Geomorphological changes within a hillslope caused by a windthrow event in the tatra mountains, southern poland

Strzyżowski, Dariusz; Fidelus, Joanna; Żelazny, Mirosław

doi:10.1111/geoa.12141

Cited by 17 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…However, the creation of a windthrow entails many environmental changes which potentially may impact the type and intensity of slope and fluvial processes acting within a catchment. Bare soil surfaces within windthrow pits which, after the uprooting of all the trees in a forest, may cover several percent of a windthrow area (Phillips et al 2008;Strzyżowski et al 2016), may be supposed to increase the delivery of sediment from slopes into channels by intensified slope wash. Forest operations conducted after a windthrow, depending on the applied techniques of timber harvesting, may also reduce vegetation cover, and thus expose soil to erosion. Lack of roots strengthening the soil mantle may lead to an increase in the landsliding rate (Ziemer 1981).…”

Section: Strong Wind Events May Results In Extensivementioning

confidence: 99%

The intensity of slope and fluvial processes after a catastrophic windthrow event in small catchments in the Tatra Mountains

et al. 2021

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Strong wind events frequently result in creating large areas of windthrow, which causes abrupt environmental changes. Bare soil surfaces within pits and root plates potentially expose soil to erosion. Absence of forest may alter the dynamics of water circulation. In this study we attempt to answer the question of whether extensive windthrows influence the magnitude of geomorphic processes in 6 small second- to third-order catchments with area ranging from 0.09 km2 to 0.8 km2. Three of the catchments were significantly affected by a windthrow which occurred in December 2013 in the Polish part of the Tatra Mountains, and the other three catchments were mostly forested and served as control catchments. We mapped the pits created by the windthrow and the linear scars created by salvage logging operations in search of any signs of erosion within them. We also mapped all post-windthrow landslides created in the windthrow-affected catchments. The impact of the windthrow on the fluvial system was investigated by measuring a set of channel characteristics and determining bedload transport intensity using painted tracers in all the windthrow-affected and control catchments. Both pits and linear scars created by harvesting tend to become overgrown by vegetation in the first several years after the windthrow. The only signs of erosion were observed in 10% of the pits located on convergent slopes. During the period from the windthrow event in 2013 until 2019, 5 very small (total area <100 m2) shallow landslides were created. The mean distance of bedload transport was similar (t-test, p=0.05) in most of the windthrow-affected and control catchments. The mapping of channels revealed many cases of root plates fallen into a channel and pits created near a channel. A significant amount of woody debris delivered into the channels influenced the activity of fluvial processes by creating alternating zones of erosion and accumulation.

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Section: Strong Wind Events May Results In Extensivementioning

confidence: 99%

The intensity of slope and fluvial processes after a catastrophic windthrow event in small catchments in the Tatra Mountains

et al. 2021

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“…Windthrows result in the specific micro-relief of domes and hollows on the slopes (Kotarba, 1970;Strzyżowski et al, 2016) and influence the sediment flux pattern (Kotarba, 1970;Strzyżowski et al, 2018). After the windthrow in 2013 in the Polish Tatra the sediment flux rate for the whole area of TPN is of 3.55 × 10 −4 m 3 /m −1 /yr −1 .…”

Section: Influence Of Past Deforestation On Forest Structure and Slopmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human impact in the Tatra Mountains

Rączkowska

2019

CIG

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Human activity is one of the three main drivers of environmental changes in the mountains. Its influence on mountain natural environment is characterized by great spatiotemporal diversity. In the Tatras human impact started in the 12th-13th centuries and was related to mining and animal grazing, followed by metallurgy in the 18th century. These activities developed in the 15th-16th and with the climax in the 18th-19th, except for the animal grazing which continued till the 1960s-1970s. Since the second half of the 19th century tourism developed intensively. More than 3 million people per year visit the Polish part of the Tatras nowadays.Human activities, prior to tourism, were accompanied by a strong forest and dwarf pine shrubs extraction. They affected mainly relief and vegetation cover. Erosion in the slopes was triggered or intensified after deterioration of vegetation cover by grazing. Anthropogenic landforms like pits, mine roads, mine channels are still recognizable in landscape. Lowering of the upper forest and dwarf pine limits and changing of a natural structure of the forest into a monoculture are among the main influences on vegetation. Indirect effects of the changed forest structure are problems with bark beetles and windthrows. The later have been strongly affecting slope morphodynamics. Tourism-related impact manifest in gradual anthropogenic erosion along hiking trails. It is the major type of human impact n the Tatras now. The historical human impact until the 1960s-1970s was indeed spatial in nature. Currently, it is of a linear character or point-focused, and is relatively constant regarding particular locations.

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“…From the viewpoint of biogeomorphology, trees modify hillslope surface roughness and microtopography, with potentially large impacts on hillslope morphodynamics (Pawlik 2013;Pawlik et al 2013Pawlik et al , 2016Šamonil et al 2017). For example, within the forested areas of the Western Carpathians, tree uprooting and standing living and decaying trees fundamentally contribute to the activity of surficial geomorphic processes (Kotarba 1970;Dąbrowska 2009;Strzyżowski et al 2016;Phillips et al 2017). High-frequency and long-term uprooting events in old-growth forests could drive the entire forested landscape from earlier successional stages, influenced predominantly by abiotic geomorphic factors, to a period of biogeomorphic dominance (Phillips et al 2017).…”

Section: Biomechanical Effects Of Treesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomechanical and biochemical effects recorded in the tree root zone – soil memory, historical contingency and soil evolution under trees

Pawlik

Šamonil

2018

Plant Soil

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Background and aims The changing soils is a neverending process moderated by numerous biotic and abiotic factors. Among these factors, trees may play a critical role in forested landscapes by having a large imprint on soil texture and chemical properties. During their evolution, soils can follow convergent or divergent development pathways, leading to a decrease or an increase in soil spatial complexity. We hypothesized that trees can be a strong local factor intensifying, blocking or modifying pedogenetic processes, leading to local changes in soil complexity (convergence, divergence, or polygenesis). These changes are hypothetically controlled by regionally predominating soil formation processes. Methods To test the main hypothesis, we described the pedomorphological features of soils under tree stumps of fir, beech and hemlock in three soil regions: Haplic Cambisols (Turbacz Reserve, Poland), Entic Podzols (Žofínský Prales Reserve, Czech Republic) and Albic Podzols (Upper Peninsula, Michigan, USA). Soil profiles under the stumps, as well as control profiles on sites currently not occupied by trees, were analyzed in the laboratory for 20 physical and chemical properties. In total, we analyzed 116 soil samples. The age of trees and time of tree death were determined using the radiometry (14 C), dendrochronology and repeated tree censuses. To process the data, we used multivariate statistics, namely, redundancy analyses (RDAs) and principal component analyses (PCAs). The statistical significance of variables was tested using Kruskal-Wallis, Dunn, and permutation tests. To reach the main aims of the present study, we examined the dataset at three levels of data complexity: 1) soil regions, 2) microsite (i.e., tree stump versus control site), and 3) soil horizon. Results Living tree roots and empty or infilled root channels were the most important pedogenic factors that affected the dimensions of soil horizons and the moisture in the root zone under tree stumps. Microsites explained almost 6% of the soil variability (p < 0.001,

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Geomorphological changes within a hillslope caused by a windthrow event in the tatra mountains, southern poland

Cited by 17 publications

References 36 publications

The intensity of slope and fluvial processes after a catastrophic windthrow event in small catchments in the Tatra Mountains

The intensity of slope and fluvial processes after a catastrophic windthrow event in small catchments in the Tatra Mountains

Human impact in the Tatra Mountains

Biomechanical and biochemical effects recorded in the tree root zone – soil memory, historical contingency and soil evolution under trees

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