Different guidelines specify the quantity and type of biomass that should be left on site. This research examined the adherence of harvesting operations to five USA state guidelines.
The research was titled “Biomass retention following whole-tree, energy wood harvests in central Maine: Adherence to five state guidelines”, and appeared in Biomass and Bioenergy 35 (2011). The author’s names are included at the end of the article. The research attempted to determine the amount of logging residue left unrecovered on whole-tree harvested sites to estimate forest residue estimates for Maine.
12 sites that had recently been harvested for round wood and energy wood were studied. The research showed that on average, 45% of the total energy wood generated remained on the site; of which between 16 and 50% was left on the skid trails. This is an important value when calculating forest residue availability estimates. The volumes remaining on the site also had to be investigated in order to make comparisons with the criteria from biomass and biodiversity guidelines of several states. The research showed that sufficient fine woody material (<15 cm diameter) remained on the sites. However, coarse woody material (>15 cm diameter), large logs (>38 cm DBH) and snags (>25 cm DBH) were not enough to meet the criteria. These criteria could be met if forest management practices retained more large trees on the site.
The authors were Julia Briedis, Jeremy Wilson, Jeffrey Benjamin and Robert Wagner.
Source: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0961953411002911