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.  Logs provide an important form of coarse woody debris in forest systems, contributing to numerous ecological processes and affecting wildlife habitat and fuel complexes. Despite this, little information is available on the dynamics of log populations in southwestern ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) and especially mixed-conifer forests. A recent episode of elevated tree mortality in these forest types in northern Arizona caused a pulse in log inputs as dead trees broke and fell. We documented changes in these log populations from 2004 to 2009 in an earlier paper. Here, we extended that work to evaluate changes in log abundance and volume between 2009 and 2014, compare trends in log abundance and volume between this period and the preceding 5-year period, estimate overall change in log abundance and volume over the period from 2004 to 2014, and describe temporal relationships between log abundance and changes in populations of snags (standing dead trees) during the study. Trends in log populations differed between forest types. Increases in log abundance were more widespread and larger in magnitude in mixed-conifer forest than in ponderosa pine forest. Over the entire 10-year study period, log abundance increased by 52% and 30% in mixed-conifer and ponderosa pine forest, respectively. Most of that increase occurred in the first 5 years, especially in ponderosa pine forest. Log abundance and volume continued to increase from 2009 to 2014 in mixed-conifer forest, whereas these parameters showed little change in ponderosa pine forest over this period. Log abundance lagged snag abundance, which peaked in 2007 but remained elevated in 2012 relative to pre-2007 levels in both forest types. Thus, log abundance may continue to increase as those snags break and fall. The ultimate magnitude and duration of this drought-mediated pulse in log inputs to these systems thus remains unknown. Understanding how these systems respond to drought-related mortality pulses may aid forest ecologists and managers charged with adapting forest management strategies in an era of changing climate.

Comparative Trends in Log Populations in Northern Arizona Mixed-Conifer and Ponderosa Pine Forests Following Severe Drought