Downed wood dynamics in the riparian and littoral zone of small lakes in tolerant hardwood forests

Large wood (LW) is an important structural feature in forested lake ecosystems but little known about its production and movement across the forest-lake ecotone. We describe LW creation at 8 small (<30 ha) lakes Ontario, Canada. The of snags through live tree death ranged from 0.24% yr-1 to 5.60% yr-1. Snag breakage was correlated with snag height, fall described as a function species, decay stage, diameter. Long pieces generated close were more likely be deposited shoreline. density volume shoreline littoral zone positively slope. stable resource shoreline, recruitment rate equal loss average along 2.89 cm could reside for centuries, providing physical structure multiple generations aquatic organisms. Critical habitat fish that need extends least 5 m into riparian forest, removal trees within forest edge would reduce input zone.