Study on wind damage grade model for eucalyptus plantation in Guangxi, China

Abstract

Wind damage is one of the dominant natural disasters that have the greatest impact on the growth of plantations. However, little attention has been paid to the wind damage grade model. Based on eucalyptus plantations from national forest inventory data and field investigations in Guangxi, ten significant factors that are susceptible to wind damage were selected to perform multiple linear regression analysis on wind damage grade model. Through assessing the level of wind damage based on forest characteristic and site conditions, we aimed to reduce the loss of economic benefits caused by wind damage. The results showed that the age group of eucalyptus trees, slope, soil thickness, management grade, and total vegetation coverage had significant effects on the wind damage of eucalyptus trees in this area. Therefore, it is necessary to protect the vegetation coverage of forest land and to strengthen the management of forest land to improve the wind resistance of eucalyptus forests in the future.