What is "sheltered site" (as opposed to "exposed site")?
It's used in context of location of trees in bumpy ground areas and weather damage.
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Sign up to join this communityDepends on the context. Examples can be: In depressions instead of lonely on the plain, inside of the forest instead of at the edge, along a river bank or lakeside instead of on dry ground.
Or, in short: exposed to wind & weather instead of sheltered from the rigour.
Also depends on the tree. Some pioneer trees can grow individually in adverse conditions, others like it in groups and warm and wet.
It's basically a (rough) description of the relative wind speed on the site compared to the local average. If a site is sheltered, it will typically experience: lower wind speeds, potentially warmer mean temperatures, and (in temperate zones) a lower risk of frost (although some sites may actually have an increase due to catabatic airflow: "frost hollows")
Exposed sites are the reverse, higher windspeed, more extreme weather conditions.