OEKB301916 Climate-forest interactions

Type
Lecture
Semester hours
2
Lecturer (assistant)
Schume, Helmut , Gratzer, Georg
Organisation
Forest Ecology
Offered in
Wintersemester 2025/26
Languages of instruction
Englisch
Content

Understanding how forest ecosystems as long-lived and tall vegetation forms are interacting with the atmosphere in terms of energy and matter exchange, thereby influencing the climate, and how in turn forests are impacted by disturbances caused by atmospheric phenomena.

Part 1 (Influence of forests on climate): energy partitioning into sensible heat and evapotranspiration – regional cooling, albedo effects of land-use changes, impact on water fluxes, sink-source relations for carbon, particulate matter absorption – filter effect, cloud formation and dimming as result of BVOC emissions.

Part 2 (Climate driven disturbances):
Basic forest management systems
Understanding disturbance regimes in forests.
Important disturbance agents in forests and the impact of climate change on disturbance frequency and intensity.
Basics in fire ecology
Post disturbance forest dynamics
Objective (expected results of study and acquired competences)

Students will have gained knowledge of how forest ecosystems as long-lived and tall vegetation forms are interacting with the atmosphere in terms of energy and matter exchange. Thereby they have learned about the different pathways and scales on which forests influence the climate, and how in turn forest ecosystems are influenced by atmospheric phenomena. More specifically they have got insight in sink-source relations for carbon, evapotranspiration and the associated cooling effect, albedo effects of different land-use forms or BVOC emissions and subsequent cloud formation. Students will have attained knowledge of basic forest management systems, patterns of natural succession and the effects of disturbances on energy and matter fluxes, particularly in the light of altered disturbance frequencies and intensities through global warming, e.g. by storms, drought, bark beetle attacks or fire.
You can find more details like the schedule or information about exams on the course-page in BOKUonline.