Abstract
Climate change will cause winds to strengthen and storms to become more frequent in Northern Europe. Windstorms reduce the financial value of forests by bending, breaking, or uprooting trees, and wind-thrown trees cause additional economic losses. The resistance of trees to wind damage depends on tree species, tree- and stand-scale parameters, and root-soil plate characteristics such as root-plate size, weight, and rooting depth. The root-soil plate is a complex structure whose mechanical strength is dependent on root-plate width and depth, as the root system provides root attachment with soil and structural support. In Latvia, the common aspen (Populus tremula L.) root system has been studied to develop a belowground biomass model, because information about root system characteristics in relation to tree wind resistance is scarce. The aim of this study was to assess the root-plate dimensions of common aspen stands on fertile mineral soil (luvisol). Study material was collected in the central region of Latvia, where pure mature (41–60 years old) common aspen stands were randomly selected, and dominant trees within the stand were chosen. In total, ten sample trees from ten stands were uprooted. The diameter at breast height (DBH) and tree height (H) were measured for each sample tree, and their roots were excavated, divided into groups, washed, measured, and weighed. The highest naturally moist biomass values were observed for coarse roots, and fine root biomass was significantly lower compared to other root groups. All root group biomass values had a strong correlation with the tree DBH. The obtained results show that there is a close, negative relationship between the relative distance from the stem and the relative root-plate depth distribution.
Highlights
The world’s forests face a rapidly changing climate [1], and a better understanding of how changing conditions may affect them is needed [2]
The study was conducted in the central region of Latvia (56◦ 520 N, 24◦ 210 E) in pure, mature (41–60 years old) common aspen stands, growing on freely drained mineral soil [33], corresponding to luvisol [34]
Study data were obtained in ten randomly selected common aspen stands from ten dominant trees that corresponded to the average DBH2 in the stand
Summary
The world’s forests face a rapidly changing climate [1], and a better understanding of how changing conditions may affect them is needed [2]. In the last 30 years, the number of storms and their intensity has increased in European forests [4]. Storms create large openings in the forest stand [5,6] and increase the probability of secondary damages due to newly formed stand edges [7]. The effects of climate change on forests manifest as the replacement of less adapted trees species with the ones more suitable for the new conditions, including new wind climate [8]. This has already occurred in Switzerland, where Pinus sylvestris L
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