The smell of decay is thick in the air, as ancient networks of mushroom mycelium break down coarse woody debris, turning it into healthy soils and transporting nutrients, even data, from tree to tree, all throughout the forest floor–like Earth's organic Internet.
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Habitat with abundant coarse woody debris is preferred by white-throated woodrats for cover (see Cover). In pinyon-juniper woodlands at the Piñon Canyon Maneuver site near Trinidad, Colorado, white-throated woodrats were captured most often in areas with coarse woody debris. In an actively flooded riparian channel and floodplain at Montezuma Castle National Monument, white-throated woodrat occurrence was significantly (P<0.05) greater in areas containing coarse woody debris than areas without coarse woody debris. In a pinyon-juniper woodland in the Gila National Forest, New Mexico, white-throated woodrats responded favorably to mechanical treatments that increased the amount of coarse woody debris.
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Coarse woody debris is also important in wetlands, particularly in deltas where woody debris accumulates.
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Coarse woody debris in Białowieża Forest, Poland Coarse woody debris (CWD) or coarse woody habitat (CWH) refers to fallen dead trees and the remains of large branches on the ground in forests and in rivers or wetlands.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p, p. 225-227.
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Coarse woody debris may contribute to the intensity of wildfire. In fire-prone forests, coarse woody debris can be a significant fuel during a wildfire. High amounts of fuels can lead to increased fire severity and size. CWD may be managed to reduce fuel levels, particularly in forests where fire exclusion has resulted in the buildup of fuels.
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Sternotherus is a highly aquatic genus. But some species, like the common musk turtle, are known to bask on fallen trees and coarse woody debris on shorelines.
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Many food webs rely on cross-boundary subsidies of detritus for sources of energy and nutrients (Huxel and McCann 1998). For example, a series of lakes in Wisconsin were examined for the presence of Coarse woody debris (CWD) and the characteristics of the surrounding landscape that might control its input to lakes. Coarse woody debris in these lakes is important for providing habitat and food resources for a variety of organisms including small fish (Werner and Hall 1988), algae, and detritivores (Bowen et al. 1998). Marburg et al.
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Harmon, M. E., Franklin, J. F., Swanson, F. J., Sollins, P., Gregory, S. V., Lattin, J. D., ... & Lienkaemper, G. W. (1986). Ecology of coarse woody debris in temperate ecosystems. In Advances in ecological research (Vol. 15, pp. 133-302).
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A dead standing tree – known as a snag – provides many of the same functions as coarse woody debris. The minimum size required for woody debris to be defined as "coarse" varies by author, ranging from in diameter. Since the 1970s, forest managers worldwide have been encouraged to allow dead trees and woody debris to remain in woodlands, recycling nutrients trapped in the wood and providing food and habitat for a wide range of organisms, thereby improving biodiversity. The amount of coarse woody debris is considered an important criterion for the evaluation and restoration of temperate deciduous forest.
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Creed, I. F., D. L. Morrison, and N. S. Nicholas. "., Is Coarse Woody Debris a Net Sink or Source of Nitrogen in the Red Spruce – Fraser Fir Forest of the Southern Appalachians, U.S.A.?" National Research Council Canada 24 (2004): 716-27. Print.
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Fallen debris and trees in streams provide shelter for fish, amphibians and mammals by modifying the flow of water and sediment. Turtles of many species may also use coarse woody debris for basking.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition).
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The minute tree-fungus beetles, family Ciidae, are a sizeable group of beetles which inhabit Polyporales bracket fungi or coarse woody debris. Most numerous in warmer regions, they are nonetheless widespread and a considerable number of species occur as far polewards as Scandinavia for example.
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In the liberation cutting, the worst trees remain and regeneration was likely an afterthought to a logging operation. Harvesting the undesired trees is not a requirement in liberation operations; the poor quality trees may be killed in place and left as snags, or felled and left to contribute coarse woody debris.
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Fishers are more likely to be found in old-growth forests. Since female fishers require moderately large trees for denning, forests that have been heavily logged and have extensive second growth appear to be unsuitable for their needs.Powell, p. 92. Fishers also select for forest floors with large amounts of coarse woody debris.
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They are mainly found on trees (living and dead) and coarse woody debris, and may resemble mushrooms. Some form annual fruiting bodies while others are perennial and grow larger year after year. Bracket fungi are typically tough and sturdy and produce their spores, called basidiospores, within the pores that typically make up the undersurface.
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Coarse woody debris, particularly on slopes, stabilizes soils by slowing downslope movement of organic matter and mineral soil. Leaves and other debris collect behind CWD, allowing for decomposition to occur. Infiltration of precipitation is improved as well. During dry weather, CWD slows evaporation of soil moisture and provides damp microhabitats for moisture-sensitive organisms.
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The forest is mixed coniferous, and contains a lot of coarse woody debris. The unspoilt area is an important habitat for several unusual species, including lesser twayblade, heath spotted orchid and northern coralroot. It is also a preferred habitat for several birds, like osprey, red- throated loon and Eurasian three-toed woodpecker; the latter two are on the national Swedish red list.
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Mud Mountain Lake only fills with water during conditions of exceptionally high stream flow. The White River exhibits braided river and meander behavior with coarse woody debris deposited on extensive gravel bars. Populus trichocarpa, with its brilliant yellow fall foliage, grows alongside in the Abies amabilis forest. Below Mud Mountain Dam the White River enters the greater Tacoma metropolitan area.
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The species occurs in a wide variety of habitats - deciduous and mixed forests for instance in Western European broadleaf forests, in ruderal areas, in parks, gardens, and meadows on grasses, bushes, and trees. It is also found in forest litter, on brushwood, in moss, in coarse woody debris and compost.Koch, K., Die Käfer Mitteleuropas, Ökologie. Vol. 2 (Goecke und Evers Verlag, Krefeld, 1989).
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Ernst et al. (1994), pp. 139–140. Although it is more aquatic than some turtles, it is also capable of climbing, and may be seen basking on fallen trees and woody debris.Ernst et al. (1994), p. 142. Fallen trees and coarse woody debris are known to be important components of wetland habitat, and may be particularly beneficial to basking turtles.Keddy (2010), p. 229.
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The California giant salamander breeds from March to May, with egg-laying peaking in May. Eggs are concealed several feet below the surface in cold, slowly flowing water often beneath rocks and coarse woody debris in stream bottoms. Adults sometimes stay near their nests. Larvae may lose their external gills and transform to terrestrial adults after 1 to 2 years.
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Thus CWD is important actor contributing to soil nutrients cycles. CWD, while itself not particularly rich in nitrogen, contributes nitrogen to the ecosystem by acting as a host for nonsymbiotic free-living nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Scientific studies show that coarse woody debris can be a significant contributor to biological carbon sequestration. Trees store atmospheric carbon in their wood using photosynthesis.
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Pleurotus ostreatus Gilled fungi with laterally-attached fruiting bodies are said to be pleurotoid (Gr.: pleurē + ōtos + -oid, literally "side-ear form" or "having the likeness of Pleurotus ssp."). Pleurotoid fungi are typically wood- decay fungi and are found on dead and dying trees and coarse woody debris. The pleurotoid form is polyphyletic, having evolved a number of times within the Basidiomycota.
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The continuing pressure to increase deer populations, and the continued killing of top carnivores, suggests that overgrazing by deer will continue to be a significant forest conservation problem. Objective criteria for the restoration of deciduous forest include large trees, coarse woody debris, spring ephemeral, and top predators.Keddy, P.A. and C. G.Drummond. 1996. Ecological properties for the evaluation, management, and restoration of temperate deciduous forest ecosystems.
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Gelatoporiaceae fungi are saprophytic, and cause white-rot in coarse woody debris. Many of the species have been reported frequently from burned wood, although none absolutely require it as a substrate. Cinereomyces and Gelatoporia have a temperate-boreal distribution in the Northern Hemisphere; the distribution of Obba is similar but it is also found in the Southern Hemisphere. Sebipora is found in tropical Asia.
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It was found that the presence of beavers increased numbers in aquatic invertebrates, insects, amphibians, birds and bats. Dams create places for insects to lay eggs, such as dragonflies. Coarse woody debris (CWD) from beaver food caches, dams, lodges, and drowned trees increases deadwood insects and provide nesting holes for waterfowl. Observations of otters recolonizing areas that have become more suitable for them following beaver colonization.
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Torvalla Virgin Forest Nature Reserve () is a nature reserve in Jämtland County in Sweden. The nature reserve serves to protect an old-growth forest and a rich fen. The ancient forest is dominated by spruce and Scots pine, with birch, rowan and aspen growing in glades. The great amount of coarse woody debris creates good habitats for many species of fungi, such as Phellinidium ferrugineofuscum, Phlebia mellea and Fomitopsis rosea.
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It occurs in western European broadleaf forests eastern deciduous forests, Sarmatic mixed forests, at forest edges, and in parks and gardens wastelands and in Eurasian Steppe, Pannonian Steppe biotopes. It is found on bushes and deciduous trees, on grasses, under bark, in moss on trees, in leaf litter, on brushwood, coarse woody debris and in alluvial soil.Koch, K., Die Käfer Mitteleuropas, Ökologie. Vol. 2 (Goecke und Evers Verlag, Krefeld, 1989).
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Mosses and lichens may cover logs, while ferns and trees may regenerate on the top of logs. Large fragments of CWD that provide such habitat for herbs, shrubs, and trees are called nurse logs. CWD can also protect young plants from herbivory damage by acting as barriers to browsing animals. The persistence of coarse woody debris can shelter organisms during a large disturbance to the ecosystem such as wildfire or logging.
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Particularly valuable is the coarse woody debris that provides nutrient cycling nesting grounds and microhabitats for invertebrates and deadwood inhabitants. Deer have been living in the park since it was a royal hunting ground. Other mammals include the fox, rabbits and a larger population of the European polecat. Noctule bats and common pipistrelle live in the park, the Daubenton's bat was sporadically detected and the Nathusius's pipistrelle is suspected as a guest.
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Gäle Virgin Forest Nature Reserve () is a nature reserve in Jämtland County in Sweden. The nature reserve protects an area of surviving old-growth forest dominated by spruce in a landscape otherwise heavily forested. Trees up to 300 years old grow in the reserve. The unspoilt forest with its coarse woody debris provides a habitat for several red listed or unusual species such as Schismatomma pericleum, Chaenothecopsis viridialba, Haploporus odorus and Anomoporia bombycina.
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She is interested in how fungi fight with each other as they investigate the forest floor. Boddy identified that fungi battle each other by producing inhibitory chemicals that can be transmitted through the air, equivalent to the poisonous gas produced during World War I. Her research on fighting fungi was featured in New Scientist. Boddy leads the Fungal Ecology Group at Cardiff University. She looked at the decomposition of coarse woody debris.
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A fir tree snag among living fir trees In forest ecology, a snag refers to a standing, dead or dying tree, often missing a top or most of the smaller branches. In freshwater ecology it refers to trees, branches, and other pieces of naturally occurring wood found sunken in rivers and streams; it is also known as coarse woody debris. When used in manufacturing, especially in Scandinavia, they are often called "dead wood" and in Finland "kelo wood".
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Highland Aspen Group. Furthermore, the flooding of areas may cause over saturation to the point that some plants or trees die, however this increases coarse woody debris (CWD) found in the areas, attracting wood insects and other species. Certain trees were also reported to have migrated to areas that were drier and a more suitable habitat, thus showing that beavers can help diversify plant species in varying areas. Additionally, ponds and increased waterways have increased growth of both aquatic and non-aquatic plants.
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In our farmed landscape hedges have the largest variety of microhabitats. In addition to the groves there is a herb layer—rich in species—a sunny herb fringe, coarse woody debris, and possibly special biotopes, such as the piles of stones. Because of the transition from water- permeable to impermeable rock layers several spring horizons have emerged, explaining the richness of the springs. On Hesselberg there are several deep wells, but most springs appear in the form of flat swamps.
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Blera fallax, Belgium In Glen Affric, Scotland, the Trees for Life group found the black tinder fungus beetle (Bolitothorus reticulatus) is dependent on a particular fungus (Fomes fomentarius), which itself grows only on dead birch. Another insect, the pine hoverfly (Blera fallax), requires rotting Scots Pine in order to reproduce. In the temperate deciduous forests of Eastern North America, coarse woody debris provides habitat ranging from salamanders to ferns. It is an important indicator for evaluating and restoring this type of forest.
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White-throated woodrats must rely on self-constructed, ground-level shelter to lower the energetic costs of thermoregulation in extreme environments. White-throated woodrats typically use 2 types of shelter: houses, constructed at the base of plants, and dens in rock crevices. Other shelter types include holes and crevices in cutbanks along washes, burrows of other animals, piles of coarse woody debris, and human habitations and structures. Houses and dens are often maintained by successive generations of white-throated woodrats.
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Houses are built by white- throated woodrats at the base of trees, shrubs, and cacti or in piles of coarse woody debris. White-throated woodrats prefer to construct houses at the bases of plants that provide both adequate shelter and food. Houses are constructed of various materials and are typically 3 to 10 feet (1–3 m) in diameter and up to 3 feet tall. Dens function as houses but are located in rock crevices, rock fissures, and under boulder piles.
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Sea star regenerating legs Woody material, often referred to as coarse woody debris, decays relatively slowly in many forests in comparison to most other organic materials, due to a combination of environmental factors and wood chemistry (see lignin). Trees growing in arid and/or cold environments do so especially slowly. Thus, tree trunks and branches can remain on the forest floor for long periods, affecting such things as wildlife habitat, fire behavior, and tree regeneration processes. Some trees leave behind eerie skeletons after death.
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The long-toed salamander is an ecologically versatile species living in a variety of habitats, ranging from temperate rainforests, coniferous forests, montane riparian, sagebrush plains, red fir forest, semiarid sagebrush, cheatgrass plains, to alpine meadows along the rocky shores of mountain lakes. Adults can be located in forested understory, hiding under coarse woody debris, rocks, and in small mammal burrows. During the spring breeding season, adults can be found under debris or in the shoreline shallows of rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds. Ephemeral waters are often frequented.
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Snags are an important structural component in forest communities, making up 10–20% of all trees present in old-growth tropical, temperate, and boreal forests. Snags and downed coarse woody debris represent a large portion of the woody biomass in a healthy forest. In temperate forests, snags provide critical habitat for more than 100 species of bird and mammal, and snags are often called 'wildlife trees' by foresters. Dead, decaying wood supports a rich community of decomposers like bacteria and fungi, insects, and other invertebrates.
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Downed wood replenishes topsoil as it decays. Fungus on a tree stump in the Białowieża Forest, one of the last largely intact primeval forests in Central Europe Fallen timber, or coarse woody debris, contributes carbon-rich organic matter directly to the soil, providing a substrate for mosses, fungi, and seedlings, and creating microhabitats by creating relief on the forest floor. In some ecosystems such as the temperate rain forest of the North American Pacific coast, fallen timber may become nurse logs, providing a substrate for seedling trees.
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Coarse woody debris and its subsequent decomposition recycles nutrients that are essential for living organisms, such as carbon, nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. Saprotrophic fungi and detritivores such as bacteria and insects directly consume dead wood, releasing nutrients by converting them into other forms of organic matter which may then be consumed by other organisms. However CWD itself is extremely scarce in physiologically important nutrients. To fulfill nutritional requirements of consumers, CWD must be first nutritionally enriched by transport of nutrients from outside of CWD.
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These beetles live in numerous different habitats, from lowlands to subalpine areas (Prealps), and Western European broadleaf forests, mixed forests and meadows, as well as in fields, forests, and other Life zones of central Europe. They can be found in gardens and parks, on grasses and herbaceous plants, in bushes, and trees. In addition the species can be found in forest litter, on brushwood, on coarse woody debris, in moss, in straw in sheds, in detritus and alluvial soil, in rotten plant residues, and also in compost.Koch, K., Die Käfer Mitteleuropas, Ökologie. Vol.
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Typical montane forests in this ecoregion is dominated by Pacific silver fir and also contains noble fir, Douglas fir, and Alaska yellow-cedar. Coarse woody debris is very characteristic of the Silver Fir Ecoregion, providing microsites for organisms. The Pacific silver fir zone is in some of the steepest parts of the topography and heavy snow often leads to avalanche gullies. In every major drainage basin along the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains there is evidence of avalanche tracks breaking up the forested vegetation with nonforested vegetation.
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The abundance of coarse woody debris added to the forest floor is beneficial to salamander and snake species, while the release of understory shrubs provides an increase of berry- foraging opportunities for bear and songbirds. In general, the immature, grassy forest regenerated after a clear cut fulfills specific habitat requirements for many species that cannot be found in mature forests. In the boreal forest, for example, wildfire has been suppressed by humans, resulting in many overmature stands. Even aged timber management restores the successional cycle and allows early successional species to recolonize immature habitat.
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Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World. Ecology and Conservation. p. 83-84. Western red cedar and Western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) are the most common tree species in low elevation inland rainforest patches, while the high elevation rainforest regions of British Columbia are dominated by Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa).Stevenson, Susan K.; Jull, Michael J.; Rogers, Bruce J. (2006). “Abundance and attributes of wildlife trees and coarse woody debris at three silvicultural systems study areas in the Interior Cedar-Hemlock Zone, British Columbia”.
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Little information is available on how macrofauna are affected by the presence of pit and mounds in a forested landscape. One would believe they would benefit from the presence of coarse woody debris as habitat and new flora that establish in the pit and mounds, but there is a lack of published evidence. One macrofauna species that has received attention is the earthworm population in a lowland temperate rainforest of Belgium. It was observed that both earthworm speciation and biomass differed based on location within the pit and mound microsites examined.
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Tongass National Forest, Alaska Old-growth forests tend to have large trees and standing dead trees, multilayered canopies with gaps that result from the deaths of individual trees, and coarse woody debris on the forest floor. Forest regenerated after a severe disturbance, such as wildfire, insect infestation, or harvesting, is often called second-growth or 'regeneration' until enough time passes for the effects of the disturbance to be no longer evident. Depending on the forest, this may take from a century to several millennia. Hardwood forests of the eastern United States can develop old- growth characteristics in 150–500 years.
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By providing both food and microhabitats for many species, coarse woody debris helps to maintain the biodiversity of forest ecosystems. Up to forty percent of all forest fauna is dependent on CWD. Studies in western North America showed that only five per cent of living trees consisted of living cells by volume, whereas in dead wood it was as high as forty percent by volume, mainly fungi and bacteria. Colonizing organisms that live on the remains of cambium and sapwood of dead trees aid decomposition and attract predators that prey on them and so continue the chain of metabolizing the biomass.
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Ensatina eschscholtzii, a species of salamander associated with CWD in western North America The list of organisms dependent on CWD for habitat or as a food source includes bacteria, fungi, lichens, mosses and other plants, and in the animal kingdom, invertebrates such as termites, ants, beetles, and snails, amphibians such as salamanders, reptiles such as the slow-worm, as well as birds and small mammals. One third of all woodland birds live in the cavities of dead tree trunks. Woodpeckers, tits, chickadees, and owls all live in dead trees, and grouse shelter behind woody debris. Some plants use coarse woody debris as habitat.
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The white-throated woodrat occupies a variety of plant communities from sea level to 9,200 feet (2,800 m) but is most common in Sonoran and Chihuahuan desert grassland and desert shrub habitats. The white-throated woodrat is generally associated with creosotebush, mesquite, cacti (particularly prickly-pear and cholla (Cylindropuntia spp.)), catclaw acacia, and paloverde. These plants provide cover and succulent plant food (>50% water by weight) (see section "Food habits"), the 2 most critical habitat requirements for white-throated woodrat. White-throated woodrats prefer habitat with low tree canopy cover, high shrub and rock cover, and coarse woody debris.
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In certain subtropical areas such as Australia where bushfire constitutes a major hazard, the amount of CWD left standing or lying is determined by what may be considered safe in the course of reasonable fire prevention. However, when fires do occur, invertebrates find shelter either within or beneath dead tree logs. In Canada, bears seek out dead tree logs to tear open and look for and feed on ants and beetles, a fact that has encouraged the authorities to reserve a sufficient amount of coarse woody debris for these purposes. In North America, too, CWD is often used as barriers to prevent browsing deer and elk from damaging young trees.
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A major food source for the squirrels are fungi of various species, although they also eat lichens, mushrooms, all mast-crop nuts, tree sap, insects, carrion, bird eggs and nestlings, buds and flowers. The squirrels are able to locate truffles by olfaction, though they also seem to use cues such as the presence of coarse woody debris, indicating a decaying log, and spatial memory of locations where truffles were found in the past.Northern Flying Squirrel, Natural History NotebooksNorthern Flying Squirrel, Northern University The northern flying squirrel is also known to cache food for when food supplies are lower. These caches can be in cavities in trees, as well as in the squirrels' nest.
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Within the year, martens may modify their movements during the winter because it is an additional energetic constraint that they have to respond to the harsher weather conditions and lower resource availability. Newfoundland martens are forest-dependent species because they require overhead canopy for security and avoidance of predation, structurally complexity with abundant coarse woody debris and large diameter trees for winter resting sites, maternal dens, and access to small mammal prey in winter, as well as martens are more successful at catching prey in the older, structurally complex forest which is not necessarily where the prey are abundant. The older coniferous forest is not needed just for escape from predation, prey availability, and den sites but also for thermoregulation. Tree height is important to provide this thermally neutral area from resting sites as well as escape routes from predators.
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