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Climate change accelerates global forest deadwood dynamics

Edelmann, Pascal ; Rammer, Werner ; Pugh, Thomas A.M. LU orcid ; Gustafson, Adrian LU ; Seibold, Sebastian ; Weisser, Wolfgang W. ; Müller, Jörg and Seidl, Rupert (2026) In Communications Earth and Environment 7(1).
Abstract

The development of future forest deadwood is uncertain, as processes related to deadwood formation (i.e., tree growth and mortality) as well as deadwood decomposition are simultaneously impacted by climate change. To elucidate future deadwood dynamics under scenarios of climate change, we combined a map of current global deadwood stocks with tree growth and mortality rates simulated by five dynamic global vegetation models and a function of climate-dependent deadwood decomposition derived from a global experiment. Deadwood dynamics intensified throughout the 21st century, with both inputs and outputs to global deadwood carbon pools increasing as a result of climate change. However, deadwood formation increased on average 5.0% more... (More)

The development of future forest deadwood is uncertain, as processes related to deadwood formation (i.e., tree growth and mortality) as well as deadwood decomposition are simultaneously impacted by climate change. To elucidate future deadwood dynamics under scenarios of climate change, we combined a map of current global deadwood stocks with tree growth and mortality rates simulated by five dynamic global vegetation models and a function of climate-dependent deadwood decomposition derived from a global experiment. Deadwood dynamics intensified throughout the 21st century, with both inputs and outputs to global deadwood carbon pools increasing as a result of climate change. However, deadwood formation increased on average 5.0% more strongly than decomposition, suggesting an overall increase in global deadwood in the coming decades. As deadwood is an important nexus of forest carbon and biodiversity, we call for a stronger focus on deadwood in forest policy and management.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Communications Earth and Environment
volume
7
issue
1
article number
453
publisher
Springer Nature
external identifiers
  • scopus:105040200096
ISSN
2662-4435
DOI
10.1038/s43247-026-03651-4
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
cd979203-a721-49bc-82f3-d20ee4fb9021
date added to LUP
2026-08-13 07:03:25
date last changed
2026-08-13 07:03:48
@article{cd979203-a721-49bc-82f3-d20ee4fb9021,
  abstract     = {{<p>The development of future forest deadwood is uncertain, as processes related to deadwood formation (i.e., tree growth and mortality) as well as deadwood decomposition are simultaneously impacted by climate change. To elucidate future deadwood dynamics under scenarios of climate change, we combined a map of current global deadwood stocks with tree growth and mortality rates simulated by five dynamic global vegetation models and a function of climate-dependent deadwood decomposition derived from a global experiment. Deadwood dynamics intensified throughout the 21st century, with both inputs and outputs to global deadwood carbon pools increasing as a result of climate change. However, deadwood formation increased on average 5.0% more strongly than decomposition, suggesting an overall increase in global deadwood in the coming decades. As deadwood is an important nexus of forest carbon and biodiversity, we call for a stronger focus on deadwood in forest policy and management.</p>}},
  author       = {{Edelmann, Pascal and Rammer, Werner and Pugh, Thomas A.M. and Gustafson, Adrian and Seibold, Sebastian and Weisser, Wolfgang W. and Müller, Jörg and Seidl, Rupert}},
  issn         = {{2662-4435}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Springer Nature}},
  series       = {{Communications Earth and Environment}},
  title        = {{Climate change accelerates global forest deadwood dynamics}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03651-4}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s43247-026-03651-4}},
  volume       = {{7}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}