THE DEADWOOD STAGE
The deadwood (dead wood) stage in the demise of a tree can be seen in a positive light. It is the beginning of the cycle of death and rebirth. At this end you have the deadwood which, combining with the soil and then the seeds, produces the sapling and the tree and so on…...
In a natural unmanaged wood up to a third of the biomass would be dead. In the stem of a living tree as little as 5% of its volume is living for the tree. But not only this - 40% of a dead stem may be composed of the living cells of fungi and nitrogen fixing bacteria which are working to turn that stem back into soil with the help of many other creatures on the way, from the woodpeckers to the bacteria.
So, the wood may be dead but it is nourishing life.
Deadwood is home to a large and complex food chain. This makes it an essential element for any sustainably managed woodland. The conditions of humidity and shelter in deadwood habitat provide niches for plants, fungi and invertebrates which decay and decompose the wood back into woodland soil. Deadwood - standing dead trees (snags), dead branches or deadwood lying - decays to provide the many habitats in the web of life for other creatures, just living their lives whilst turning it back into soil: nest sites, shelter and security and food supply; from owls, woodpeckers and bats to invertebrates, mosses, fungi and bryophytes. In fact, the more I think about it the more bewilderingly amazing and fundamental it all becomes.
Wildlife has no aesthetic sense and can either thrive or it goes elsewhere so it is a salient point that modern forestry and arboriculture has changed its judgement of dead wood, finding in it a range of values instead of dangerous obstacles or a source of disease. Although on a Common frequented by visitors some management is sensible to reduce hazards, keeping the pathways open and safe to walk, the unsightliness that some see in deadwood is in fact an enhancement for people who see Nature first and foremost.
Graham Thorne