Forest dynamics where typhoon winds blow.

ABSTRACT: Tropical cyclones (TCs) sporadically cause extensive damage to forests. However, little is known about how TCs affect forest dynamics in mountainous terrain, due to difficulties in modelling wind flows and quantifying structural changes. Typhoon Mangkhut (2018) was the strongest TC to strike Hong Kong in over 40 yr, with gusts > 250 km h^-1. Remarkably, the event was captured by a dense anemometer network and repeated LiDAR surveys across natural forests and plantations. We mapped long-term mean and extreme wind speeds using CFD models and analysed corresponding changes in canopy height, which uncovered TC-forest dynamics at unprecedented scales (> 400 000 pixels, 1108 km²). Forest height was more strongly limited by wind exposure than by background topography, a limit

SUBMITTER: Chan AHY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11840412 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature