Virtual Museum of Canada
Jardin botanique de Montréal 
Centre for Forest Research

Transcription of video clip Windfall study

Back to video clip

Photo of windfall in a hemlock stand: many trees on the ground

© Édith Bégin
Small windfall

I want to show you a mini-mini windfall that occurred in the Laurentians, in a hemlock stand.

A hemlock stand is an area where we find many Canadian hemlocks.

This tree is a conifer, which means that it has, it has needles. It can be found in the United States and in Canada.

Among trees, it is one of the most sensitive to wind. It is a tree with a lot of foliage. So, when the wind blows on its branches, it produces a kind of braking effect on wind speed.

And so this can break its branches, which means injure the tree, or even uproot or break it.





Photo of windfall: uprooted hemlock

© Édith Bégin
This hemlock was uprooted and broken by the wind.

Here, as you can see, we are in a very humid location, the ground is very humid, which means there is a lot of water. And the roots of our hemlocks...

are anchored in soil that is rather soft. And what happened is there was a strong wind, and the hemlocks were uprooted, literally, precisely because their roots were not well anchored in the soil.

That's about it...


Back to video clip