[Images] Five photos of different landscape

Publication Information

Title:	Relationships between common forest metrics and realized impacts of Hurrican Katrina on forest resources in Mississippi
Author(s):	Oswalt, Sonja N.; Oswalt, Christopher M.
Date:	2008
Source:	Forest Ecology and Management, Vol. 255: 1692-1700
Description:	This paper compares and contrasts hurricane-related damage recorded across the Mississippi landscape in the 2 years following Katrina with initial damage assessments based on modeled parameters by the USDA Forest Service. Logistic and multiple regressions are used to evaluate the influence of stand characteristics on tree damage probability. Specifically, this paper addresses four primary questions related to post-hurricane damage: (1) do inventory data substantiate damage zone estimates made using remotely sensed and climate data following Hurricane Katrina; (2) were softwoods or hardwoods more susceptible to hurricane damage and does that susceptibility change as distance from landfall increases; (3) what are the primary stand-level factors influencing vulnerability to damage, based on observed damage and measured stand characteristics, and; (4) is tree-level damage related to tree species, and do damage types (bole, branch, lean, or windthrow) differ by species?We were able to accept the hypothesis that damage differed among the developed zones, and to confirm the acceptability of the figures initially generated. However, we were not able to accept the hypothesis that softwoods experienced more damage than hardwoods. Our data showed a marked increase in damage to hardwood species, except in the first zone of impact. Additionally, the likelihood of hardwood damage increased with increasing distance from the zone of impact. However, species group was confounded with the other predictor variables in many cases, making it difficult to separate the effects of each variable.
Key Words:	Hurricane Katrina, forest, inventory, Mississippi
	View and Print this Publication (324 KB)
Publication Notes:	We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information. This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain. Our on-line publications are scanned and captured using Adobe Acrobat. During the capture process some typographical errors may occur. Please contact the SRS Webmaster, srswebmaster@fs.fed.us if you notice any errors which make this publication unuseable.
	Get the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader or Acrobat Reader for Windows with Search and Accessibility

Publication Links:

FIA Resource Bulletins

Southeastern Forest Experiment Station (1963-1995)

Southern Forest Experiment Station (1963-1997)

Southern Research Station (1996-present)

Complete list of FIA Resource Bulletins from the Southern United States

Publications Search

Search for on-line publications containing the following:
Author:
Title:
Key Words:

Search only SRS Publications (Uncheck this box to search all R&D Publications.)