Actual Projects
Project 1: Growth and mortality of beech and oak saplings in response to heat and drought stress under controlled conditions
A primary question we address is how saplings withstand not only drought alone but also heat alone and the combination of the two. To address this, we use the state-of the art TUMmesa ecotron to simulate future climate scenarios. We are monitoring con- and inter-specific competitive exclusion and sapling mortality in pure versus mixed cultures. The topology of growth (where growth occurs), shade-avoidance responses (elongated internodes and petioles) and photosynthetic parameters have been monitored as well. Our main objective is to determine survival thresholds along opposing gradients of light intensity, water stress and heat stress. This is an interdisciplinary research effort involving collaboration between physiologists, foresters, ecologists and computational scientists, developing deep neural network models for inferring specific sapling growth and health parameters. This study will yield a deeper understanding of how the abiotic factors dought and heat as well as their combination act on oak and beech saplings, and what this implies for forest practitioners.
Link to a 4 min video of the saplings in the climate chambers.
This project klifW02 is funded by the Bayerische Landesanstalt für Wald und Forstwirtschaft (LWF) & StMELF.
Project 2: Direct comparison of innovative strategies for establishing mixed tree communities: a study of plant and soil health across light gradients
This project, ST385, is by the Bayerische Landesanstalt für Wald und Forstwirtschaft (LWF) & StMELF.