Deadwood
Measure lying deadwood on line-intersect transects and standing snags on plots, by decay class, and compare the volume with a benchmark of about 20 m³/ha.
- For
- Consultant foresters
- Time
- 5 minutes to read
- Where
- Field app — Deadwood; web — Results › Deadwood
- Updated
On this page
What it measures and why
Deadwood, lying and standing, in all stages of decay is habitat for fungi, invertebrates and birds; certification standards ask for it to be retained (UKWAS gives roughly 20 m³/ha averaged as guidance). This method is not provisional.
Transects and plots
Lying deadwood is sampled on fixed 30 m transects on a bearing (laid out with the stand plots — Plan a field visit); standing snags on the stand plots.
Record in the field
- Walk each transect on its bearing. Record the transect even when no pieces cross it.
- Every piece ≥ 7 cm that crosses the line: diameter where the line crosses, measured perpendicular to the piece’s axis; decay class 1 (freshly fallen) to 5 (sapwood and heartwood largely decayed); species if known.
- Snags on the plot: species, DBH, height, decay class.
Read the result
- Deadwood volume (m³/ha) against your benchmark (default 20 m³/ha), with lying and standing separately.
- Biomass from decay-class densities, and the decaying share (classes 3–5) — items without a decay class are left out of it.
- The chart shows volume by decay class; a spread across classes means a continuous supply.
Common mistakes
- Measuring the piece’s largest diameter instead of the diameter at the crossing.
- Skipping transects with nothing on them — they are zeros and they count.
Sources: CCF biodiversity protocol (2023) §2.2.5; Van Wagner (1968) line-intersect sampling; decay classes after Tobin et al. (2007).