| The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used to study wind resistance of68shelter tree species in the Hangzhou Bay area. Root morphological features wereanalyzed for11tree species and4shrub species, while physico-mechanicalproperties were investigated for7tree species. High quality shelter tree species wereselected to apply in the subtropical muddy coast. The rezults are helpful inimproving the quality of shelter forest systems, enhancing the ability of coastal zoneto withstand natural disasters, promoting ecological benefits of coastal zone, andaccelerating regional economic development.The main results are as follows:1. An AHP evaluation system was constructed based on6assessment indexes.The ability of wind resistance was evaluated and sorted for50tree species and18shrubs species. The top four of tree species are Pinus elliottii, Casuarinaequisetifolia,Pinus thunbergii,and Taxodium ascendens×mucronatum. The top threeof shrubs species are Viburnum odoratissimum, Nerium indicum, and Hibiscushamabo.2. Root system distribution (including root deep and root extent) wasinvestigated for11tree species and4shrubs species. The optimum root index wasfound in Taxodium ascendens×mucronatum and Casuarina equisetifolia. Among fourshrub species, Hibiscus hamabo is of good performance in root systems. Thus weconfirmed the rationality of AHP based on root system analysis.3.Three physico-mechanical indexes, e.g. basic density, flexural strength, andbending modulus of elasticity, were analyzed for seven tree species. The resultsshow that the physico-mechanical properties of Casuarina equisetifolia and Quercusvirginiana are optimum. The index of physico-mechanical properties has asignificant or very significant positive correlation with the value in AHP.4. In conclusion, we selected several good tree species of the coastal shelterforest, e.g. Pinus elliottii, Casuarina equisetifolia,Pinus thunbergii,Taxodiumascendens×mucronatum, Quercus virginiana, and Hibiscus hamabo. |
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