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

Three-dimensional analysis of the anatomical growth response of European conifers to mechanical disturbance

Schneuwly, Dominique M. ; Stoffel, Markus ; Dorren, Luuk K.A. ; Berger, Frédéric

In: Tree Physiology, 2009///doi: 10.1093/treephys/tpp056

Studies on tree reaction after wounding were so far based on artificial wounding or chemical treatment. For the first time, type, spread and intensity of anatomical responses were analyzed and quantified in naturally disturbed Larix decidua Mill., Picea abies (L.) Karst. and Abies alba Mill. trees. The consequences of rockfall impacts on increment growth were assessed at the height of the wounds,...

Université de Fribourg

Rockfall and snow avalanche impacts leave different anatomical signatures in tree rings of juvenile Larix decidua

Stoffel, Markus ; Hitz, Oliver M.

In: Tree Physiology, 2008, vol. 28, no. 11, p. 1713-1720

Rockfall and snow avalanche events often cause injury to European larch (Larix decidua Mill.) trees, giving rise to the formation of callus tissue and tangential rows of traumatic resin ducts (TRDs). We analyzed and quantified anatomical reactions of juvenile trees injured before the start of the growing season by snow avalanches (15 trees, 324 cross sections) or rockfalls (18 trees, 270...

Université de Fribourg

Wood anatomical changes in roots of European ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) after exposure

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

In: Dendrochronologia, 2008, vol. 25, no. 3, p. 145-152

Global changes have distinct influence on fluvial processes in torrents causing erosion on slopes and riverbanks even in forested areas. Continuous as well as discontinuous erosion of riverbanks covered by trees frequently results in destabilisation and finally cause the trees affected to tip over. These uprooted trees may lead to a blockage of the river and, in the case of a collapse of the...

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...