Dossier

The European beech, most common deciduous tree in Germany

Pascal Eusemann and Berit Michler | 26.01.2023

WO Institute of Forest Ecosystems

FG Institute of Forest Genetics

The European beech is a typical tree of Central Europe. The highly competitive tree species had long been considered a hopeful candidate for climate-stable mixed forests, but is now also increasingly suffering from climate-induced drought. As an important deciduous tree in German forests, it is of particular interest.

The European beech (Fagus sylvatica) is a pure European. In our latitudes it finds optimal growing conditions. It does very well on both sunny and shady sites. Beech also has a clear advantage in competition with other forest tree species. Very few other tree species can survive for long under its dense canopy. Its own offspring, on the other hand, has an unusually high and persistent shade tolerance.

With a share of 15 %, beech is the most common deciduous tree species in German forests, ranking third in distribution after the conifers spruce and pine. This is the result of the latest Federal Forest Inventory. As an important tree species, it has already been named "Tree of the Year" twice, most recently in 2022 after 1990, in order to draw attention to its sensitivity to rapidly changing climatic conditions, among other things.

Sparse foliage and dead crown parts are the visible signs that the beeches are coping worse than expected with the ongoing drought. The deep-rooted trees are not able to reproduce enough fine roots to continue the water supply. As a result, there are fears that it will increasingly disappear on dry sites and be displaced by more drought-tolerant tree species. Beech is also increasingly struggling with pests.

As the so-called "waterworks" of the forest, the beech tree species would be suitable for at least mitigating the threat to forests from increasing periods of drought. While most of the precipitation in coniferous stands that are green all year round gets caught in the crowns and quickly evaporates again, in deciduous trees that are bare in winter most of the rain flows directly into the forest floor as stem runoff. Due to the smooth bark and relatively steep crown branches, stem runoff is also significantly higher in beech than in the other deciduous tree species.

Stamm einer Buche, auf dem Buchenblätter Schatten werfen

Given its fairly high genetic adaptation potential, there is much to suggest that beech will be able to maintain and possibly even expand its place in forests. How it explicitly reacts to changing climatic conditions is therefore the focus of science and the subject of numerous research approaches at the Thünen Institute.

Expertise

Logging ban for old, near-natural beech forests

The proposed logging ban for old, near-natural beech forests in public ownership is intended to contribute to climate and biodiversity protection. What potential do these forests have? An assessment.

Looking at the plate: Nutritional status of beech on Level II plots

As a child you were often told that you have to eat up for good weather. That's nonsense, of course - and yet nutritional status and weather patterns can be directly related, for example in the case of the beech. But what are the food requirements of beech trees on Levell II plots, and how can you tell if it's "full"?

Leaving the stress behind: Can beech adapt to climate change?

Beech is suffering from the increasing drought in Germany. Researchers at the Thünen-Institute are studying how it copes with drought stress and how its adaptation to climate change can be supported.

Stir it up: The genetic diversity of beech

Genetic diversity is a prerequisite for adaptation to climate change. Especially in managed forests, it is therefore indispensable to know how it can be conserved and promoted.

Bottle babies: How tissue culture helps in beech research

Tissue culture can be used to preserve and propagate trees for forestry research. At the Thünen-Institute, scientists are trying to establish the important European beech in tissue culture for future research.

Projects

Beech provenances

An international network to establish a series of provenance trials with European beech was created to evaluate the genetic variation of beech.

GenMon

A genetic monitoring network will be installed for beech and fir in Germany for the first time. The main goal is to assess the status of the genetic system of different populations as well as its dynamics in time and space.

National Forest Condition Survey

How is the forest doing in Germany? The Forest Condition Survey (WZE; Level I monitoring) investigates this question. The nationwide survey takes annually place on an area-representative sample grid.

ErWiN

Expansion of ecological, silvicultural and technical knowledge of forest fires

Genome Editing & Drought Stress (TreeEdit)

The aims of the project are to establish new methods of genome editing (CRISPR/Cas) in beech and poplar and to modify candidate genes to study their influence on drought stress tolerance of tree species. The project is being researched in the junior research group "Genetic Technologies".

BucheTIG - Genetics and dendro-ecology of European beech

European beech is Germany's most important deciduous tree species, both economically and ecologically. Due to this status, it is of great interests to study the species' adaptedness and adaptive potential.