Spatial Structures and Digitization of Forests

    Research Topics:
  • Mobile laser scanning
  • Forest structural complexity
  • Microclimate



    Objective (Subject)Enhancing the structural diversity between patches for improving multidiversity and multifunctionality in production forests
    ContentNumerous studies have found negative as well as positive effects of forest management on biodiversity, but the processes that could provide a causal explanation for these contradicting results have rarely been studied. For example, the relationship between forest structure, which is altered differently by given interventions, the resulting microclimate and its effect on biodiversity has been investigated insufficiently. This might be explained by the difficulty of quantitatively describing the three-dimensional (3D) structure of a forest stand. In this context, it seems fundamental to move from a two-dimensional to a three-dimensional perspective in the quantification of structures. Only recently has 3D laser scanning opened up the possibility of deriving quantitative, three-dimensional data on forest structure at high resolution. As a holistic descriptor of stand structure, "structural complexity" is particularly promising because all animals live in a three-dimensional physical habitat and physical determinants of microclimate are also directly tied to the 3D structure of vegetation. In this context, it is important to investigate the effects of different forest management practices, as well as interventions to increase heterogeneity between stands, on local microclimate and its effects on biodiversity. In a large forest biodiversity experiment replicated in several beech-dominated production forests throughout Germany, experimental silvicultural interventions were applied with the aim to enhance the forest district-level structural heterogeneity. We focus on the relationship between structural complexity and microclimate as a stepping stone for a mechanistic understanding of the relationship between heterogeneity of forest structure and biodiversity at the landscape scale.
    Appropriation period01.04.2022 - 30.03.2026
    Funded byDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
    PartnersDepartment of Animal Ecology and tropical biology Uni Würzburg, Chair of Geobotany Uni Freiburg, iDiv, Chair of Forest Botany TU Dresden, Forest Entomology and Protection Uni Freiburg, Institute of Geography and Geology Uni Würzburg, Animal Ecology Uni Bayreuth, Institute of Ecology, Diversity and Evolution Uni Frankfurt, Chair of Biodiversity and Nature Conservation TU Dresden, Institute of Ecology Uni Lüneburg, Bavarian Forest National Park, Chair of Terrestrial Ecology TU München
    Person in chargeDr. Kerstin Pierick
    PublicationsMüller J, Mitesser O, Cadotte M W, van der Plas F, Mori A S, Ammer C, Chao A, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Baldrian P, Bässler C, Biedermann P, Cesarz S, Claßen A, Delory B M, Feldhaar H, Fichtner A, Hothorn T, Kuenzer C, Peters M K, Pierick K, Seidel D, ... Eisenhauer N (2022) Enhancing the structural diversity between forest patches - A concept and real-world experiment to study biodiversity, multifunctionality and forest resilience across spatial scales. Global Change Biology, 00, 1-14. DOI:10.1111/gcb.16564