TreeVitalityNet – Effects of forest structure and canopy openness on tree vitality and ecosystem stability under climate change

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Lars Opgenoorth; Professor Dr. Bernhard Schuldt
• Subject Area: Forestry ; Ecology and Biodiversity of Plants and Ecosystems
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 569029347

Forests provide essential ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation and climate regulation, but are increasingly threatened by drought and heat. In particular, tree mortality has increased sharply after severe droughts, turning forests from carbon sinks to carbon sources. Management practices such as thinning can alter forest resilience, but the specific impacts might depend on the tree species identity and local stand conditions. TreeVitalityNet aims to identify how forest structures - such as stand age, tree density, and canopy openness - influence the drought response of major tree species differing in shade tolerance (European beech, Norway spruce and Scots pine). To investigate these relationships, TreeVitalityNet combines long-term growth analyses and derived drought tolerance indices from tree-ring data with high-resolution short-term growth and water status readings from automated dendrometers. These short- and long-term measurements will allow us to determine how changes in forest structure, microclimate, and soil conditions affect the vitality of the trees. Utilizing the established forest experimental plot network in the Biodiversity Exploratories, TreeVitalityNet will examine gradients of management intensity from unmanaged forests to intensively managed age-class forests. The results will provide urgently needed insights into adaptive forest management strategies that sustain ecosystem stability and function under increasing climatic extremes. Such insights are crucial for promoting biodiversity conservation, and ensuring continued carbon storage capacity in Central European forests.

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