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Adaptation strategies of beech forests to changing environmental conditions at different management intensities (NaWi)

Project


Project code: 2218WK12C4
Contract period: 01.08.2019 - 31.07.2022
Budget: 351,494 Euro
Purpose of research: Experimental development
Keywords: silviculture, beech

The change in climatic environmental conditions leads to an increased stress potential for forests. Consequently, forests can be weakened in their function as a CO2-sink and, given enough disturbances, even can turn into CO2-sources. It is yet unknown if and how the forest structure, as an expression of forest management and nutrient supply at the location, influence the vulnerability of the stands against abiotic and biotic stress. Different management intensities, manifesting in different forest structures, could lead to differing abilities to adapt for the forests in question. It is known from young stands that a density reduction leads to a decrease of drought stress (Gebhardt et al. 2014, Sohn et al. 2016), yet in older stands the reverse effect is possible. The objective of the project is to investigate the mechanisms of adaption strategies of older beech stands of different management intensities to climate changes. The forest structure, C and N fluxes as well as tree-physiological parameters will be assessed along a gradient of utilization intensity and location quality regarding their environmental economics, spatially explicit models and scenarios of forest management and its effects will also be created. The interactions of silvicultural management intensity and stress resistance will be factorially combined on different locations and analyzed with regard to soil-chemical and plant-physiological parameters. Additionally, the C-sink function of different forest usage forms will be quantified, modelled and assessed. The main objective of this project is the identification, characterization and quantification of above- and below-ground adaption processes regarding changing environmental parameters of differently managed beech forests, their environmental economic assessment as well as spatially explicit modelling and development of scenarios a) along a gradient of utilization intensity (from conventionally to extensively managed beech forests) and b) on locations with differing disposition to climatic stress. The planned investigations aim to analyze key adaptation processes of old beeches and at their multidimensional assessment regarding important ecosystem functions of beech forests. This includes analyses of the beeches’ nutrient supply and soil water availability as well as their interactions with tree-physiological and soil processes (including C-, N- and P-storage in trees and soil), quantification of growth and regeneration ability of beeches depending on the stand structure, quantification of the greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, N2O) as well as volatile organic compounds (VOC), cost-benefit-analyses of different forest management forms (including assessment of C-storage), and finally the development of management models and –scenarios.

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