Delaporte B. auteur aut IRD Ibanez Thomas auteur aut IRD Despinoy Marc auteur aut IRD Mangeas Morgan auteur aut IRD Menkès Christophe auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access Tropical cyclones (TCs) can have profound effects on the dynamics of forest vegetation that need to be better understood. Here, we analysed changes in forest vegetation induced by TCs using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). We used an accurate historical database of TC tracks and intensities, together with the Willoughby cyclone model to reconstruct the 2D surface wind speed structure of TCs and analyse how TCs affect forest vegetation. We used segmented linear models to identify significant breakpoints in the relationship between the reconstructed maximum sustained wind speed (Wmax) and the observed changes in NDVI. We tested the hypothesis that the rate of change in damage caused by TCs to forest and recovery time would increase according to Wmax thresholds as defined in the widely used Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale (SSHWS). We showed that the most significant breakpoint was located at 50 m/s. This breakpoint corresponds to the transition between categories 2 and 3 TCs in the SSHWS. Below this breakpoint, damages caused to forest vegetation and the time needed to recover from these damages were negligable. We found a second breakpoint, with a sharp increase in damages for winds >75 m/s. This suggested that extremely intense tropical cyclones, which might be more frequent in the future, can cause extreme damages to forest vegetation. Nevertheless, we found high variation in the observed damages and time needed to recover for a given Wmax. Further studies are needed to integrate other factors that might affect the exposure and resistance to TCs as well as forests' capacity to recover from these disturbances. specialized tropical cyclones damages forests maximum sustained wind speed normalized difference vegetation index recovery time Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale South Pacific Islands NOUVELLE CALEDONIE VANUATU FIDJI TONGA WALLIS ET FUTUNA PACIFIQUE ILES SAMOA OCCIDENTALES 126 082 021 14 5 1245 [12 ] 2022 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010084515 10.3390/rs14051245 [F B010084515] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010084515 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/2022-04/010084515.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2022-04-06 2025-02-24 fdi:010084515 fre