Piercing/ slashing axes

Anyone knows the difference between slashing/ piercing axe? I notice pick axe and variation does piercing damage, while rest of axes do slashing. Does this affect anything?

it's just damage type. ie the one does piercing damage while the other does slashing damage - they are both forms of pgysical damage however.

Some armors offer greater protection vs 1 type or the other. IE necromancer's Bonelace armor provides added protection vs Piercing damage. There might also be sheilds and/or skills which offer greater protection vs certain types of physical damage type (blunt/piercing/slashing) but I admit I'm not aware of them...

Thanks kamatsu, seems like a valid explaination. So axe have another significant difference from sword, as in it has another form of physical damage. (not considering elemental mods).