Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/17
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience included: Urban foresters and arborists, forest managers, researcher specializing in tree biomechanics, forestry or natural resources, students in natural resources and ecology (the study site in Storrs, CT was used as a demonstration site for two University of Connecticut courses; Exurban Silviculture and Forest Management), electrical utility companies, and electric utility customers (and audience cutting across socio-economic spectrums and equally impacted by widespread storm-related power outages). Changes/Problems:Project director (Dr. Mark Rudnicki) left the University of Connecticut in 2015, and since then the project has been under the direction of Dr. John Volin, Professor, Natural Resources and the Environment. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Two MS graduate students worked on this project as part of their thesis research. In addition, a rotating crew of undergraduate students interested in forest resources science assisted with site installation and maintenance throughout the course of the study. These undergraduate students also did the majority of the thinning treatment on the sites. The first graduate student involved in this project was able to obtain fulltime employment with one of the utility companies collaborating on this project and now works in their roadside vegetation management office. The second graduate student defended her MS thesis, which described a model predicting sway frequency of trees, in August, 2017. The following is a list of skills she obtained over the course of this project: Set-up and maintenance of Campbell Science meteorological instruments and programming of their data loggers Set-up and maintenance of biaxial inclinometers Python scripting for signal analysis, Arc GIS (spatial analysis), plotting and statistical analyses, and data management SAS scripting - gained proficiency for statistical analysis and model building R scripting - gained familiarity Forest management - was able to improve naturalist skills as well as practice forest measurements and the writing of forest management plans, and gained a more thorough understanding of forest use history particularly in Connecticut Professional tree climbing - gained familiarity Statistical analyses - gained proficiency through a series of three semester long classes, and extensive research into common practices Oral and poster presentations focused on the science behind sway analysis and the Stormwise project in general (https://stormwise.uconn.edu/) How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Information on this project has been presented in the form of oral or poster presentations at a number of professional development events for foresters as well as a webinar. These include: (New England Society for American Forest (NESAF) conferences 2016, 2017 & 2018) (Forest Health Workshop at Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, March 2017) (CT Urban Forest Council meeting, 2014, 2015, 2016 & 2017). Webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwPV9yHjmv0 A number of research forums: (CT Capitol building budget hearings, 2015 and 2016, UConn College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR) Graduate Research Forum, 2016 and 2017) and a number of Stormwise outreach events, such as the Eversource Energy Center 1st year anniversary. In addition, tree-sway demonstrations for teaching about the dynamic relationship of trees and wind have been performed a number of times for younger audiences, such as the Great Parks pursuit (2014), the UConn Natural Resources Conservation Academy (2014, 2015,2016), and the annual CAHNR Cornucopia outreach event (2014, 2016). An international wind and trees conference held in Boulder, CO in August, 2017. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. Three study sites were set up; Storrs, CT (Sept., 2012), Torrington, CT (July 2014) and Orange, CT (August 2014). At each site 13, 14 and 14 trees were monitored continuously with biaxial inclinometers connected to dataloggers. In nearby clear areas for each site, a meteorological tower was established to simultaneously collect wind and temperature data. The Storrs site had a silvicultural (i.e., tree thinning) treatment applied August 2013. The Orange site was thinned January 2016, where one monitored tree was damaged during the thinning process, and so now 13 trees continue to be monitored. The Torrington site was thinned July 2016. 2. Program scripts in Python were developed and data analyses was conducted. Fundamental vibrational frequency (FVF) for each monitored tree was being analyzed for potential differences under leaf on versus leaf off conditions and above versus below freezing conditions. 3. The research resulted in a MS thesis that was successfully defended and submitted in August 2017. Results showed that significant predictors of FVF included a calculation of tree slenderness that has been found to predict FVF in studies on coniferous trees, namely diameter at breast height (DBH) divided by tree height squared (H2), as well as environmental variables accounting for the presence or absence of leaves and temperatures above or below freezing. The results of this study highlight the importance of tree shape in predicting FVF, and tree shape forms similarly (tall slender trunks) in a closed canopy forest succession situation regardless of species mix or location. This relationship of FVF to an attribute that can be managed for, such as DBH×H-2, may help to mitigate tree-related storm damage to utility infrastructure.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Bunce, A., Volin, J., Miller, D., Parent, J., Rudnicki, M., August 2017. "Determinants of Tree Sway Frequency in Temperate Deciduous Forests of the Northeast United States." Wind and Tree conference, Boulder, CO.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Bunce, A., Volin, J., Miller, D., Parent, J., Rudnicki, M., March 2017."Driving Factors of Tree Sway Frequency in Temperate Deciduous Forests of the Northeast United States." Connecticut Conference of Natural Resources, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
CT Agricultural Experiment Station, Forest Health Workshop, research talk A lesson in tree/wind interaction, March 2017, New Haven, CT
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
NESAF annual conference March 2017 poster entitled Tree Sway in northern deciduous forests; understanding responses to wind exposure along our roadsides, Bangor, Maine.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Eversource Energy Center 1st anniversary meeting, October 2016, poster entitled Tree Sway in northern deciduous forests; Understanding and Predicting Response to Changes in Wind Exposure.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Bunce, A., J.C. Volin, D.R. Miller, J. Parent & M. Rudnicki. Determinants of tree sway frequency in temperate deciduous forests of the Northeast United States. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, currently under review.
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Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16
Outputs
Target Audience:Target audience includes: Urban foresters and arborists Forest managers Researchers specializing in tree biomechanics, forestry, or natural resources Students in natural resources and ecology - For instance, the study site in Storrs has been used as a demonstration site for two University of Connecticut courses (Exurban Silviculture and Forest Management) Electrical utility companies Electric utility customers (an audience cutting across socio-economic spectrums and equally impacted by widespread storm-related power outages) Changes/Problems:Project director (Dr. Mark Rudnicki) left the University of Connecticut in 2015, and since then the project has been under the direction of Dr. John Volin, Professor and Department Head for Natural Resources and the Environment. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Two MS graduate students have worked on this project as part of their thesis research. In addition, a rotating crew of undergraduate students interested in forest resources science have assisted with site installation and maintenance throughout the course of the study. These undergraduate students also did the majority of the thinning treatment on the sites. The first graduate student involved in this project was able to obtain fulltime employment with one of the utility companies collaborating on this project and now works in their roadside vegetation management office. The second student is currently writing her MS thesis which will describe a model predicting sway frequency. She is expected to graduate in May 2017. The following is a list of skills she obtained over the course of this project: Set-up and maintenance of Campbell Science meteorological instruments and programming of their data loggers Set-up and maintenance of biaxial inclinometers Python scripting for signal analysis, Arc GIS (spatial analysis), plotting and statistical analyses, and data management SAS scripting - gained proficiency for statistical analysis and model building R scripting - gained familiarity Forest management - was able to improve naturalist skills as well as practice forest measurements and the writing of forest management plans, and gained a more thorough understanding of forest use history particularly in Connecticut Professional tree climbing - gained familiarity Statistical analyses - gained proficiency through a series of three semester long classes, and extensive research into common practices Oral and poster presentations focused on the science behind sway analysis and the Stormwise project in general (www.stormwise.uconn.edu) How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Information on this project has been presented in the form of oral or poster presentations at professional development events for foresters: Northeast Society for American Forest (NESAF) conference March, 2016 and the CT Urban Forest Council meeting, 2016 In additon presentation were made at the following outreach events: CT Capitol building budget hearing. UConn College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR) Graduate Research Forum, March, 2016. Stormwise outreach events, such as the Eversource Energy Center 1st year anniversary, the UConn Natural Resources Conservation Academy, and the annual CAHNR Cornucopia event. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Analyze distance of sway, and build a model to determine predictors Analyze relationship of frequency to distance Compare frequency and distance analysis trends and changes before and after silvicultural treatments Submit manuscript for potential publication in the peer-reviewed literature
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. Three study sites were set up in Storrs, CT (Sept., 2012), Torrington, CT (July 2014) and Orange, CT (August 2014). At each site 13, 14 and 14 trees are monitored continuously with biaxial inclinometers connected to dataloggers. In nearby clear areas for each site, a meteorological tower was established to simultaneously collect wind and temperature data. The Storrs site had a silvicultural (i.e., tree thinning) treatment applied August 2013. The Orange site was thinned January 2016, where one monitored tree was damaged during the thinning process, and so now 13 trees continue to be monitored. The Torrington site was thinned July 2016. 2. Over the course of the last year, program scripts in Python have been developed and data analyses are currently underway. Fundamental vibrational frequency and distance of sway for each monitored tree is being analyzed for potential differences under leaf on versus leaf off conditions and above versus below freezing conditions. 3. These results are currently the subject for a MS graduate student thesis with the goal to be completed by spring 2017.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Connecticut Conference on Natural Resources annual meeting March 2016, research oral presentation entitled: Tree Sway in northern deciduous forests; Understanding and Predicting Response to Changes in Wind Exposure.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
NESAF annual conference March 2016, oral presentation entitled: Tree Sway in northern deciduous forests; Understanding and Predicting Response to Changes in Wind Exposure.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
CAHNR Graduate Student Research Forum, March 2016, poster entitled: Tree Sway in northern deciduous forests; Understanding and Predicting Response to Changes in Wind Exposure.
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Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15
Outputs
Target Audience: Target audiences for this reporting period include: Urban forester and arborists, researchers in tree and forest biomechanics, forest managers, students in natural resources and ecology, electrical utility companies, home and property owners in Connecticut that own edge forest and/or are concerned about tree failure in storms. Also, users of electricity, which is an audience that cuts across the socio-economic spectrum as storms caused widespread outages across the region in recent years. Experimental treatment area in Storrs has been used as a demonstration area for 2 classes (silviculture and forest management).Undergraduate students working on the project were engaged to perform thinning treatments, log trees, stage buyers for timber, mill logs and create a variety of forest products. Changes/Problems:Project director retired and project is now under the direction of Dr. John Volin, Professor and Department Head, Natural Resources and the Environment. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Two graduate students have used this research for their MS projects. One student is currently writing her thesis, and the second graduate student is currently assisting with setup and maintenance of the research sites as well as data gathering and analysis. The second graduate student has learned how to program Campbell scientific dataloggers, work with their meteorological instruments, and instrumentation for measuring tree sway motion. She has become proficient with python scripting and a number of data analysis techniques, and with ARC GIS for mapping and spatial data analysis. She has taken opportunities to hone skills in forest management techniques including tree identification and forest measurements, and has supervised undergraduate students working on this project. She has had the opportunity to create presentations for professional audiences including participating in a number of Stormwise (www.sotrmwise.uconn.edu) outreach events. It is anticipated that she will successfully finish her MS in summer 2016. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Information on this project was presented to professional audiences at Stormwise outreach events. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Tree sway monitoring equipment was removed during the thinning of the Orange, CT site. Once this thinning is accomplished (in January 2016), this site will be reequipped with tree sway monitors. The final site, located in Torrington, CT will be thinned in late summer/early fall 2016. With analysis techniques developed, the next reporting period will focus on site analyses and manuscript preparation. We will continue to conduct a number of outreach Stormwise presentations.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
There are three research field sites for this project. One site is located in eastern CT (Storrs, CT), one in southern CT close to the coast (Orange, CT) and the third in a higher elevation site in western CT (Torrington, CT). At each site the following accomplishments have been achieved. Storrs, CT site: Test site set up (including sway monitors on trees, a 100' meteorological tower nearby, along with dataloggers and necessary power sources) Sept., 2012, 13 trees monitored until Sept., 2013, Forest Edge thinned in Aug. 2013, trees continue to be monitored, and will be monitored for several more years. Orange, CT: Test site set up Aug., 2014, 14 trees monitored to Dec., 2015, Forest Edge thinned in Jan., 2016, trees will continue to be monitored for duration of study. Site in Torrington, CT: Test site set up July, 2014, 14 trees continue to be monitored, thinning scheduled for late summer/early fall, 2016. Over the reporting period tree sway and weather data for all three sites has been regularly collected, and data storage methods established. Processing techniques have been developed and tested and scripts for analysis of data have been built and are consistent for data coming from all three sites. Preliminary data have been analyzed for differences in sway dynamics (frequency and distance of sway) under different conditions. In addition, preliminary regression analyses have been run to determine appropriate model parameters for tree sway prediction. Storrs site has generated data for two growing seasons post thinning, for model validation and long-term study of changes in dynamics. A first run at analysis of changes in response to the thinning is currently underway.
Publications
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Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14
Outputs
Target Audience: Target audiences for this reporting periodinclude: Urban foresters and arborists, researchers in tree and forest biomechanics, forest managers interested in the wind disturbance resiliency of trees, students in natural resources and ecology, electrical utility companies, home and property owners in CT (and region) concerned about storm tree failure and most users of electricity. The last group, (users of electricity) cuts across the socioeconomic spectrum as storms caused widespread outages across the state and northeast region in just the past few years. Experimental treatment area was used as a demonstration area for 2 classes (Silviculture and Forest Management). Undergrad students working on the project were engaged to perform thinning treatment , log trees and stage for buyers and mill select logs into forest products. They were also engaged to assist in outreach events during No Child Left INside event, UConn's Cornucopia Festival and Nathan Hale Farmers Market. The project investigators gave a tour site to the general public during the annual College of Agriculture and Natural Resources "Cornucopia Festival" Uconn Forest Walk (September 29th 2014). Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The graduate student Amanda Buncerecieved the focus of the training for this project. Shelearned how to program a CR3000 datalogger, instrument trees for sway motion, calculate power needs and set up of needed solar panels and battery storage. Shelearned to do frequency analysis from mentoring received from the project leader and conducted spatial analysis of sway patterns of trees. Shedeveloped her presentation skills anddelivered PowerPoint presentations to professional audiences and has engaged in impromptu outreach at the site of the experiment as passersby enquire about the activities/experiment. In additional shehoned her skills in tree identification, forest measurements and supervised several undergraduate assistants over the summer. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? These efforts have been included in the Products section of the report. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In states where forest disturbance regimes are dominated by hurricane and other storm events, tree failure can do tremendous damage to the built infrastructure (our homes, power lines, cars, etc.). In more densely populated states (like Connecticut) that also have high forest cover, this combines for a tremendous risk to life and property. In order to mitigate the damage from trees failing during storms, we have designed and are researching the effectiveness of thinning the forest edges so that remaining trees build more wind resistance. Our efforts are also combined with outreach and education campaign and analysis of the cost effectiveness of solutions. Encompassing the entire effort our STORMWISE initiative is developing solutions that are biologically effective, socially acceptable,and economically viable. Our first objective is to measure the sway of 13 trees before and after thinning the forest edge. This isaccomplished with sensors and dataloggers deployed in the field. Wealso added two additional sites to improve the confidence in our results. The sway monitoring after thinning will continue for at least 5 years to observe any changes in sway motion that indicate an improvement of wind firmness. The second objective is to analyze the sway data and create indicators that can show changing sway dynamics. This includes the sway distance, frequency, and patterns of the trees. These techniques have been created for the first site and will be applied to tree sway data from our two additional sites this coming year. The third objective is basically relating the prior wind exposure of a tree to its ability to become more wind firm. We suspect that edge trees are already close to fully acclimated to the wind and so theirsway will not change much when neighboring trees are removed. However, trees inside the stand that were sheltered from wind by neighbors should have a strong response to the thinning treatment. We will formulate this model once thinning treatments are completed on the additional site this coming summer. Thefourth objective of testing and validating the model developed in objective three cannot be immediately tested as the trees need some time to respond to the new wind conditions. How long this takes is of central concern and may take several years.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Rudnicki M., Worthley T. and J. Volin. STORMWISE: An Initiative to Mitigate Storm Damage to Forest Edges and the Electrical Infrastructure. Society of American Foresters/CIF/IUFRO National Convention. Salt Lake City, Utah. October 8-11, 2014.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Stormwise: Increasing the Storm Resilience of Trees. WEBINAR hosted by UConn CLEAR (Center for Land use Education And Research). Wednesday, July 23rd, 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfRtb3vsLxs&feature=youtu.be
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Resilient Trees, Resilient Power - The Stormwise program: Reducing the risk of tree-related storm damage to power lines. New Jersey Shade Tree Federation Conference 89th Annual Conference. October 24th 2014.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
STORMWISE An Initiative to Manage Trees and Forests for Storm Resilience. Department of Environmental Conservation Seminar Series. University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA. November 14th, 2014.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Stormwise: An initiative to increase the storm resilience of trees. The Morton Arboretum Urban Tree Conference: Managing Urban Forests in a Changing Climate, Chicago, Illinois. November 1819, 2014
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Rudnicki M., Worthley T. and J. Volin. Dynamic Tree Sway Response After Storm Resiliency Management. International Society of Arboriculture Annual International Conference and Trade Show. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 2-6, 2014.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Managing Trees for Wind Stability . Rhode Island Nursery and Landscape Association Winter Meeting 2014. January 16-17, Kingston, RI
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Vegetation Management and Damage Prediction Modeling Research at the University of Connecticut. Northeast Utilities, Vegetation Management ALL HANDS Meeting. Storrs, CT. January 24th 2014.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
STORMWISE: Storm resilient trees and power. Third Climate Impact Mitigation and Adaptation Conference (CIMA 3). UConn Storrs campus, Storrs CT. March 31st 2014.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Power outages from tree-hazards. Connecticut Climate adaptation Academy. UConn Avery Point Campus, Groton, CT. May 3, 2014.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Vegetation Management Research for Resilient Energy. KEYNOTE Speaker. Storm Summit: Sharing Ideas and Inspiring Research, Utility Arborist Association. Philadelphia, PA. June 23rd 24th, 2014
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Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/13
Outputs
Target Audience: Target audiences include: researchers in tree and forest biomechanics, forest managers interested in the wind disturbance resiliency of trees, students in natural resources and ecology, electrical utility companies, home and property owners in CT (and nationwide) concerned about storm tree failure and most users of electricity. The last group, (users of electricity) certainly cuts across the socioeconomic spectrum as storms caused widespread outages across the state and northeast region in just the past few years. As part of the Stormwise initiative to mitigate tree related storm damage, the design and objectives of this project have been communicated to several groups through oral presentation at local and regional meetings of forest managers, arborists and researchers. The experiment and its objectives was the basis of lectures in the UCONN classes Exurban Silviculture and Forest Management. The project leader has given tours of the site to the general public during the annual College of Agriculture and Natural Resources “Cornucopia Festival” Uconn Forest Walk (September 29th 2013), and to personnel from local utility companies (summer 2013). Changes/Problems: Activities are proceeding generally as described in the proposal and on schedule. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The graduate student Jenna Klinck has recieved the focus of the training for this project. She has learned how to program a CR3000 datalogger, instrument trees for sway motion, calculate power needs and set up of needed solar panels and battery storage. She has learned to do frequency analysis from mentoring from the project leader and conducted spatial analysis of sway patterns of trees. She has developed her presentation skills to deliver powerpoint presentations to professional audiences and has engaged in impromptu outreach at the site of the experiment as passersby enquire about the activities/experiment. In additional she has assisted Rachel Lei in the mapping and geospatial work to determine tree positions. Jenna has also honed her skills in tree identification, forest measurements and supervised undergraduate assistant over the summer. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Presented project data at three conferences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Tree selection and thinning of the site is a critical activity to achieve the objective of understanding how the trees sway responds to changes in caonpy structure. Monitering of trees for comparison of post thinned sway behavior and acclimation to the altered wind regime will continue.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. Apply techniques to quantify the motion of individual mature deciduous trees along a forest edge.---- the grad student and i installed biaxial clinometers on the bole of 14 trees along the edge of the uconn forest. The recorded angular tree positions have been converted to displacements in two dimensions for subsequent analysis. Comparisons between leaf on and leaf off conditions have been completed for the site before thinning the site is conducted. 2. Derive and analyze individual sway frequencies and group level relationships before and after experimental silvicultural treatments.---- the grad student has completed the frequency analysis for trees before the thinning of the site. displacement of trees have been analysed for frequency of motion and patterns of motion. Patterns of motion are conducted by mapping the sway positions of the trees into a GIS. The resulting patterns reveal how individual sway dynamics are acclimated to site conditions as well as effects from neighbors. 3. Construct and parameterize a model of tree sway by combining measured sway dynamics with stand edge level effects such relative wind exposure and distance to neighbors.---- This has not been done yet. 4. Test and validate model by measuring changes in dynamic sway after thinning the edge.--- this has not been done yet.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Managing Trees to Enhance Wind Acclimation. 2013 American Society of Consulting Arborists Annual Conference. December 4-7, 2013. Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, CT
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Tree sway and acclimation to wind. The Connecticut Urban Forest Conference & The Connecticut Forest Forum. October 30, 2013, Plantsville, CT
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Klinck, J., Rudnicki, M. and Worthley, T. Deciduous Tree Sway Frequency Along a Forested Edge. March 18th 2013. Connecticut Conference on Natural Resources, Storrs, CT.
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