Immediate and Delayed Effects of Severe Winds on an Old-Growth Forest in Kentucky: A Forty-Year Retrospective

Abstract

Wind disturbance is an important factor that can affect the development of the forests of the Central Hardwood Region of the United States. However, there have been few long-term studies of the recovery of these systems following wind damage. Long-term studies of protected forest systems, such as Dinsmore Woods in Northern Kentucky, within the fragmented forest of this region are valuable as they provide a resource to document and understand the effect of both abiotic and biotic challenges to forest systems. This study is a 40-year analysis of both overstory and understory changes in the forest system at Dinsmore Woods as the result of damage caused by severe winds in the spring of 1974. The forest was surveyed before and immediately following the windstorm and then at 10-year intervals. Although the windstorm had an immediate effect on the forest, the pattern of damage was complex. The forest canopy (diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 30 cm) experienced an irregular pattern of damage while in the subcanopy (DBH ≤ 30 cm) there was a 25% reduction in total basal area. However, the major effects of the windstorm were delayed and subsequently have altered forest recovery. Ten years following the disturbance declines were seen in total density and basal area in the canopy and subcanopy of the forest as a consequence of windstorm damage. In the past 20 years the total basal area of the canopy has increased and exceeds the pre-disturbance total basal area. In contrast, the subcanopy total basal area continued to decline 20 years post-disturbance and has not recovered. Further openings in the canopy and subcanopy due to the delayed windstorm effects helped to establish a dense understory of native shrubs and sugar maple which have affected tree regeneration and is reflected in the continual decline in species diversity in the subcanopy and sapling strata over the 40-year period.