1. Residence Time of Coarse Woody Debris on the Forest Floor in Southeastern Indiana Forests M. Ross Alexander and Darrin L. Rubino Biology Department, Hanover College, Hanover, IN

2. What is CWD? Downed branches and boles – greater than 10 cm diameter – longer than 1 m in length Divided into classes based on degree of rot (punkiness) Why?

3. Decay Classes Common classes defined by Pyle and Brown (1998) 5 classes – Class I Freshly fallen logs – Class II Bark still present, solid

4. – Class III Bark typically absent, wood: Spongy, flaky – Class IV No longer solid Crushes when struck (no flaking) – Class V Predominantly powder wood Typically flattened shape

5. Goals Determine death dates of logs within decay classes Determine how long different species reside on forest floor Are there a differences in the decay rates of different hardwood species?

6. Methods Several forests in Southeastern Indiana were sampled. Purposefully chose samples that had either bark or wane. Wane = outermost growth ring “Cookie” samples were taken using a chain saw

7. Surface Preparation Sanding –Finer grits of sandpaper –50, 80, 120, 180, 220, 320, 400, 600 –Table sanders –Palm (orbital) sanders –Hand sanding

8. 1

9. Dating Place arbitrary years on sanded sample Skeleton plots

10. Dating Measure sample Allows for “Crossdating”

11. 19901980 1971 – 2003 Crossdating Process

12. 19901980 ? – ? 1971 – 2003

13. 19901980 1971 – 2003 ? – ?

14. 1990 19601970 1980 1971 – 2003 1953 – 1979

15. Results 88 samples from 8 species (LITU, FRAX, SAAL, FAGR, ROPS, Red and White Oak, PRSE, ) were analyzed ANOVA analysis was performed where appropriate Analysis was not performed on PRSE, SAAL, or the Oaks Classn I29 II13 III39 IV7

19. Beech F = 19.07 P < 0.001 n = 40

20. Decay Class III F = 5.70 P = 0.03 n = 35 a

21. Conclusions Decay rates are different from species to species More sampling is needed to increase depth Future work: Chemical analysis to determine nutrient release among different species.

22. Acknowledgements Biology Dept. at Hanover College Patricia Walne Student Research Fund Cassie Lothery Abby Simpson