Relationships between forest fine woody and coarse woody debris carbon stocks across latitudinal gradients in the United States as an indicator of climate change effects

Coarse and fine woody materials (CWD and FWD) are substantial forest ecosystem carbon (C) stocks; however, there is a lack of understanding how these detritus C stocks may respond to climate change. This study uses a nation-wide inventory of CWD and FWD in the United States to examine how these C stocks vary by classes of latitude. Results indicate that the highest CWD and FWD C stocks are found in forests with the highest latitude, while conversely the lowest C stocks are found in the most southerly forests. CWD and FWD respond differently to changes in latitude with CWD more strongly correlated with latitude than FWD. If latitude can be broadly assumed to indicate temperature and rate of detrital decay, it may be postulated that CWD C stocks may be at the highest risk of becoming a net C source if temperatures increase. Estimates of temperature increase effects on FWD and CWD C stocks may only be possible through elucidation of the complex relationships between forest production, input, and decay that are all explicitly driven by climatological variables.