Coarse woody debris in the forests of the Novgorod region, Russia

The stores of coarse woody debris (CWD) were estimated at the plot, compartment and regional scales based on field inventory. The average volume of CWD changed over successional stages: from 20.69+/-9.64 m(3) ha(-1) in young stands up to ages 21 and 40 yr, to 51.35+/-3.04 m(3) ha(-1) in mature and over-mature stands. The contribution of snags and stumps to the total CWD stores was very low in comparison with downed wood. The stand age, dominant tree species, small-scale disturbances and site productivity explained the variance of CWD. CWD of the earlier decay classes dominated in the forests in the earlier successional stages, while CWD in the advanced decay classes dominated in the late successional forests.