Monitoring small mammal and amphibian abundances on the Willamette National Forest, Oregon (Long-Term Ecosystem Productivity experiment)

Previous descriptive and associative research approaches have identified associations between the amount of coarse woody debris (CWD) and either the occurrence or abundance of certain species of forest floor mammals and amphibians (e.g., Aubry et al. 1988, McComb et al. 1993). Managers are using information such as this along with observations regarding nutrient exchange sites around coarse woody debris to develop management guidelines for retention of woody debris following harvest. However, the hypothesis that retention of high levels of woody debris will result in the high numbers of certain species of forest floor vertebrates has not been tested in an experimental manner.