Biodiversity in Dead Wood

A comprehensive overview of wood-inhabiting fungi, insects and vertebrates, discussing habitat requirements along with strategies for maintaining biodiversity.

Jogeir N. Stokland (Author), Juha Siitonen (Author), Bengt Gunnar Jonsson (Author)

9780521717038, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 26 April 2012

521 pages, 92 b/w illus. 21 tables
22.8 x 15.2 x 2.4 cm, 0.83 kg

'… the first ever whole book to attempt an introductory synthesis of all that is known about the wildlife associated with decaying wood … I discovered [I was] finding things previously unfamiliar to me in every chapter. A great strength is the combination of mycology and entomology …' British Journal of Entomology and Natural History

Fossils document the existence of trees and wood-associated organisms from almost 400 million years ago, and today there are between 400,000 and 1 million wood-inhabiting species in the world. This is the first book to synthesise the natural history and conservation needs of wood-inhabiting organisms. Presenting a thorough introduction to biodiversity in decaying wood, the book studies the rich diversity of fungi, insects and vertebrates that depend upon dead wood. It describes the functional diversity of these organisms and their specific habitat requirements in terms of host trees, decay phases, tree dimensions, microhabitats and the surrounding environment. Recognising the threats posed by timber extraction and forest management, the authors also present management options for protecting and maintaining the diversity of these species in forests as well as in agricultural landscapes and urban parks.

Preface
1. Introduction
2. Wood decomposition
3. The saproxylic food web
4. Other associations with dead woody material
5. Host tree associations
6. Mortality factors and decay succession
7. Microhabitats
8. Tree size
9. The surrounding environment
10. Evolution of saproxylic organisms
11. Species diversity of saproxylic organisms
12. Natural forest dynamics
13. Dead wood and sustainable forest management
14. Population dynamics and evolutionary strategies
15. Threatened saproxylic species
16. Dead wood in agricultural and urban habitats
17. The value and future of saproxylic diversity
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Animal ecology [PSVS], Animal physiology [PSVD], Plant ecology [PSTS], Plant physiology [PSTD]