Sapwood and Buttress root loss and the impact on tree stability.

Summary

This presentation with discuss research results from two studies that were conducted, in part, at the ISA sponsored Tree Biomechanics weeks in Ohio in 2010 and 2013. The first study is of sapwood removal and tree stability. It was found that the impact of sapwood removal in independent of tree species and is about twice as important as heartwood loss. This study was conducted in conjunction with Dr. Brian Kane.
The second study was of buttress root removal. The results were not as clean cut as the sapwood results, but showed a direct relationship between root removal and stability. After three years, large buttress roots removed from mature red maples were starting to decay regardless of wound treatment applied. Stability of the tree retested three years after the initial root cuts had increased/decreased as compared with the initial tests. A model of root stability developed by Dr. Ken James, Stewart Greenberger and Tom Smiley at the Biomechanics week will be presented and discussed.