Impacts of forest management on the spatiotemporal variability of forest microclimate

• Applicant: Dr. Martin Ehbrecht
• Subject Area: Forestry ; Ecology of Land Use
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 512303461

The spatial and temporal variability of forest microclimate strongly determines habitat quality for forest-dwelling taxa and influences forest ecosystem functions, such as net primary productivity, evapotranspiration and the decomposition of organic matter. The forest microclimate is moderated by forest structure, as forest canopies absorb, reflect and transmit solar radiation and thereby buffer within-stand air temperatures and humidity. Forest management controls forest structure through harvesting and thinning interventions and associated growth responses of the remaining stand, which may strongly affect the spatial and temporal variability of forest microclimate. The main objective of this project is to (1) assess the dynamics of three-dimensional forest structure by repeated terrestrial laser scanning, and (2) to investigate how the management-induced dynamics of three-dimensional forest structure affect the spatial and temporal variability of forest microclimate. Following the assessments of 3D forest structure in 2014 and 2019, all 150, long-term, experimental forest plots of the Biodiversity Exploratories (EPs) will be re-scanned using a terrestrial laser scanner. Changes in 3D forest structure will be quantified using stand structural complexity metrics and analyzed in relation to forest management intensity and tree species composition. Subsequently, the spatial and temporal variability of forest microclimate will be investigated using the long-term microclimate measurements (2009 – present) from each of the 150 micro-meteorological stations installed at each forest EP and related to the dynamics of 3D forest structure. We hypothesize that different dynamics of 3D structure, resulting from different management intensities and species compositions, affect the within-stand and between-stand heterogeneity of forest microclimate and its temporal variability. Thereby, we aim at contributing to a better understanding of how forest management affects biodiversity and ecosystem functions through its effects on the spatiotemporal variability of forest microclimate.

• DFG Programme: Infrastructure Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1374: Biodiversity Exploratories