An Evaluation of Dendroecological Indicators of Snow Avalanches in the Swiss Alps
| Autor: | Alejandro Casteller, Andrea C. Mayer, Veronika Stöckli, Ricardo Villalba |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2007 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research. 39:218-228 |
| ISSN: | 1938-4246 1523-0430 |
| Popis: | Avalanche records are important for land-use planning and risk management in mountainous areas. Written records on dates, disturbed area, and pressure patterns of past snow avalanches are scarce. Tree rings can be used to complement written records on past avalanche activity. We conducted two case studies at documented avalanche tracks in the Swiss Alps to determine the most valuable dendroecological indicators for reconstructing past avalanche events. Both tracks were impacted by avalanche events in 1951 and 1999, the two most exceptional avalanche years in recent Swiss history. The difference in tree age among the track, border, run-out, and control sectors was a valuable indicator of the area impacted by past avalanches, but not a useful tool to establish dates of avalanche occurrences. Comparisons of reaction wood formation, changes in stem eccentricity, and presence of traumatic resin canals among sectors showed significantly larger values of these indicators after the 1999 event in the trac... |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|