Study
Ecology of coarse woody debris in temperate ecosystems
Harmon, M. E.; Franklin, J. F.; Swanson, F. J.; Sollins, P.; Gregory, S. V.; Lattin, J. D.; Anderson, N. H.; Cline, S. P.; Aumen, N. G.; Sedell, J. R.
Advances in Ecological Research, 1986
A synthesis of what was then known about fallen and standing dead wood in temperate forests and streams: how much there is, how long it lasts, how it decays and which organisms depend on it.
Dead wood is a major structural and nutritional component of forests rather than waste, persisting for decades to centuries, supporting a large specialist biota, stabilising streams and providing the seedbed for the next generation of trees.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Coarse woody debris is a functionally central component of forest ecosystems and its removal has consequences across the system.
How NatureHQ reads it
The reference that reframes deadwood from tidiness problem to habitat. A fallen trunk in an old forest is an address for hundreds of species, a slow-release nutrient store and often the only place seedlings can establish — which is why forestry that removes it changes what a forest contains, not merely how it looks.
- Temperate systems, and now several decades old, though the structural conclusions have held.
- A synthesis rather than new measurement.
- Quantities vary enormously between forest types, so the figures are illustrative.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Wood
The centre of a big trunk is dead, and the tree is fine — a hollow tree can be perfectly healthy.
Forests
Old forests are still absorbing carbon, and they are holding centuries of it already.
Decomposition
Two kinds of rot take wood apart in opposite ways, and you can tell which one has been at work by looking.
Decomposition
Dead wood is one of the richest habitats a forest has, and a tidy wood is a poorer one.
Forests
Fire, wind, drought and insects are how many forests renew themselves — and they are getting more frequent.
Published by: Elsevier journalsPublished in an Elsevier journal.
doi.org/10.1016/s0065-2504(08)60121-x
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref and OpenAlex on 2026-08-30.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-30.