Université de Fribourg

Changes in wood anatomy in tree rings of Pinus pinaster Ait. following wounding by flash floods

Ballesteros, J.A. ; Stoffel, Markus ; Bodoque, J.M. ; Bollschweiler, Michelle ; Hitz, Oliver ; Díez-Herrero, A.

In: Tree-Ring Research, 2010, vol. 66, no. 2, p. 93-103

This paper analyzes the anatomical response of Pinus pinaster Ait. following wounding by flash floods. A total of 14 wood samples were taken from 14 different scarred trees located on the river banks of the Arroyo Cabrera torrent (Spanish Central System). In addition, 20 increment cores were collected from undisturbed and healthy P. pinaster trees to build a local reference chronology. For the...

Université de Fribourg

Unraveling the patterns of late Holocene debris-flow activity on a cone in the Swiss Alps: chronology, environment and implications for the future

Stoffel, Markus ; Conus, Delphine ; Grichting, Michael A. ; Lièvre, Igor ; Maître, Gilles

In: Global and Planetary Change, 2008, vol. 60, no. 3-4, p. 222-234

Debris-flow activity on the forested cone of the Ritigraben torrent (Valais, Swiss Alps) was assessed from growth disturbances in century-old trees, providing an unusually complete record of past events and deposition of material. The study of 2246 tree-ring sequences sampled from 1102 Larix decidua Mill., Picea abies (L.) Karst. and Pinus cembra ssp. sibirica trees allowed reconstruction of 123...

Université de Fribourg

Application of ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) roots to determine erosion rates in mountain torrents

Hitz, Oliver M. ; Gärtner, Holger W. ; Heinrich, Ingo ; Monbaron, Michel

In: Catena, 2008, vol. 72, no. 2, p. 248-258

Due to the effect of global change, the potential risk of natural hazards occurring in alpine areas is expected to increase to an even higher risk-level than has been recorded during the last century. These global changes potentially also have distinct influences on fluvial processes in torrents causing erosion on slopes and riverbanks in forested areas. Dating the time of root exposure along...