Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Ice pruning
open-in-new
<p>Ice pruning is the natural process of selective vegetative <a href="/facts/Pruning/7Tbb04v8">pruning</a> on the windward side of a plant, executed by the impact of <a href="/facts/Crown_snow-load/TNeyB0LV">ice and snow particles driven by wind</a>. The process is sometimes termed snow pruning. The time scale required for this phenomenon is typically over several growing seasons. The characteristic asymmetry of an ice-pruned plant is achieved only if the prevailing winds during the snow season have a definite directional bias, as shown on a <a href="/facts/Wind_rose/tRdVqJ8p">wind rose</a>. </p><p>Ice pruning is seen in high latitudes and altitudes, such as high mountain slopes and locations more than 50 degrees of latitude from the <a href="/facts/Equator/CjaxbVaN">equator</a>. In parts of northern Canada, forests dominated by <a href="/facts/Black_Spruce/3QLJzeU5">Black Spruce</a> have been noted for containing individual trees that are distinctively ice-pruned. </p>