Santiago Martín-Alcón 
,
José Ramón González-Olabarría,
Lluís Coll
Wind and snow damage in the Pyrenees pine forests: effect of stand attributes and location
Martín-Alcón S., González-Olabarría J. R., Coll L. (2010). Wind and snow damage in the Pyrenees pine forests: effect of stand attributes and location. Silva Fennica vol. 44 no. 3 article id 138. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.138
Abstract
Wind and snow-induced damage have been analyzed at stand level for three pine forests in the Central-Eastern Pyrenees (Pinus nigra Arn. salzmanii, Pinus sylvestris L. and Pinus uncinata Ram.). Stand-level models have been then developed for the most affected two species, Pinus sylvestris L. and Pinus uncinata Ram., to describe damage severity. The models were based on data from national forest inventory plots. They included variables related to the spatial location and structure of the stands, being validated using a sub-set of the database (25% of the plots randomly selected). Mountain pine forests (Pinus uncinata Ram.) were the most heavily affected by wind and snow disturbances. For both mountain and Scots pine species, topographic exposure and the severity of the local storm regime had an important effect on the degree of damage. Stand’s resistance to wind and snow was found to be dependent on the combined effect of basal area and mean slenderness of the dominant trees. For a given slenderness ratio, damage increased strongly in lower-density stands, particularly in stands with basal areas below 15 m2/ha. Stand structure was particularly important to define the resistance of Scots pine stands, which presented a higher vulnerability to wind and snow under higher degree of even-agedness. The models presented in this study provide empirically-based information that can be used to implement silvicultural practices to minimize the risk of those forests to suffer wind and snow-related damages.
Keywords
models;
stand structure;
conifers;
Pyrenees;
snow damages;
stability;
wind damages
-
Martín-Alcón,
Forest Technology Center of Catalonia, Solsona, Lleida, Spain
E-mail
santiago.martin@ctfc.es
- González-Olabarría, Forest Technology Center of Catalonia, Solsona, Lleida, Spain E-mail jrgo@nn.es
- Coll, Forest Technology Center of Catalonia, Solsona, Lleida, Spain E-mail lc@nn.es
Received 25 March 2009 Accepted 19 April 2010 Published 31 December 2010
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