Snow damages on trees of an uneven age in mixed broadleaf forests: effects of topographical conditions and tree characteristics

Abstract

Snow damage on natural stands is an important problem concerning mountainous forest management. In the present research, the frequency and intensity of heavy snow damage on natural stands and the relationship of damages with characteristics of trees, stand and topography were studied in mountainous forests of northern Iran. A systematic sampling design was applied to the study area (140 ha), with 122 circular plots. The grid dimension was 100 m and each plot area was 1000 m 2 . The four types of snow damage to trees include: crown damage (8.6%), stem breakage (5.4%), uprooting (3.2%), and bending (1.4%). The frequency of crown damage grew with an increase in the diameter at breast height (DBH), while the frequency of stem breakage, uprooting and bending decreased with an increase the DBH. The frequency of crown damage, stem breakage, and total damages was related to tree species (p \ 0.01). Not all tree species were equally susceptible to snow damage. The amount of damage grew with increasing elevation and slope angle and decreased with increasing soil depth. Young trees (DBH \ 25 cm) were more susceptible to snow damage than other trees. Snow damage decreased by as the trees in the stand became more mixed in age. The susceptibility of trees to snow damage increased by height and slenderness coefficient. With adequate silvicultural operation, snow damage can be reduced to a minimum level in these natural forests.

Influence of Different Thinning Treatments on Stand Resistance to Snow and Wind in Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda L.) Coastal Plantations of Northern Iran

“…stand was undamaged (0%). In an another research [9], the frequency and intensity of heavy snow damage on natural stands and the relationship of damages with the characteristics of trees, stand, and topography were studied in mountainous forests of northern Iran, and the frequency of snow-damaged trees was reported to be 18%, which included the following types: crown damage (8.6%), stem breakage (5.4%), uprooting (3.2%), and bending (1.4%). In another similar study [21], snow damage to trees in the mountain forests of northern Iran was reported to be 28%, with the following types of damage: uprooting (3%), trunk fracture (4%), crown fracture (10%), and bending (11%).…”

“…Cracking of trees bole and drying of branches were observed in young trees due to frost, but in accordance with the aim of this study, authors focused only on mechanical damage of snow and wind to trees. Snow and wind damage to trees was recorded in four types: branch breakage (i.e., broken crown branch >10%), bending (i.e., leaning or lying), stem breakage (i.e., broken tree main stem), and uprooting (fallen trees or trees with the majority of their roots out of the soil) [9,25,26]. Trees without the described damage were noted as undamaged.…”

“…Among these, stand conditions are the only ones possible to control and manage. Age, structure, stem density, stem weight, basal area, tree species, slenderness coefficient, width and length of tree crowns, soil depth, soil moisture content, and topography are the main stand characteristics that can influence stand resistance to snow and wind damage [8][9][10][11][12]. Therefore, the effects of stand structure and configuration on snow and wind loading have been analyzed in several studies [13,14].…”

Evaluation of Deadwood Characteristics and Carbon Storage under Different Silvicultural Treatments in a Mixed Broadleaves Mountain Forest

“…Snowfall may prevalently induce breakage of crown branches [65] producing fallen DW. In the Hyrcanian forest, Tavankar et al [66] observed crown damage in the larger diameter trees, particularly in Alnus subcordata at the higher elevations, adding that Fagus orientalis was less affected.…”

Live Crown Ratio as an Indicator for Tree Vigor and Stability of Turkey Oak (Quercus cerris L.): A Case Study

“…Thus, the ratio between the photosynthetic ability of the tree (the crown as a source) and the size of the tissue respiration (the whole tree as a sink) is decreasing. As a result, the secondary growth (being a lower priority in carbon allocation) is affected, and trees become slender (tall but thin stems) and more susceptible to abiotic disturbances such as wind and snow [7,11,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27].…”