Iwashita, Darcey Kimiko2016-02-192016-02-192012-08http://hdl.handle.net/10125/100972Dead trees and tree ferns, known as coarse woody debris (CWD), play an integral role in carbon storage and seedling distribution in forests. The primary objectives of this study were to determine whether CWD carbon pools varied across a mean annual temperature (MAT) gradient and whether seedling distribution was associated with CWD and environmental conditions in Hawaiian montane wet forests. Coarse woody debris carbon pools were negatively correlated with MAT, indicating that CWD may become a net source of carbon to the atmosphere as MAT rises. Seedling densities were greater on CWD than soil, highest on bare and bryophyte cover, and negatively correlated with litter cover, plant available water, and N, Al, Zn, Mn, Fe, Mg, and S availability. These results demonstrate that CWD is an important carbon pool and microsite for seedlings that may decrease with warming, which has large implications for carbon dynamics and future forest composition.mean annual temperatureregenerationtree ferntropical montane wet forestThesis