Assessing Wind throw Potential in Urban Forests of Coastal California

摘要

High wind velocities are common along the northern coast of California. These high velocity winds, often reaching 100 mph, have caused wind throw of trees in portions of native forest stands and forest plantations. The wind throw problem has been exacerbated by the opening of forest stands to accommodate roads and provide building sites during urbanization. Damage to structures and loss of life as a result of wind throw have required urban forester to seek management strategies to minimize wind throwhazard. Essential to understanding the wind throw problem is the ability to identify sites with high wind throw potential. Once these sites have been identified, silvicultural and arboricultural methods and site planning decisions can be used to reducethe wind throw hazard. The purpose of this presentation is to report on a method developed for identifying and mapping sites with high windthrow hazard. This presentation brings together information previously reported by the authors (McBride, 1999, 2002, 2003; McBride and Leffmgwell, 2003; Leffmgwell, 2004).