Duff weight and depth in a high elevation Pinuscontorta Dougl. forest

Variation in duff depth and weight was studied on two adjacent different aged subalpine stands in eastern Washington, U.S.A. In a 105-year-old Pinuscontorta Dougl. stand, the duff depth averaged 5.46 cm as compared with 4.57 cm for a 305-year-old stand of the same habitat type. The difference between the means was not significant. The greatest duff depth (46 cm) in the younger stand was almost twice that of the older stand (26 cm), due principally to the time since last disturbance by fire. A correlation of duff depth (D; centimetres) to weight (W; tonnes per hectare) produced the equation W = 7.26 + 13.27 D which had r2 = 0.849 and SE = 7.06.