Ice Storms and Forest Succession in Southwestern Virginia

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Abstract
The effects of heavy glaze on damage, mortality and reproduction patterns of trees were studied in 4 forests, 2 growing seasons after a major winter ice storm. Most oaks and hickory were resistant to glaze, while black oak (Quercus velutina), yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) and pines (Pinus spp.) were not, with 3/4 or more of the trees damaged by ice. For most species, percent damage and mortality were positively correlated, but they were negatively correlated for red maple (Acer rubrum) and yellow poplar, which experienced extremely low mortality rates. Density of tree reproduction increased after disturbance. The effect on succession was complicated by site factors and the successional status of disturbed forests. Forests occupying xeric sites (Quercus spp., P. pungens, P. rigida) were least affected since overstory-understory species composition remained virtually unchanged. On more mesic sites, succession was accelerated in Virginia pine forests, where extensive canopy damage and mortality allowed rapid growth of oak reproduction established before the storm, and probably retarded in yellow popular forests because of the low mortality of canopy trees and stimulation of yellow popular seedling reproduction.

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