Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Patterns and drivers of ice storm damage in temperate forests of Central Europe

  • OriginalPaper
  • Published:
European Journal of Forest Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Ice storms are important natural disturbances in temperate forests, yet have received little attention outside North America. Following an extreme ice storm in Slovenia, we examined patterns of ice damage within and among temperate forest sites and quantified differences in susceptibility to damage with respect to tree species and size across a gradient of storm intensity and site conditions. Based on a damage survey of 60 plots distributed across six unmanaged forest sites, ordinal logistic regression was used to examine patterns of ice damage as a function of storm intensity, species, tree size, and slope steepness. Our findings indicate that a complex interaction among these drivers gave rise to substantial variation in damage type and severity among species, plots, and stands. Fagus sylvatica, the most dominant species, was one of the most susceptible species to severe ice damage, while conifers (Abies alba and Picea abies) were least susceptible. Crown damage was the most common damage type at low storm intensity, while uprooting increased at higher intensity, particularly for large trees on steep slopes. Differences in species susceptibility to ice damage, combined with variation in storm intensity and site conditions, gave rise to heterogeneous damage patterns that have the potential to alter successional pathways. Based on an analysis of historical records, moderate-to-severe ice storms recur relatively frequently in the region, suggesting that they play a more important role in forest dynamics than previously thought.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arii K, Lechowicz MJ (2007) Changes in understory light regime in a beech-maple forest after a severe ice storm. Can J For Res 37:1770–1776

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong BG, Sloan M (1989) Ordinal regression models for epidemiologic data. Am J Epidemiol 129:191–204

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Aszalós R, Somodi I, Kenderes K, Ruff J, Czúcz B, Standovár T (2012) Accurate prediction of ice disturbance in European deciduous forests with generalized linear models: a comparison of field-based and airborne-based approaches. Eur J For Res 131:1905–1915

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein BC, Makkonen L, Järvinen E (2009) European icing frequency derived from surface observations. In: XIII International workshop on atmospheric icing of structures (IWAIS), pp 8–11

  • Bigler C, Kulakowski D, Veblen TT (2005) Multiple disturbance interactions and drought influence fire severity in Rocky Mountain subalpine forests. Ecology 86:3018–3029

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boerner REJ, Runge SD, Cho DS, Kooser JG (1988) Localized ice storm damage in an appalachian plateau watershed. Am Midl Nat 119:199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bragg DC, Shelton MG, Zeide B (2003) Impacts and management implications of ice storms on forests in the southern United States. For Ecol Manag 186:99–123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brommit AG, Charbonneau N, Contreras TA, Fahrig L (2004) Crown loss and subsequent branch sprouting of forest trees in response to a major ice storm. J Torrey Bot Soc 131:169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruederle LP, Stearns FW (1985) Ice storm damage to a Southern Wisconsin Mesic forest. Bull Torrey Bot Club 112:167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Canham C, Papaik M, Latty E (2001) Interspecific variation in susceptibility to windthrow as a function of tree size and storm severity for northern temperate tree species. Can J For Res 31:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Canham CD, Thompson J, Zimmerman JK, Uriarte M (2010) Variation in susceptibility to hurricane damage as a function of storm intensity in Puerto Rican tree species: susceptibility to hurricane damage. Biotropica 42:87–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carrière JM, Lainard C, Le Bot C, Robart F (2000) A climatological study of surface freezing precipitation in Europe. Meteorol Appl 7:229–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Changnon SA (2003) Characteristics of ice storms in the United States. J Appl Meteorol 42:630–639

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Steven D, Kline J, Matthiae PE (1991) Long-term changes in a Wisconsin Fagus-Acer forest in relation to glaze storm disturbance. J Veg Sci 2:201–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drösser L, von Lüpke B (2005) Canopy gaps in two virgin beech forest reserves in Slovakia. J Forest Sci 51:446–457

    Google Scholar 

  • Duguay SM, Arii K, Hooper M, Lechowicz MJ (2001) Ice storm damage and early recovery in an old-growth forest. Environ Monit Assess 67:97–108

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ge J, Xiong G, Wang Z, Zhang M, Zhao C, Shen G, Xu W, Xie Z (2015) Altered dynamics of broad-leaved tree species in a Chinese subtropical montane mixed forest: the role of an anomalous extreme 2008 ice storm episode. Ecol Evol 5:1484–1493

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Glitzenstein JS, Harcombe PA (1988) Effects of the December 1983 tornado on forest vegetation of the Big Thicket, southeast Texas, USA. For Ecol Manag 25:269–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grce D, Firm D, Flajšman K, Pisek R, Roženbergar D, Rugani T, Nagel TA (2014) Forest reserves, biodiversity conservation, and forest management in Slovenia: a critique. Gozdarski vestnik 72:310–322

    Google Scholar 

  • Guisan A, Harrel FE (2000) Ordinal response regression models in ecology. J Veg Sci 11:617–626

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halofsky JE, Donato DC, Hibbs DE, Campbell JL, Cannon MD, Fontaine JB, Thompson JR, Anthony RG, Bormann BT, Kayes LJ, Law BE, Peterson DL, Spies TA (2011) Mixed-severity fire regimes: lessons and hypotheses from the Klamath-Siskiyou Ecoregion. Ecosphere 2:art40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrell FE (2001) Regression modeling strategies. Springer-Verlag, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Harrell FE (2015) rms: Regression Modeling Strategies. R package version 4.3-1. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=rms

  • Hobi ML, Ginzler C, Commarmot B, Bugmann H (2015) Gap pattern of the largest primeval beech forest of Europe revealed by remote sensing. Ecosphere 6:art76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hooper MC, Arii K, Lechowicz MJ (2001) Impact of a major ice storm on an old-growth hardwood forest. Can J Bot 79:70–75

    Google Scholar 

  • Irland LC (2000) Ice storms and forest impacts. Sci Total Environ 262:231–242

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Isaacs RE, Stueve KM, Lafon CW, Taylor AH (2014) Ice storms generate spatially heterogeneous damage patterns at the watershed scale in forested landscapes. Ecosphere 5:art141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jakša J (2007) Natural disasters in Slovenian forests. Gozdarski vestnik 65:161–176

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones J, Pither J, DeBruyn R, Robertson R (2001) Modeling ice storm damage to a mature, mixed-species hardwood forest in eastern Ontario. Ecoscience 8:513–521

    Google Scholar 

  • Kenderes K, Aszalós R, Ruff J, Barton Z, Standovár T (2007) Effects of topography and tree stand characteristics on susceptibility of forests to natural disturbances (ice and wind) in the Börzsöny Mountains (Hungary). Commun Ecol 8:209–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn M, Contributions from Wing J, Weston S, Williams A, Keefer C, Engelhardt A, Cooper T, Mayer Z, Kenkel B, The R Core Team, Benesty M, Lescarbeau R, Ziem A, Scrucca L (2015) Caret: classification and regression training. R package version 6.0-47. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=caret

  • Lafon CW (2004) Ice-storm disturbance and long-term forest dynamics in the Adirondack Mountains. J Veg Sci 15:267–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lemon PC (1961) Forest ecology of ice storms. Bull Torrey Bot Club 88:21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nagel TA, Svoboda M (2008) Gap disturbance regime in an old-growth Fagus-Abies forest in the Dinaric Mountains, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Can J For Res 38:2728–2737

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nagel TA, Svoboda M, Rugani T, Diaci J (2010) Gap regeneration and replacement patterns in an old-growth Fagus-Abies forest of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Plant Ecol 208:307–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nagel TA, Svoboda M, Kobal M (2014) Disturbance, life history traits, and dynamics in an old-growth forest landscape of southeastern Europe. Ecol Appl 24:663–679

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Proulx OJ, Greene DF (2001) The relationship between ice thickness and northern hardwood tree damage during ice storms. Can J For Res 31:1758–1767

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rebertus AJ, Shifley SR, Richards RH, Roovers LM (1997) Ice storm damage to an old-growth oak-hickory forest in Missouri. Am Midl Nat 137:48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhoads AG, Hamburg SP, Fahey TJ, Siccama TG, Hane EN, Battles J, Cogbill C, Randall J, Wilson G (2002) Effects of an intense ice storm on the structure of a northern hardwood forest. Can J For Res 32:1763–1775

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rich RL, Frelich LE, Reich PB (2007) Wind-throw mortality in the southern boreal forest: effects of species, diameter and stand age. J Ecol 95:1261–1273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seischab FK, Bernard JM, Eberle MD (1993) Glaze storm damage to Western New York forest communities. Bull Torrey Bot Club 120:64–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sinjur I, Vertacnik G, Likar L, Hladnik V, Miklavcic I, Gustincic M (2014) Ice storm in Slovenia in January and February—spatial and temporal variability in weather across the Dinaric landscapes in Slovenia. Gozdarski Vestnik 72:299–309

    Google Scholar 

  • Takahashi K, Arii K, Lechowicz MJ (2007) Quantitative and qualitative effects of a severe ice storm on an old-growth beech-maple forest. Can J For Res 37:598–606

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trotsiuk V, Svoboda M, Janda P, Mikolas M, Bace R, Rejzek J, Samonil P, Chaskovskyy O, Korol M, Myklush S (2014) A mixed severity disturbance regime in the primary Picea abies (L.) Karst. forests of the Ukrainian Carpathians. For Ecol Manag 334:144–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turcotte RM, Elliott TR, Fajvan MA, Park YL, Snider DA, Tobin PC (2012) Effects of ice storm damage on hardwood survival and growth in Ohio. North J Appl For 29:53–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vertacnik G, Dolinar M, Sinjur I, Gustincic M (2015) Meteorological conditions during the ice storm causing glaze ice at the end of January and the beginning of February 2014. Ujma 29:149–173

    Google Scholar 

  • Vidic NJ, Prus T, Grcman H, Zupan M, Lisec A, Kralj T, Rupreht J, Sporar M, Suhadolc M, Mihelic R, Lobnik F, Jones A, Montanarella L (2015) Soils of Slovenia with soil map 1:250000 (EUR Scientific and Technical Research Series, no. 25212 EN). European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC): Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker SH, Duncan DB (1967) Estimation of the probability of an event as a function of several independent variables. Biometrika 54:167–179

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Warrillow M, Mou P (1999) Ice storm damage to forest tree species in the ridge and Valley Region of Southwestern Virginia. J Torrey Bot Soc 126:147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weeks BC, Hamburg SP, Vadeboncoeur MA (2009) Ice storm effects on the canopy structure of a northern hardwood forest after 8 years. Can J For Res 39:1475–1483

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitney HE, Johnson WC (1984) Ice storms and forest succession in Southwestern Virginia. Bull Torrey Bot Club 111:429–437

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou B, Gu L, Ding Y, Shao L, Wu Z, Yang X, Li C, Li Z, Wang X, Cao Y, Zeng B, Yu M, Wang M, Wang S, Sun H, Duan A, An Y, Wang X, Kong W (2011) The great 2008 Chinese ice storm: its socioeconomic-ecological impact and sustainability lessons learned. B Am Meteorol Soc 92:47–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Funding was provided by the Slovenian Research Agency and the Pahernik Foundation. We thank Klemen Kamenik and Janez Kojc for help in the field. We also thank the three anonymous reviewers for providing constructive comments on a previous version of this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forestry and Renewable Forest Resources, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 83, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Thomas A. Nagel, Dejan Firm, Dusan Rozenbergar & Milan Kobal

Authors
  1. Thomas A. Nagel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dejan Firm
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Dusan Rozenbergar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Milan Kobal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas A. Nagel.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 84 kb)

Supplementary material 2 (PDF 144 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Nagel, T.A., Firm, D., Rozenbergar, D. et al. Patterns and drivers of ice storm damage in temperate forests of Central Europe. Eur J Forest Res 135, 519–530 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-016-0950-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-016-0950-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation