirements
Leaf litter, canopy cover, soil moisture, CWD
Flickr
My research focuses on the plethodontid salamander response.
Plethodontids have been suggested as a bioindicator for forest ecosystem health.
They are completely terrestrial so study sites don’t have to have a permanent water source to hold plethodontids.
Some species are nearly ubiquitous throughout the Northeastern united states
They have been suggested to form an essential trophic link between invertebrate fauna and larger predators
And they have relatively specific microhabitat and microclimate requirements making them sensitive to disturbance.
Nat Geo Creative
Brian Gratwicke

14. Salamander Sampling Artificial Cover Object arrays (25m x 25m)
Checked biweekly for six weeks
Timber harvest (Fall 2012)
Spring 2013
Fall 2013
Spring 2014
Environmental covariates
Temperature, soil moisture,
humidity, leaf litter depth

15. Salamander Results

16. Maximum Refugium Temperature Spring 2013
CWD% 17 32 52 67 82
100 UH

17. Conclusions Abundance
CWD retention positively correlated with salamander abundance
Bayesian N-Mixture Model
Larger temperature variance in harvested stands.
In conclusion, our results suggest that CWD retention in the context of a biomass harvest is positively correlated with salamander abundance.

18. Beetle Methods (volant only) 2012, 2013, 2014
Panel trap
10 m
10 m
10 m
10 m
Multiple funnel trap
Purple sticky trap
Window trap

19. Preliminary Beetle Results
Beetles categorized as longhorned or jewel
Total longhorns: 1176
Total species: 41
(up to ~2000 individuals from ~70 species)

20. Preliminary Beetle Results Non-Metric Multidimensional Scaling
2012
2013
2014

21. Clearcut, No CWD
2012
2013
2014

22. Clearcut, 20% CWD Retained
2012
2013
2014

23. Control – Unharvested
2012
2013
2014

24. Species Richness
Cleared
CWD
Unharvested

25. Lepidopteran Communities
Categorize moth species as:
Pollinators or detritivores
Specialists, generalists, or oligophagous
By qualifying species, we can analyze the effects of harvest treatments on functional groups of moths

26. Moth Methods
Traps set out 5 times at each location, left on overnight, collected the next morning
Collected June 18, 2014 – August 11, 2014
Sam Evans-Brown

27. Moth Species by Treatment
Total Individuals Identified: 1956
Total Species Identified: 183

28. Detritivores and Pollinators

29. B (Cleared), C (CWD), G (Unharvested)

30. Future Plans Analyze beetle trap locations
Check for spatial independence
NO spatial autocorrelation for moths
Functional group correlation with spatial location
Proximity to forest, agriculture fields
Evaluate relationship between treatment and functional group membership
Analyze shift in beetle communities over time
Control for year factor

31. Questions?