STRUCTURAL BIODIVERSITY AND DEAD WOOD IN VIRGIN FORESTS FROM EASTERN CARPATHIANS

Owing to the high rate of global industrialization, widely distributed forest areas have decreased. Few of these natural forests have succeeded to remain untouched by human activities. The primary ecosystems are characterized by advanced age, high biodiversity and climax condition. These virgin forest, are found in Buzau Mountains, in the Eastern Carpathians of Romania. For understanding and develop the functional principles of virgin forests, field information was collected from three permanent research plots of one hectare area. Gini index (G = 0,68 – 0,84) and Camino index (H = 1,62 – 1,74) were recorded for all permanent study plots. The obtained values reveal high heterogeneity. Total volume of dead wood is between 54,93 m³•ha^-1 (Șapte Izvoare) and 123, 34 m³•ha^-1 (Penteleu – Viforâta 2), most of it came from coniferous species (fir and spruce). There have been analyzed the relationships between dead wood and alive components using different statistical distribution functions (Beta, Gamma, Weibull), and the quantity of dry biomass and CO2 stock from dead wood was estimated.