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Wind and gravity in shaping Picea trunks

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Abstract

Key message

Spruce trunk tapering corresponds closely to tapering required to resist bending forces caused by wind and gravity.

Abstract

Understanding why trunks (tree stems) are the size that they are is important. However, this understanding is fragmented into isolated schools of thought and has been far from complete. Realistic calculations on minimum trunk diameters needed to resist bending moments caused by wind and gravity would be a significant step forward. However, advancements using this biomechanical approach have been delayed by difficulties in modelling bending of trunks and wind gusts. We felled and measured five Norway spruces (Picea abies) in an unthinned monoculture in southeastern Finland planted 67 years earlier. We then focused on forces working on storm-bent (maximally bent) trees caused by gravity and the strongest gust in a 1-h simulation with a large-eddy simulation model. The weakest points along the trunks of the three largest trees resisted mean above-canopy wind speeds ranging from 10.2 to 12.7 m s−1 (3.3-fold in the strongest gust), but the two smallest were well protected by a dense layer of leaves from the bending tops of larger trees, and could have resisted stronger winds. Gravity caused approximately one quarter of the critical bending moments. The wind that breaks the trunks in their weakest points is close to breaking them in other points, supporting the importance of bending moments caused by wind and gravity in the evolution of trunk taper.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Tapio Linkosalo for discussions in the early stages of the research process and Stella Thompson for English language editing.

Funding

ML acknowledges Peking University for funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Ecology and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Markku Larjavaara

  2. Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling, Atmospheric Composition Research, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland

    Mikko Auvinen

  3. Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Latokartanonkaari 9, P.O.Box 2, 00791, Helsinki, Finland

    Anu Kantola

  4. Department of Forest Sciences, University of Helsinki, Latokartanonkaari 7, P.O.Box 27, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Annikki Mäkelä

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  1. Markku Larjavaara
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  2. Mikko Auvinen
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  4. Annikki Mäkelä
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Correspondence to Markku Larjavaara.

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Larjavaara, M., Auvinen, M., Kantola, A. et al. Wind and gravity in shaping Picea trunks. Trees 35, 1587–1599 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-021-02138-3

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