Wood represents the defining feature of forest systems, and often the carbon in woody debris has a long residence time. Globally, coarse dead wood contains 36–72 Pg C, and understanding what controls the fate of this C is important for predicting C cycle responses to global change. The fate of a piece of wood may include one or more of the following: microbial decomposition, combustion, consumption by insects, and physical deg...

There are too many kinds of organisms to be able to study and manage each, yet the loss of a single species can sometimes unravel an ecosystem. Such `fusewire species'– critical in the same sense that an electrical fuse can cut out a whole circuit – would be a rewarding focus for research and management effort. However, this approach can only be effective if these `fusewires' represent but a small proportion of the number of s...