Optimize climate-smart forest management to alleviate drought stress in temperate forest systems

Climate change threatens our forests due to increased tree mortality and delayed growth. Tree species selection and altered thinning regimes can help to reduce these effects. However, thinning has a negative effect on the forest microclimate en the associated forest biodiversity and ecosystem processes. In this research, we look at the relation between climate smart forest management and the drought response of trees, the forest microclimate and the soil fauna.
The study will be executed on stand scale and regional scale. The focus is put on oak and beech, two economically relevant trees for Flanders that potentially will suffer under future drought stress.