Spatiotemporal Changes in Forest Metrics after a Catastrophic Tornado in Planted Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda L.) Stands
Clicks: 18
ID: 316439
2026
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This
article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score —
reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
Reader Engagement
Steady Performance
5.1
/100
18 views
9 readers
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
SteadyRanked #20 of 35 articles by views in forest science and technology
Most read
Least read
Bar heights use a square-root scale.
Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet mintedCreate a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.
5
SUSD
one-off · no wallet required
Abstract
Abstract Tornadoes drastically impact managed forest landscapes, altering structure, composition, and economic valuation. Tornadoes occur frequently in the US and are projected to increase in the southeastern region, which is a substantial timber-producing region. Quantifying tornado damage in managed forest landscapes is important for guiding management decisions and modeling recovery efforts to recoup economic losses. We assessed the spatiotemporal effects on forest structure, volume, and carbon in 13–17 year old loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda L.) stands after an EF-3 tornado, with a path length of 35 km long and damage swath of 250 m wide, in Shallotte, North Carolina, US. We established 36 plots along a tornado path and reconstructed pre-storm stand characteristics to compare them to the first and third growing seasons (2021 and 2023) after the storm. To evaluate the spatial distribution of damage, we sampled directly in the tornado’s path, along its edge, and in undisturbed, adjacent forest areas within the same stand. We found that damage was localized, reducing trees per hectare, basal area, volume, and aboveground carbon stock by ~ 50% directly inside the tornado track, while plots located on the edge or in undisturbed forest areas were nominally affected. By the third growing season, all metrics from plots inside the tornado track, except for tree density, increased and stand volume returned to the pre-storm levels. This indicates a rapid recovery in even-aged, spatially uniform pine stands with minimal impacts at the edges and forest interior from the tornadic event. By documenting localized losses and metric-specific recovery of forest structure, this study establishes an empirical baseline for understanding short-term tornado effects in even-aged pine stands, which is important for informing targeted post-disturbance management decisions.
| Reference Key |
openalex_W7164037699
Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using
SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
|
|---|---|
| Authors | Simone Lim-Hing, Holly L. Munro, Bronson P. Bullock, Dan M. Johnson, James T. Vogt, Kamal J.K. Gandhi |
| Journal | forest science and technology |
| Year | 2026 |
| DOI |
10.1007/s44391-026-00071-x
|
| URL | |
| Keywords | Keywords not found |
Citations
No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.