SP1 Tree Growth: The importance of the spatial arrangement of plant tissue for drought tolerance and growth of European beech
Persons involved:
Christian Ammer (PI)
Christina Hackmann (PhD student)
Andreas Parth (Technician, associated)
Research outline:
Due to the longevity of trees, adaptation to rapidly changing climatic conditions is difficult. Adaptation measures are limited, one of them being the choice of tree species. A change from less resilient tree species to those that are assumed to be better able to cope with future climatic conditions because they differ in their auto-ecology from the less well-adapted ones is only possible very slowly for a variety of reasons. A second strategy is to apply targeted silvicultural interventions to establish structures that are highly resilient to climate-related disturbances. The question of the extent to which this approach is effective is the focus of our sub-project. The aim is to examine whether and, if so, to what extent beech forests that differ in their horizontal and vertical structures respond differently in terms of ecophysiological properties when climate extremes such as extended droughts occur. In close coordination with other subprojects, we are studying the water balance of the trees, using both in situ measurements, including sap flow sensors and high-resolution dendrometers, as well as retrospective methods (analysis of stable carbon isotopes in the year rings).
Contact
Prof. Dr. Christian Ammer
Silviculture and Forest Ecology of the temperate Zones
Büsgenweg 1, 37077 Göttingen
Tel.: 0551 39-23671
christian.ammer@uni-goettingen.de