Lying and standing deadwood is invaluable for the forest ecosystem. It promotes soil development, increases water storage capacity, stores carbon, ensures a more even microclimate, supports nutrient cycles and increases biodiversity. Around a quarter of all forest species, especially insects and fungi, depend on deadwood in their life cycle and are often involved in its decomposition.

In order to investigate the role of deadwood in the forest and estimate its contribution to biodiversity and the carbon cycle in forests, the diameter and volume must be determined and the degree of decomposition determined.

We carry out deadwood surveys as part of the Adaptive Forest Resource Management for a Sustainable Timber Industry in the Brandenburg-Berlin Region / ADAPT-Wald-Holz project (link to project page: ADAPT-Wald-Holz) on the areas of the Forest Reallabor in Kienhorst in the Schorfheide-Chorin biosphere reserve in north-eastern Brandenburg , where various forest management treatments and their influence on important forest ecosystem services are being investigated. After the last thinning in fall 2023, more deadwood was left lying and standing on these areas in order to increase structural diversity and biodiversity. We will scientifically monitor the resulting changes in the long term.