| Gilman, E.F., F. Masters and J.C. Grabosky |
| 2007 |
| Pruning affects tree movement in hurricane force wind. |
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Arboriculture and Urban Forestry (in press) |
| The goal was to determine how different pruning techniques affect trunk movement on live oak subjected to hurricane force winds. Tree movement in wind on non-pruned trees was compared to movement on trees with crowns thinned, reduced, or raised. The trees were blown using a wind generator up to 45 m/s (110 mph), maintained for three minutes. Each tree was instrumented with three Microstrain 3DM-GX1 orientation sensors at set heights along the trunk to measure its deflection in all three axes. Thinning or reducing crowns significantly reduced trunk movement at all wind speeds; whereas raising did not. This data indicates that the foliage and branches toward the top portion of the crowns are largely responsible for trunk movement in straight-line wind with those toward the bottom less important. Trees that are reduced or thinned in the manner described could receive less damage in wind storms. |