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Expansion of the timber species spectrum in climate change: drought tolerance of secondary tree species and cultivation potentials in a drier climate (DIVforCLIM)
Project
Project code: 28WC4107
Contract period: 01.05.2016
- 30.04.2019
Budget: 196,054 Euro
Purpose of research: Applied research
Climate change models predict an increase in summer temperature and decrease in summer precipitation in parts of central and eastern Germany, which may expose forests to increased drought stress in the future. Silvicultural management will face new challenges concerning the choice of tree species, especially due to the fact that Euro-pean beech may fail in many of the production forests in this region in future. Foresters need information on the drought tolerance of additional tree species with lower drought susceptibility that could be used in production forests as possible alternatives to beech, spruce and other more sensitive species.
This project aims at investigating the drought tolerance and associated risk of failure of four native secondary timber species (Norway maple, European hornbeam, European ash, small-leaved lime) which possibly are better
suited for a drier and warmer climate than beech. Their performance will be compared to the well-studied, eco-nomically important and relatively drought-tolerant species sessile oak.
The study is conducted in various broad-leaf mixed stands along a precipitation gradient from the southern part of Lower Saxony to Saxony-Anhalt (750 – 450 mm yr-1) in the rain shadow of the Harz Mountains. The main research approaches include dendrochronological analyses (climate sensitivity of radial growth), wood anatomi-cal study (vessel dimensions) and ecophysiological measurements (hydraulic conductance, vulnerability to cavi-tation and leaf δ13C signature) which are combined with measures of tree vigour (long-term increment trends, fine root live/dead ratio) in the different species and stands. Based on these investigations, a comprehensive assessment of the drought sensitivity and cultivation risk of the four species on dry sites in eastern and central Germany is given.
Section overview
Subjects
- Silviculture
- Forestry
- Climate Change
