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The rotten wood type known as mudguts, within a split log of Eucalyptus obliqua. |
Image: Marie Yee |
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Project summary:
One of the advantages of conducting research in an LTER site is the ability to build on others’ research. To do this effectively, it is important that those projects exploring similar aspects of ecology are based on a shared understanding of how that aspect can be described and categorised. The array of rotten wood types found within Eucalyptus obliqua coarse woody debris is a case in point. While it would be possible to categorise these in a number of ways, in practice the following system, incorporating 26 rotten woody types, each with its own three-letter acronym, has proven to be sufficient for most purposes in the lowland wet eucalypt forest at Warra. It has been derived from the pioneering work of Marie Yee, Anna Hopkins, Kate Harrison and Lee Stamm – although none of these research projects had the benefit of the standard descriptor set presented here. Since this system seems to work acceptably well for CWD derived from other local tree species too, researchers conducting projects at Warra are strongly encouraged to adopt it. This is not to preclude the possibility of individual researchers using their own systems, but it is important that these remain compatible with the system summarised here so that the resultant datasets also remain compatible.
SAP: No rot (sapwood)
NOR: No rot (heartwood)
BAR: No rot (bark)
DIW: Discoloured wood
DBW: Discoloured borer wood
DBW: Dark borer wood
DSR: Dark stringy rot
PSP: Pale spongy rot
SPR: Small pocket rot
FSR: Fibrous surface rot
JSR: Jelly surface rot
PPR: Pale pocket rot
PSR: Pale stringy rot
YDS: Yellow dry slaty rot
CPD: Combination pocket dark rot
DCS: Dark cubic surface rot
DBC: Dark blocky crumbly rot
DBF: Dark blocky fibrous rot
ASP: Internal airspace
EXA: External airspace
MYC: Mycelium
MUD: Mudguts
FRA: Frass
CHA: Charcoal
HUM: Humus
HSO: Humus soil
Download a pdf (1.4Mb) illustrating this rotten wood type system, suitable for use in the field.
Methodology: Compilation of information from recognised experts
Datasets: None available.
Publications: Grove, S.J. (2007). Mudguts. The Tasmanian Naturalist 129: 2-7.
Harrison, K. (2007). Saproxylic beetles associated with habitat features in Eucalyptus obliqua trees in the southern forests of Tasmania. Doctoral thesis, Department of Zoology, University of Tasmania, Hobart.
Hopkins, A. (2006). The taxonomy and ecology of wood decay fungi in Eucalyptus obliqua trees and logs in the wet sclerophyll forests of southern Tasmania. Doctoral thesis, University of Tasmania, Hobart.
Hopkins, A.J.M., Harrison, K.S., Grove, S.J., Wardlaw, T.J. & Mohammed, C.L. (2005). Wood decay fungi and beetle assemblages associated with living Eucalyptus obliqua trees: early results from studies at the Warra LTER Site, Tasmania. Tasforests 16: 111-126.
Stamm, L. (2007). Decomposition in Tasmanian Eucalyptus obliqua coarse woody debris. Honours thesis, University of Tasmania, Hobart.
Wardlaw, T.J. (2003). The extent, impact and management of stem decay in young regrowth eucalypt forests scheduled for thinning in Tasmania. School of Agricultural Science, University of Tasmania.
Yee, M. (2005). The ecology and habitat requirements of saproxylic beetles native to Tasmanian wet eucalypt forests: potential impacts of commercial forestry practices. PhD, University of Tasmania, Hobart.
Yee, M., Grove, S.J., Richardson, A. & Mohammed, C. (2006). Brown rot in inner heartwood: why large logs support characteristic saproxylic beetle assemblages of conservation concern. Pages 42-56 in S. J. Grove, and J. L. Hanula, editors. Insect biodiversity and dead wood. Proceedings of a symposium at the International Congress of Entomology, Brisbane, Australia, August 2004. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Athens.
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