Research

Deadwood is an important and large carbon pool in unmanaged forests and will become more important in managed forests, as changes in forest management and/or more frequent disturbances will likely lead to higher deadwood amount in Central European forests. The trajectories of deadwood dynamics can be currently not accurately assessed due to lack of a conceptual understanding and data on deadwood carbon stocks, carbon fluxes, importance of fungi for deadwood decay and the habitat value of deadwood. DD FOR will introduce a conceptual understanding of deadwood dynamics during its observable lifetime from deadwood creation to fragmentation and incorporation into the soil. Hypothesizing that temperature is the main driver of deadwood decay and that warming is stronger at higher elevation, the results of DD FOR will help quantify the impacts of global warming on the carbon cycle. We will also test, whether deadwood decay is faster under moderate moisture conditions and how management can modulate decay rates, through debarking, deadwood alignment and/or microsites. Based on field experiments, we will develop temporal models on deadwood change over time, that can be combined with forest inventory data and/or forest growth models, to ensure uptake of project results. Our field sites will span temperature and precipitation gradients of Central Europe (~3-8 °C average annual temperature, ~700-1700 mm annual precipitation sum) and complement European research initiatives on deadwood research (e.g. BELongDead, BIOCOMP), by expanding the current observation network into cool and wet mountain forests. For important tree species in Central Europe (e.g. Picea abies, Pinus sylvestris, Fagus sylvatica, Quercus sp.) we will establish chronosequences of deadwood samples, building on pilot studies by the applicant and existing research infrastructure. For selected deadwood pieces we will conduct monitoring of saproxylic insects using emergence and flight interception traps and quantify the fungal communities using wood samples, fruiting body inventories and state-of-the-art analytical methods, including meta bar-coding. This will establish decay rate benchmarks for fungal species, depending on climate and their host species.

Interest in establishing wind turbines in the forest is increasing. Therefore, the Austrian Federal Forest company, as Austria's largest forest owner, initiated a research project to develop criteria and indicators for silvicultural risk assessment related to the construction of wind turbines in the forest areas. Thus, the purpose of this research is develop (i) to criteria and indicators for assessing the silvicultural risk of the forest stands adjacent to the open spaces necessary for the installation of wind turbines, and (ii) criteria and indicators for an ecological reforestation of open areas after the establishing wind turbines. Legal, ornithological or other framework conditions that are relevant for the installation of a wind turbine in the forest are beyond the purpose of this research.

Wildfire CE’s primary objective is to enable border regions, the communities and landscapes within them, to prepare, respond and adapt to the increasing wildfire risk resulting from climate change. The project will change the way we assess and manage fire risk in the border regions and the wider territories. Through cooperation across borders, sharing knowledge and experience it will lead to a more integrated, targeted and inclusive approach in dealing with this increasing threat. Until now, the management of wildfire risk has been conducted at the territorial level, with mismatched approaches to fire warning levels, land management and communication of risk. The mapping of fuels and propagation potential is seldom conducted at the territorial level, let alone across borders. WildfireCE will map these fuels, fire behaviour and propagation potential across borders, it will identify where actions are necessary, what those actions are and it will implement those actions in Pilot Regions. In Work Package 1 the activities identifying risk, best practice and spatial information will lead to the creation of a manual for assessing wildfire risk in CE border areas. This solution to the problem of limited information at a strategic level in managing risk will benefit local/regional authorities, sectoral agencies, infrastructure providers and of course the public at large. Work Package 2 uses the information from WP1 alongside additional work to identify risk and priority areas, better access and resource mapping for use in an on-line platform, which enables planning authorities and emergency services amongst others to better target actions and resources to reduce risk. This output will be tested as a Pilot Action in the Pilot Regions. The data within the platform will be available to the territories’ for integration in existing regional /national platforms. Based on the findings of WP1 and WP2, WP3 alongside regional stakeholders, will develop and implement action plans for the Pilot Regions. Finally, a strategy will be produced aimed specifically at transferring the findings, lessons and approaches to other regions and territories.