PARENT SESSION
Oral Session 5: Disturbance Ecology I: Scaling, Wind, and Ice.
Presiding: D McKenzie
Monday, August 2, 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM, Meeting Room B 113.
Down deadwood buildup and carbon redistribution in a pond pine woodland following hurricane Isabel.
Gavazzi, Michael*,1, McNulty, Steven1, Boggs, Johnny 1, Strickland, Sara1, Chojnacky, David2, Moore Myers, Jennifer1, 1 USDA Forest Service, Raleigh, NC, USA2 USDA Forest Service, Washington DC, USA
ABSTRACT- Coastal regions in the eastern US experience on average one major hurricane every two to three years. Hurricane damage to southern US forests can exceed $1 billion in timber losses and alter the dynamics of carbon pools and wildfire fuel buildup. While research has focused primarily on losses to timber yield, there is little information regarding the impact hurricanes have on carbon pool redistribution and wildfire fuel buildup. In 2002, we established 29 field plots on an 88-acre tract of Pond Pine Woodland in Dare County, NC to measure down deadwood (DDW) biomass and assess wildfire risk in the eastern US. In September 2003 Hurricane Isabel (a Category 2 hurricane) moved through eastern North Carolina adding DDW to our study area. In January 2004 we remeasured all 29 plots to assess the changes in DDW biomass and carbon allocation due to Hurricane Isabel. The amount of fine DDW (< 3 inch diameter) remained relatively constant following the hurricane; however, coarse DDW (>3 inches diameter) significantly increased 147% to 11.6 tons/ha, and total DDW increased 58% to 27.7 tons/ha. Assuming a carbon to biomass fraction of 0.53, hurricane Isabel resulted in 5.4 ton/ha of carbon being redistributed to DDW. This research agrees with previous findings that hurricane damage must be considered in assessing wildfire risk and carbon pools in forested ecosystems.
Key words: hurricane, wildfire fuel, down deadwood, carbon