Evaluation of Abiotic Controls on Windthrow Disturbance Using a Generalized Additive Model: A Case Study of the Tatra National Park, Slovakia

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14310%2F20%3A00117606" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14310/20:00117606 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/f11121259" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.3390/f11121259</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f11121259" target="_blank" >10.3390/f11121259</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Evaluation of Abiotic Controls on Windthrow Disturbance Using a Generalized Additive Model: A Case Study of the Tatra National Park, Slovakia

Original language description

Windthrows are the most important type of disturbance occurring in the forests of Central Europe. On 19 November 2004, the strong northeastern katabatic winds caused significant damage and land cover change to more than 126 km2 of spruce forests in the Tatra National Park. The risk of subsequent soil erosion and accelerated runoff has increased in the affected habitats. Similar situations may reoccur this century as a consequence of climate change. A geographical approach and detailed research of the damaged area with more comprehensive statistical analyses of 47 independent variables will help us to obtain a deeper insight into the problem of windthrow disturbances. The results are based on a detailed investigation of the damaged stands, soil, and topography. A comprehensive input dataset enabled the evaluation of abiotic controls on windthrow disturbance through the use of a generalized additive model (GAM). The GAM revealed causal linear and nonlinear relationships between the local dependent quantitative variables (the damage index and the uprooting index) and independent variables (various soil and topography properties). Our model explains 69% of the deviance of the total damage. The distribution of the wind force depended upon the topographical position—mainly on the distance from the slope’s foot lines. The soil properties (mainly the soil skeleton, i.e., rock fragments in stony soils) affect the rate and manner of damage (uprooting), especially on sites with less wind force. Stem breakage with no relation to the soil prevailed in places with high force winds. The largest number of uprooted trees was recorded in localities without a soil skeleton. The spruce’s waterlogged shallow root system is significantly prone to uprooting. The comprehensive research found a significant relationship between the abiotic variables and two different measures of forest damage, and can expand the knowledge on wind impact in Central European forests.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

10103 - Statistics and probability

Project

—

Continuities

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach<br>I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2020

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Forests

ISSN

1999-4907

e-ISSN

1999-4907

Volume of the periodical

11

Issue of the periodical within the volume

12

Country of publishing house

CH - SWITZERLAND

Number of pages

18

Pages from-to

1-18

UT code for WoS article

000602057500001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85096616661