Developing scales and tools for weather and climate related risk quantifications in forestry

Abstract

Natural disturbances play an important role in forest ecology, with effects that are highly dependent on characteristics of the specific disturbance. Climate and weather induced risks often interfere with the productivity of forests. Excessive wind, ice, and snow regularly cause major disturbances to forests in many parts of the world. The uprooted trees are susceptible to the risk of secondary damage to the surviving trees. In the last four decades, many European countries have suffered acute forest damage. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.