Ice Storm Damage to a Mixed Hardwood Forest and Its Impacts on Forest Regeneration in the Ridge and Valley Region of Southwestern Virginia

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Abstract
Severe ice storms in early 1994 caused tremendous damage to the forests of southwestern Virginia. Two years later, an intensive survey was carried out at the Fishburn Forest of Virginia Tech to investigate the impacts of topography on the severity of ice damage to the forests, and to quantify the effects of ice-created gaps on forest regeneration. The random survey plots were stratified based on 15 recognized topographic categories. In each plot, gap area was measured and four small random quadrats were selected for seedling survey in both gap and non-gap understory. Species differ in their susceptibility to ice damage and change in species composition across different topographic areas. We created a community susceptibility index to evaluate forest susceptibility to ice damage. This index, calculated by weighting species composition, and their local susceptibility in the corresponding topographical category, was highly correlated to the severity of ice damage as indicated by gap size. In general, forests on steep slopes had the greatest susceptibility. Because of severe ice storms are frequent in the region, and their effects on forest turnover are topographic specific, they are likely to be a major factor in determining the dynamics of forest landscapes. Presence of gaps, gap size, and topography affected seedling density and height growth. However, the species composition in gaps did not differ from that in the non-gap understory and overstory elements were well represented in the seedling communities. This indicates that future forests may not differ from current ones. However, gap size may affect the rate of forest recovery.

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