Best Practice Knowledge Base

4.4 Deadwood retention

Standing and lying deadwood retention. Schwarzwald, Germany ©Hernán Serrano-León

Retaining deadwood in forest restoration is a critical practice for enhancing biodiversity and ecosystem functionality. Deadwood, encompassing standing dead trees (snags) and fallen logs, provides essential habitats for a multitude of saproxylic organisms (eg. fungi, insects, and lichens). The presence of deadwood supports complex food webs and is essential to nutrient cycling within forest ecosystems. Translocating or creating deadwood can rapidly establish high-quality habitats, facilitating the colonization of deadwood-associated species in the restoration areas and enhancing biodiversity by creating heterogeneity.

I. Guidelines

Nº	Title	Author	Year	Focus Region	Language	Summary	Link
1	Deadwood management in production forests: Management guidelines for forest managers in Central European temperate forests	Bače et al.	2019	Central Europe	English	Suggestions for forest owners and managers for deadwood management in production forests to enhance biodiversity.	https://informar.eu/sites/default/files/pdf/Deadwood%20management.pdf
2	Deadwood - living forests The importance of veteran trees and deadwood to biodiversity	Dudley et al. - WWF	2004	Europe	English	Importance of deadwood and steps for its conservation and restoration, also with a focus in policy and society.	https://wwfeu.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/deadwoodwithnotes.pdf
3	Life in the deadwood - A guide to managing deadwood in Forestry Comission forests	Forestry Comission	2002	United Kingdom	English	Advice for managers and machine operators promote the volume of beneficial deadwood in Forestry Commission forests.	https://cdn.forestresearch.gov.uk/2022/02/lifeinthedeadwood.pdf

II. Books or book chapters

Nº	Title	Author	Chapter	Chapter author	Year	Focus region	Language	Summary	Link
1	Forest restoration in landscapes	Mansourian et al.	Restoration of deadwood as a critical microhabitat in forest landscapes	Dudley and Vallauri	2005	World	English	Overview and principles for increasing deadwood abundance	https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/0-387-29112-1_29
2	Boreal Forests in the Face of Climate Change	Girona et al.	Deadwood Biodiversity	Löfroth et al.	2023	Boreal	English	Deadwood and biodiversity, and the effect of management in boreal forests.	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15988-6_6
3	Sustainable forest management: Current practices	Díez & Martín García	Ecological and environmental role of deadwood in managed and unmanaged forests	Paletto et al.	2012	Italy	English	Quantitative and qualitative deadwood characteristics relevance for deadwood management.	https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/36976
4	Integrative approaches as an opportunity for the conservation of forest biodiversity	Kraus & Krumm	2.2 Deadwood: quantitative and qualitative requirements for the conservation of saproxylic biodiversity	Lachat et al.	2013	Europe	English	Management of deadwood for saproxylic species conservation.	https://research.edgehill.ac.uk/ws/files/20073515/InFocus-Integrate-complete-final.pdf

III. Scientific articles

Nº	Title	Author	Year	Focus region	Language	Type	Summary	Link
1	Deadwood management in Central European forests: Key considerations for practical implementation	Vítková et al.	2018	Central Europe	English	Narrative review	Review on the different ways of creating deadwood in restoration efforts and their advantages and disadvantages	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2018.07.034
2	Down wood and biodiversity — implications to forest practices	Bunnell & Houde	2010	World	English	Narrative review	How different taxonomic groups use downwood, characteristics of downwood and management implications	https://doi.org/10.1139/A10-019
3	Success of a deadwood enrichment strategy in production forests depends on stand type and management intensity	Doerfler et al.	2017	Germany	English	Experiment	Evaluation of the success of a deadwood enrichment strategy in a large hardwood production forest after 4-9 years	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2017.06.013
4	Restoring volume, diversity and continuity of deadwood in boreal forests	Hekkala et al.	2016	Finland	English	Experiment	Assesment of alternative restoration methods enhancing deadwood availability (felling, felling + burning, and a storm)	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-016-1112-z
5	Translocation of deadwood in ecological compensation: A novel way to compensate for habitat loss	Tranberg et al.	2023	Sweden	English	Experiment	Effect of translocation of deadwood from an impact area to a compensation area in restoration efforts	https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-023-01934-0
6	The significance of deadwood for total bryophyte, lichen, and vascular plant diversity in an old-growth spruce forest	Dittrich et al.	2014	Germany	English	Experiment	Relation of the characteristics of deadwood in a natural forest to plant diversity	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-014-0371-6
7	Deadwood on clearcut sites during 20 years after harvests: The effects of tree retention level and prescribed burning	Nirhamo et al.	2023	Finland	English	Experiment	Patterns of tree mortality and deadwood dynamics following tree retention and prescribed burning in Finnish boreal forests	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2023.121287
8	Effects of forest management on the amount of deadwood in Mediterranean oak ecosystems	Paletto et al.	2014	Italy	English	Experiment	Effect of management in deadwood quantity	https://doi.org/10.1007/s13595-014-0377-1
9	How much, why and where? Deadwood in forest ecosystems: The case of Poland	Bujoczek et al.	2021	Poland	English	Observational study	Study of the relationships between deadwood volume and natural and human-related factors	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.107027
10	A review of habitat thresholds for dead wood: a baseline for management recommendations in European forests	Müller & Bütler	2010	Europe	English	Narrative review	Review of deadwood thresholds in European forests	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-010-0400-5
11	Ecology of Species Living on Dead Wood – Lessons for Dead Wood Management	Jonsson et al.	2005	North Europe	English	Narrative review	Review on the importance of deadwood and considerations on the management, focused on Fennoscandia	https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.390
12	Evaluating retention forestry 10 years after its introduction in temperate forests regarding the provision of tree-related microhabitats and dead wood	Großmann et al.	2023	Germany	English	Observational study	Effects of retention forestry on microhabitat and deadwood abundance	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-023-01581-w
13	Impacts of dead wood manipulation on the biodiversity of temperate and boreal forests. A systematic review	Sandström et al.	2018	World	English	Systematic review	Effects of deadwood manipulation on biodiversity	https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.13395