Ecology - Wildland Fuel Fundamentals and Applications - page 86

Table 6.1 Deposition and decomposition rates for material measured in various western US ecosystems (from Keane 2008a ). Fuel components are coarse
woody debris (CWD); twigs and branches are assumed to be less than 8 cm (3 inches) in diameter

Ecosystem Fuel component Deposition rate

(kg m −2 yr −1 )

Decay constant k (yr −1 ) Canadian

province or US
state

References

Pinus ponderosa Logs 0.03 0.05 AZ Avery et al. 1976 ; Klemmedson 1992

Foliage 0.29 0.05, 0.14, 0.08−0.18 CA, AZ Bray and Gorham 1964 ; Yavitt and Fahey 1982 ; Stohl-

gren 1988 ; Klemmedson et al. 1990 ; Hart et al. 1992

Pseudotsuga
menziesii

Logs 0.70, 0.45,

0.04,
0.15−0.45,
0.28

0.006−0.050 OR, WA Wright and Lauterback 1958 ; Grier and Logan 1977 ;

Gottfried 1978 ; Sollins 1982 ; Harmon et al. 1986 ; Spies
et al. 1988 ; Edmonds and Eglitis 1989 ; Harmon and Hua
1991

Twigs, branches - 0.007−0.129, 0.06−0.14,

0.06, 0.005−0.05

WA Fogel and Cromack 1977 ; Edmonds et al. 1986 ;

Edmonds 1987 ; Edmonds and Eglitis 1989 ; Christiansen
and Pickford 1991 ; Maguire 1994

Foliage 0.50,

0.17−0.33,
0.114−0.177

0.005−0.010, 0.44, 0.27,
0.41−0.56, 0.178−0.284

OR, BC, WA Dimock 1958 ; Turner and Long 1975; Fogel and Cro-

mack 1977 ; Edmonds 1979 , 1991 ; Graham 1982 ; Means
et al. 1985 ; Sollins et al. 1987 ; Harmon and Hua 1991 ;
Trofymow 1991 ; Prescott et al. 2000

Pinus contorta Logs 0.02 0.027, 0.082,

0.0016−0.0027, 0.115,
0.015

CO, AL Alexander 1954 ; Pearson 1987 ; Taylor et al. 1991 ; Busse

1994 ; Laiho and Prescott 1999 ; Kueppers et al. 2004

Twigs - 0.055 AL Taylor et al. 1991 ; Prescott et al. 1993

Foliage 0.362 0.115, 0.14, 0.09−0.11 AL, WY Yavitt and Fahey 1982 ; Taylor et al. 1991 ; Berg and

Ekbohm 1993 ; Stump and Binkley 1993 ; Laiho and
Prescott 1999

Tsuga
heterophylla

Logs 0.016−0.018 OR Graham 1982

Twigs, branches 0.08−0.24 WA Edmonds 1987

Foliage 0.3−0.5 BC Keenan et al. 1996

Abies lasiocarpa
and Picea spp.

Logs 0.001−0.0015 CO Kueppers et al. 2004

Foliage 0.2−0.23 0.09−0.17 AL Taylor et al. 1991 ; Laiho and Prescott 1999 ; Prescott

et al. 2003