Damage characteristics of Phyllostachys pubescens forests in freezing rain and snow hazards

Key words: 
• forest protection /
• Phyllostachys pubescens（moso bamboo） /
• freezing rain and snow hazards /
• damage

Abstract: From January to February in 2008，main areas of China subjected to freezing rain and snow hazards. We investigated the damage in Phyllostachys pubescens（moso bamboo） forests in Suichang County of Zhejiang Province in the late of February，in order to provide reasonable basis for management of moso bamboo forests. The analysis of moso bamboos damage characteristics in freezing rain and snow hazards indicated that：① The damage rate was above 50% when the altitude was between 400 － 700 m. ② Gradient and damage rate formed a direct proportional relationship as y = 1.301 1x － 1.071 4. The damage rate decreased when gradient was lower than 30°.③The breaking rates of moso bamboo forest treated with over 20 cm comprehensive digging were significantly（P＜0.01）higher than that of chemical weeding. ④There were significant difference in different age classes. Through Q-test，1 － 2 years old bamboo（Ⅰ phase）’s damage rate was significantly higher than 3 － 4 years old bamboo（Ⅱ phase）’s damage rate［D ＝ 13.43＞D0.05（11.630 7）］and 5 － 6 years old bamboo（Ⅲ phase）’s damage rate［D ＝ 18.64＞D0.01（15.72）］. ⑤ In the age structure，the portion ofⅠ∶Ⅱ ∶ Ⅱ ∶ Ⅳ（7 － 8 years old） ＝ 3 ∶ 3 ∶ 3 ∶ 1 was reasonable for defense against freezing rain and snow hazards.［Ch，2 fig. 6 tab. 8 ref.］