Assessment of the damage to Polish forests caused by a hurricane in August 2017

On August 11−12, 2017, a hurricane passed from south to north of Poland causing considerable damage to forests, especially in regional directorates of the State Forests in Wrocław, Poznań, Toruń, Szczecinek and Gdańsk. By the end of 2018, the volume of wind−broken and wind−fallen trees and deadwood approximated to 9 million m3. In 9 forest districts the harvested volume exceeded 440 thousand m3, including two entities with over 1 million m3 each. The harvested volume was expressed as a percentage of allowable cut, calculated from the stand growth model. It showed possibile timber harvest in final and intermediate cuts in the absence of natural disasters (strong wind, intense drought, heavy snowfall, insect outbreaks, etc.). In many forest districts, timber harvest accounted for 100% of the allowable cut, with the maximum value approximated to 1100% of the allowable cut. The high salvage harvest of post−hurricane timber prevents the execution of other economic tasks, including plans of stand rebuilding. On the example of forest districts with the largest damage, the possibilities of selecting forests classified as the most threatened by wind were examined. The wind damage risk model for the stand was used to determine the value of wind damage risk factor Wr for each stand (values from 0 to 3; the higher value, the higher risk). The damage risk factor allowed to create six damage risk classes of a span of 0.5 each and to assign individual stands to one of the damage classes. The share of the area of stands and damaged stands in Wr classes was also determined. In the Lipusz Forest District the share of stands in VI class of Wr was 9.8%, and the area of damaged stands in this class was 98.3%. In the Rytel and Przymuszewo forest districts, the areal share of such stands was 10.7% and 5.1%, respectively, and almost all stands in this class were damaged by the hurricane. The areal share of forests in the highest Wr class was reported in the Gniezno Forest District accounting for 4.8% and the hurricane damaged 85% of their area. The wind damage risk model for the stand allows to identify forests where damage is very likely to occur. It is, therefore, possible to take action on the rebuilding of stands before the wind comes and thus reduce its negative effects. The cutting plan should include, in the first place, stands classified to the high wind damage risk factor