Suspended Needle Mats 



Suspended needle mats are layers of dead needles formed when needles fall and 

 catch on branches. The branches and trapped needles catch other needles, thus, form- 

 ing mats. Mats of needles (some bark flakes are also present) may build up to a thick- 

 ness of 2 or 3 centimeters and resemble small pieces of the forest-floor litter layer 

 suspended within the slash. 



Needle mats were recorded intersecting 40 percent of the sampling planes. This is 

 a rather high occurrence of mats since each sampling plane is represented by a line 

 transect 30 centimeters long. Thus, one or more mats were observed on almost every 

 other 30-centimeter- long transect. The average length of mat material lying within a 

 sampling plane was 21 centimeters. The number and size of needle mats did not vary 

 significantly between old and new slash. 



The significance of needle mats on the flammability of slash is unknown; however, 

 these mats are probably highly flammable due to their fine particle composition. The 

 formation of needle mats retains fallen dead needles within the slash and prevents their 

 compaction on the ground. 



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