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| Titel |
Snow cover: a potential disturbance factor on forest stability |
| VerfasserIn |
Davide Viglietti, Margherita Maggioni, Antoine Brulport, Michele Freppaz, Ermanno Zanini |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2010
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 12 (2010) |
| Datensatznummer |
250034402
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| Zusammenfassung |
| The presence of a thick snowpack could interfere on forest stability especially on steep slopes: potential consequences include superficial soil erosion and damage of young and old stands, due to snow pressure and movements.
The aim of this work is to determine the pressure of the snowpack on stems in forest with different tree composition. The study site is located at 1950 m a.s.l., in a forest with protective function against avalanche release in Aosta Valley (NW-Italy) and includes two plots characterized by the same altitude, slope and aspect and different tree composition: (1) Larch stand and (2) Spruce stand. The plots are equipped with moisture and temperature sensors located at the snow-soil interface, and glide shoes, for continuous monitoring of snow gliding.
The recorded data will be related to periodically-monitored snow physical properties: in particular, snow density and grain type, together with the gliding movement, will be used to determine precise pressure values on steams.
The coupling of forest characteristics, such as steam density, crown dimension, tree composition, and basal diameter, with snowpack evolution might explain the effect of the forest on snow stabilization and on snow movements, while the calculation of pressure could identify the class of tree potentially more exposed to damage. Data will be collected during the ongoing winter (2009-2010) and particularly in spring, when the snow gliding process is more likely to occur.
KEYWORDS: forest stability, pressure of snow, protective forest, physical snow characteristics. |
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