Abstract
Southwest Florida has few scientific records of impact to forest ecosystems from hurricane disturbances. This study looks at different forest ecosystems around Southwest Florida and determines the overall impact of the catastrophic winds of Hurricane Charley. There are four main goals to the study: 1. to see how the severity of hurricane impacts varied across upland forest sites and forest types in Southwest Florida; 2. to see how the severity of impacts to species and forest type relate to the intensity of wind; 3. to see how the forest structure influenced severity of impacts and 4. ultimately the goal is to determine if these forest systems will recover to their previous "climax region" or will they "convert" to new ecosystems. The study was conducted at seven different locations in Southwest Florida. These study sites were selected based on the hurricane path, accessibility, and forest type. Each site selected experienced different wind speeds. A total of21 transects were made over the seven sites for a total sampling area of 2.1 hectares. Tree size and damage were quantified in each location. Statistical analysis indicated significant differences among sites for both damage and mortality. Interpretation of these results is complicated by the pre-hurricane differences in sites, the variation in forest types randomly sampled by transects, and in the differences of wind intensity experienced among sites. Damage for individual tree species at different wind speeds did not follow a simple line. Of the three main species that were tracked, only Saba/ palmetto showed linear correlation of increasing damage as wind speed increased. Although there was more damage at higher wind speed, Pinus elliottii showed no correlation in any one type of damage at certain wind speeds. However, both snapping and uprooting, the two main causes for tree mortality, were only prevalent in areas that had hurricane force winds. Quercus virginiana showed increased damage at higher wind speed as well. As expected the overall mortality of stems increased as the wind speed increased. Mortality in the stems did not occur until winds reached 65-75mph. There was no correlation between forest structure and the percent damage to stems. The results of this study indicate that for forested upland systems, Hurricane Charley falls into the "normal" range of severity of impacts common for cyclonic storms. However, delayed mortality and exotic infestation could alter this conclusion, particularly in the most severely damaged areas. This distinction is important for environmental planners and land managers to make more informed decisions on forest management.