NEIKER fells pine trees to study their wind resistance
Technicians of the Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development NEIKER-Tecnalia have in recent days been felling trees to simulate the effect of the wind in mountains in the Bizkaia locality of Artzentales. Forestry experts of the French Institute for Agricultural Research INRA together with technicians from NEIKER-Tecnalia and the Chartered Provincial Council of Bizkaia felled radiata pine specimens of different ages in order to find out their resistance to gales and observe the force the wind needs to exert to blow down these trees in the particular conditions of the Basque Country. This experience is of great interest for the managers of forests and will help them to manage their woodlands better and incorporate the wind variable into decisions like the distribution of plantations, or the most propitious moment for felling the trees.