Mechanical stability and accident rate of woody plants growing along Kirov street of Donetsk city

Kornienko V. O., Yaitsky A. S.

The paper gives the research results of the influence of anthropogenic load on the mechanical stability, accident rate and viability of woody plants in a large industrial area (Donetsk city). A vibration-acoustic noise measurement of in the studied afforestations showed an excess of the dose limits, which may affect durability of the trees; nevertheless the latter effectively reduce the level of acoustic noise. Trees of the genus Aesculus hippocastanum L. are found to be highly viable in both growing conditions, near the motorway and at a distance (they showed good condition). The species of Populus bolleana Lauche and Populus simonii Carriere had a satisfactory condition (4–5 points in ranking). Unsatisfactory condition were characteristic for Acer platanoides L., Fraxinus excelsior L., Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marshall, Robinia pseudoacacia L. The mechanical stability of Acer platanoides L. was the highest among all the studied species: d/l (ratio of diameter to trunk length) = 0,05; EI (bending stiffness) = 41×10⁶; RRB (relative bending resistance) = 10.1×10⁴; mcr (critical mass) = 150×10⁴. The average values of mechanical stability that characteristic for Populus bolleana Lauche, Fraxinus excelsior L., Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marshall are: d/l = 0,04; EI = 63×10⁶; RRB = 4,3×10⁴; mcr = 3.2×10⁴. The following species had low values in the intraspecific comparison of mechanical stability parameters: Aesculus hippocastanum L., Robinia pseudoacacia L., Populus simonii Carriere (d/l = 0,04; EI = 6,0×10⁶; RRB = 3,6×10⁴; mcr = 1,8×10⁴). A high degree of accident rate for plants growing in an urban environment was detected for Fraxinus excelsior L., Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marshall, Robinia pseudoacacia L. and Acer platanoides L. The average degree of accident is typical for trees of the genus Populus L. (Populus bolleana Lauche and Populus simonii Carriere). Aesculus hippocastanum L. trees had a low degree of accident rate.

Keywords:mechanical stability; accident rate of trees; viability; vibration-acoustic noise; traffic flow intensity; morphometric coefficient.