Species and Stand Response to Catastrophic Wind in Central New England, U.S.A.

Abstract

(1) The effect of catastrophic hurricane wind on forest vegetation in central New England was examined at the species and stand level. (2) Species susceptibility to wind is largely explained by canopy position: fast-growing, pioneer species that form overstorey dominants (Pinus strobus, P. resinosa, Populus spp. and Betula papyrifera) suffered much greater damage than slower growing, or tolerant species occurring primarily in codominant, intermediate and suppressed canopy positions (Carya spp., Acer rubrum, Quercus alba, Q. velutina and Tsuga canadensis). Uprooting was much more important than breakage as the primary form of damage. This result, which contrasts with the findings of most studies of wind damage, may perhaps be explained by the very high levels of precipitation that accompanied the storm, saturating the soil and loosening the roots. (3) Damage to forest stands exhibits a positive, linear relationship with stand age and height and negative relationship with density. Conifer forests are significantly more susceptible than hardwood forests. Pinus strobus and P. resinosa stands are susceptible to wind at 15 years of age and are completely destroyed at 30 years; hardwood stands exhibit increasing damage from age 20 years, but are not completely blown down until age 80-100 years. (4) Within stands, damage shifts progressively from the dominant trees in young stands to include trees in the codominant, intermediate and suppressed layers in older forests. Parallel changes with age in the type of damage include a decline in the number of leaning trees and increase in uprooting. (5) Damage to species and stands from a catastrophic windstorm occurs quite predictably and specifically within the forests studied. This discriminating impact of wind has profound consequences on the vegetation at a range of spatial scales and is largely mediated by historical factors and structural and compositional aspects of the vegetation mosaic.