Schneuwly, Dominique M. Stoffel, Markus 2008-06-05 Tree-ring series have been used to reconstruct 50 years of rockfall behavior on a slope near Saas Balen (Swiss Alps). A total of 796 cores and 141 cross sections from 191 severely injured conifer trees (<i>Larix decidua</i> Mill., <i>Picea abies</i> (L.) Karst. and <i>Pinus cembra</i> L.), combined with a series of aerial photographs, were used to investigate the evolution of the forest stand so as (i) to reconstruct past rockfall rates; (ii) to analyze the spatial behavior of maximum bounce heights; and (iii) to analyze the spatial comportment of rockfall activity over the last five decades.Tree-ring analysis permitted the reconstruction of the age distribution at the study site; results were in perfect agreement with the afforestation process shown in the aerial photographs. The oldest are located in the lower, central part of the study site; the youngest individuals at its uppermost lateral boundaries. Reconstructed rockfall rates reveal strong interannual variations and single event years with increased activity, namely in 1960/1961 and 1995. Spatial analysis of the maximum bounce heights indicate highest values at the lateral boundaries and lowest heights in the lower central part of the forest stand, where a big boulder seems to shield trees growing below it. The spatial analysis of past rockfall activity shows high active zones at the uppermost north-facing boundaries of the forest and least active zones in the lowermost central part of the studied stand. The high rockfall activity at the slope is expressed by a mean rockfall rate of > 1 event m^− 1 y^− 1. application/pdf https://folia.unifr.ch/global/documents/300969 https://folia.unifr.ch/documents/300969/files/stoffel_sar.pdf eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.geomorph.2008.05.043 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess License undefined Geomorphology. - 2008, vol. 102, no. 3-4, p. 522-531 Dendrogeomorphology tree-ring rockfall spatial analysis frequency GIS info:eu-repo/classification/udc/551 Spatial analysis of rockfall activity, bounce heights and geomorphic changes over the last 50 years – A case study using dendrogeomorphology http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501