One afternoon while skiing through the forest I paused to listen to the groans and gun shot shattering sounds as the trees responded to the burdensome weight of tons of ice. In spite of the riveting nature of these sounds, they are vastly different than the sounds of a clearcutting fellarbuncher, a forest shredding chipper, or a helicopter discharging deadly herbicides. The paradox of all this lies in our outpouring of concern for the forest health as a result of a natural disturbance, but our willingness to overlook the long-term devastation being daily wrought upon Maine's forest ecosystems by poor silvicultural practices and unsustainable harvest levels. The impact of a natural disturbance is vastly different than mining of forest ecosystems. In fact natural disturbances in many cases are essential for long-term forest health.
Fire is the quintessential example.
Forest fire suppression can created not only higher fire hazards due to increased levels of biomass accumulation on the forest floor, but can completely alter species compositions since many plant species are dependent on periodic forest fire disturbances for reproduction. Once such tree species here in Maine is the Jack Pine, Pinus rigida. The recent ice storm clearly created a forest disturbance, but when viewed from an evolutionary perspective, the trees have experienced these sort of natural impacts thousands of times. The loss of limbs in the opening up of the canopy result in a profusion of new niches which this spring will be occupied by new flora and fauna specifically adapted to fill such vacancies. Broken crowns and splintered limbs will provide a new habitat for invading microorganisms some of which will overwhelm the trees' natural defenses resulting in decay, decline, and mortality.