Interspecific variation in susceptibility to windthrow as a function of tree size and storm severity for northern temperate tree species

Studies of wind disturbance regimes have been hampered by the lack of metho ds to quantify variation in both storm severity and the responses of tree s pecies to winds of varying intensity. In this paper, we report the developm ent of a new, empirical method of simultaneously estimating both local stor m severity and the parameters of functions that define species-specific var iation in susceptibility to windthrow as a function of storm severity and t ree size. We test the method using data collected following a storm that st ruck the western Adirondack Mountains of New York in 1995. For intermediate -sized stems (e.g., 40 cm DBH), black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.) and re d spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) showed the highest rates of windthrow across virtually all levels of storm severity, while yellow birch (Betula alleghan iensis Britt.) and sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) had the lowest rates of windthrow. For much of the range of storm severity, the probability of windthrow for the most susceptible species was at least twice as high as fo r the least susceptible species. Three of the species, yellow birch, red sp ruce, and beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.), had significantly lower probabil ity of windthrow at a given storm severity in old-growth stands than in sec ond-growth stands. Our results suggest that the distinctive abundance of th ese three species in old-growth forests of the Adirondacks is due, at least in part, to their ability to survive the intermediate-scale disturbance ev ents that appear to dominate the natural disturbance regime in this region.