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Windthrow in a tropical savanna in Kakadu National Park, northern Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Richard J. Williams  and
Michael Douglas
Richard J. Williams
Affiliation:
CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology, Tropical Ecosystems Research Centre, PMB 44 Winnellie, NT 0821, Australia
Michael Douglas
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia
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Abstract

Windthrow was assessed following a convective storm in a stand of tropical savanna in Kakadu National Park, northern Australia. Over an area of 3 ha, 79 out of 810 trees (9.8%) were damaged; 27 of them were either uprooted or snapped off at the trunk. Logistic regression showed that both species and tree height were significant determinants of the probability of wind damage. Branch loss and either uprooting or trunk snapping was highest in the canopy sub-dominant Eucalyptus porrecta. Damage was lowest in the sub-dominant trees Erythrophleum chlorostachys, a species which is relatively resistant to termite damage, and Terminalia ferdinandiana, a deciduous species which is generally shorter than the main canopy dominants. Damage was intermediate in the two most common canopy dominants, Eucalyptus tetrodonta and E. miniata. Wind damage was greatest in trees taller than 9 m and relatively minor in trees below this height. Wind disturbs savanna trees in a manner opposite to that of fire, because wind damage is greatest in taller trees, whereas fire damage is greatest in smaller trees. This, coupled with significant within-patch variability in the extent of wind damage, may act to increase small-scale environmental heterogeneity in savannas.

Keywords

disturbancedominanceEucalyptusKakadu National Parklogistic regressionnorthern Australiasavannawindwindthrow
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , November 1995 , pp. 547 - 558
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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