Study of the resilience of the Legaire beech forest (ZEC Entzia) to the 2018 tornado (File 21/113)

The objective of the present project is to analyze the forest resilience capacity to extreme winds comparing two alternative managements: wood extraction (salvage logging) vs. wood retention. Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forest in Legaire (Basque Autonomous Region), which suffer the impact of a tornado in June 2018 provoking the loss of tree cover in 40 ha, was used as a study case.

The specific objectives are: i) analyze microhabitat availability and natural regeneration capacity, ii) analyze growth and survival of seedlings and saplings, iii) analyze physical and chemical soil properties, and iv) analyze growth and survival of surviving adults.