Evaluating wind damage vulnerability in the Alps: A new wind risk model parametrisation

The risk of wind damage to European forests is expected to increase due to the changed climate. Research efforts in forestry have been focussing on the development of analytical and modelling tools to aid with the evaluation and the prediction of forests' vulnerability to wind damage, and ultimately to inform forest management decisions aimed at promoting wind-resistance in forest stands. Recent catastrophic wind damage to European forests has shown that wind damage risk applies also to montane forests. These are of particular importance for the various ecosystem services they provide, including protection from gravitational hazards and defence against soil erosion. At present, the available forest wind risk models have been tested and used mainly on production or planted forests in different countries, but never in the complexity of mountainous terrains. The aim of this study is to introduce a methodology for the validation of a new parametrisation of the ForestGALES wind risk model, ...