216 Luley and Bond: Fate of Ice Storm-Damaged Urban Maple Trees 1946; Shortle et al. 2003). Data for silver and Norway maple are largely absent from the literature probably because of their low importance to rural forestry. We hypothesized from field observations of urban trees that Norway maple resprouts and compartmentalizes moderately well, whereas silver maple resprouts strongly and compartmentalizes poorly (Po- korny 2003). This study evaluated the near-term effect (6 year postdam- age) of canopy loss to common urban maples (Norway, sugar, and red and silver maples) across northern New York State that were damaged in the 1998 ice storm. These trees were evaluated originally for amount of canopy loss in 1999 and were reevaluated again in 2004 for survival, impact on tree health, and canopy response to the ice damage. MATERIALS AND METHODS Selection of Communities and Study Trees The trees for this study were identified in 1999 from street trees in 22 northern New York communities from the six- county region (Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties) that sustained ice damage. The communities were stratified into three population size cat- egories (<2500, 2500–11,000, and >11,000) by county, and a random selection was made such that the communities were distributed across northern New York. A sample inventory of streets from these communities that included an evaluation of ice damage to all tree species was made initially in the spring of 1999 (unpublished data). The study population was created by assigning maples identified in the initial sample inventory to a 3 × 3 × 3 matrix that consisted of maple species, diameter class at 1.37 m (4.5 ft), and ice damage category (Table 1). Ice damage category was based on visually estimated crown loss that could be specifically attributed to the recent ice storm. Initially, a category was created for trees with 50% to 75% crown loss and trees with 75% or greater crown loss. However, there were not enough trees in the highest ice damage cat- egory so 13 trees with greater than 75% crown loss were placed in the 50% or greater crown loss category for the final data analysis. Data collected on each tree in the study are presented in Table 2. Trees were also selected from communities that were not in the original random sample to fill the sample matrix to the degree necessary. Resampling of the study trees in 2004 fur- ther reduced the sample size and distribution of trees in each Table 3. Removal rate for tree species. Species Norway maple Silver and red Sugar maple ©2006 International Society of Arboriculture Removal percentage 28.3 24.8 29.8 Table 4. Removal percentage by diameter class. Diameter class 15.2 to 45.7 cm (6–18 in) 45.7 to 76.2 cm (18–30 in) 76.2+ cm (30+ in) 26.7 30.1 category because some tree sites could not be relocated with confidence. Because of mistaken identification in the original data collection, red and silver maples were analyzed together, although the majority of trees (101 of 143) were silver maples. Data Collection Because of the scattered nature of the initial study population (47 communities in six counties), the 1999 baseline survey was carried out by a team of data collectors comprised of forest rangers of the New York State Department of Envi- ronmental Conservation, university forestry students, and the authors. The authors resurveyed the study maples alone in August 2004. All data were collected from the ground using binoculars when needed. The following data were collected on each tree. Statistical Analysis The data analysis for this article was generated using SAS software, Version 8.02 of the SAS System for Windows (copyright 1999 to 2001, SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC) using the General Linear Models (GLM) procedure for analysis of variance and Tukey’s studentized range for mean separations. RESULTS Tree Removal Survival of the ice-damaged trees 6 years after the ice storm and 5 years after they were initially classified by species, diameter, and crown loss in this study are presented in Tables 3 to 5. There were no significant differences in survival rates among species, diameter classes, or crown loss category. Re- moval rate for all categories over the 5 year period was 26.8%. Tree Condition There was a significant difference among species for condi- tion rating, and Norway maple had the highest and sugar maple the lowest condition rating (Table 6), but crown loss Table 5. Removal percentage by crown loss category. Crown loss category 0% to 25% 25% to 50% 50%+ 24.8 32.4 Removal percentage 28.7 Removal percentage 24.8
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