Figure 2

Idealized cross-sectional views of charred woody detritus. Example uses 8.2 mm as typical char depth for downed material, based on field-measured depths. Volume of charred shell relative to overall particle volume is substantial for small particles (e.g., 1 h through smaller 1000 h particles), and relatively unimportant for large particles. Diameters shown are composite quadratic mean diameters for conifer species (see Brown 1974, Harmon and Sexton 1996).