Relationships between snow/wind damage and tree species as well as forest types in secondary forests

In order to evaluate the relationships between snow/wind damage and tree species as well as forest types, secondary forests in the Qingyuan Forest Ecological Experiment Station of the Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), severely damaged by snow/wind, were investigated. Significant differences of snow/wind damage were observed among species. Betula costata exhibited the highest overall damage and Acer pseudo-sieboldianum the lowest. Types of damage (snapping and bending) by snow/wind also were significantly different among species. Taller trees with greater DBH and larger crown were more likely to be snapped, while shorter ones with smaller DBH were more likely to be bent. The relationships between stand types, defined by an importance value (IV), and snow/wind damage showed that stands with B. costata as the dominant species were significantly different in the amount of wind damage sustained from those stands with A. pseudo-sieboldianum as the dominant tree species.