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Volume 17
Issue 2
10.3390/f17020168
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Abundance and Diversity of Deadwood and Tree-Related Microhabitats in a Caledonian Pine Forest, Scotland

by
Alessandro Paletto
1,
Christopher Andrews
2,
Sofia Baldessari
1,
Jan Dick
2,
Roberta Pastorelli
3 and
Isabella De Meo
3,*
1
Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e L’Analisi Dell’Economia Agraria (CREA), Research Centre for Forestry and Wood, 38123 Trento, Italy
2
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), Penicuik EH26 0QB, Scotland, UK
3
Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e L’Analisi Dell’Economia Agraria (CREA), Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment, Via di Lanciola 12/A, 50125 Firenze, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Forests 2026, 17(2), 168; https://doi.org/10.3390/f17020168
Submission received: 30 December 2025 / Revised: 19 January 2026 / Accepted: 24 January 2026 / Published: 27 January 2026
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Species Diversity and Habitat Conservation in Forest)
Versions Notes

Abstract

Old-growth forests provide a key biodiversity reservoir due to their high amount of deadwood and abundance of tree-related microhabitats (TreMs). This research investigates the abundance and diversity of deadwood and TreMs in old-growth Caledonian pine forests located in the Cairngorms National Park, Scotland. The study area is a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.)-dominated forest. A field survey campaign was conducted in 15 sample plots to collect data on stand and deadwood characteristics, and TreMs by category. Within circular plots of 531 m2, the diameter at breast height, height, and insertion height of the canopy of all the living trees were measured, and the three deadwood components (snags, fallen deadwood, and stumps) and TreMs were recorded. The results showed a total deadwood volume of 37.53 ± 32.39 m3 ha−1, mostly in the form of snags (68.9% of total volume) and in the lowest degree of decay (first decay class equals 36.8%). The average number of deadwood elements is 217 ha−1, distributed to 127 snags ha−1, 64 fallen deadwood ha−1, and 26 stumps ha−1. The results showed an average of 89.1 TreMs ha−1 on snags and 26.4 ha−1 on living trees. The abundance and diversity of TreMs are significantly related to the volume of snags (R2 = 0.712), the deadwood diversity (R2 = 0.664), and the degree of decomposition (R2 = 0.416).
Keywords: biodiversity; snags; fallen deadwood; old-growth forests; Scottish Highlands biodiversity; snags; fallen deadwood; old-growth forests; Scottish Highlands

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MDPI and ACS Style

Paletto, A.; Andrews, C.; Baldessari, S.; Dick, J.; Pastorelli, R.; De Meo, I. Abundance and Diversity of Deadwood and Tree-Related Microhabitats in a Caledonian Pine Forest, Scotland. Forests 2026, 17, 168. https://doi.org/10.3390/f17020168

AMA Style

Paletto A, Andrews C, Baldessari S, Dick J, Pastorelli R, De Meo I. Abundance and Diversity of Deadwood and Tree-Related Microhabitats in a Caledonian Pine Forest, Scotland. Forests. 2026; 17(2):168. https://doi.org/10.3390/f17020168

Chicago/Turabian Style

Paletto, Alessandro, Christopher Andrews, Sofia Baldessari, Jan Dick, Roberta Pastorelli, and Isabella De Meo. 2026. "Abundance and Diversity of Deadwood and Tree-Related Microhabitats in a Caledonian Pine Forest, Scotland" Forests 17, no. 2: 168. https://doi.org/10.3390/f17020168

APA Style

Paletto, A., Andrews, C., Baldessari, S., Dick, J., Pastorelli, R., & De Meo, I. (2026). Abundance and Diversity of Deadwood and Tree-Related Microhabitats in a Caledonian Pine Forest, Scotland. Forests, 17(2), 168. https://doi.org/10.3390/f17020168

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