Pretty darn excited to say that one of my dissertation chapters has been accepted for publication! That component of my research asked some pretty basic questions about the role of dead trees in the carbon cycle of a managed loblolly pine forest in the southeastern US–namely, how much carbon is in dead trees (snags, logs, and taproots) and how long does it stick around? We found that at the time of the study, which was when the forest was 50 years old, dead wood carbon added up to 13% of total ecosystem carbon storage. However, the wood decays quite quickly in that warm and humid environment–95% of wood decomposed within 24 years of the tree dying. The half life for dead tree carbon was about five and a half years. The results will be published in Canadian Journal of Forest Research!
Update: the article is now available online as a e-First article.