Dossier

Forests and water

Marko Natkhin, Tanja Sanders | 30.06.2022

WO Institute of Forest Ecosystems

Nadelwald mit Regenmessern in den Baumkronen — Rain measurement in treetops

The face of forests in Germany is marked by extensive a spruce populations in the south and large scale pine population in the north. This is a result of the human activity over the past 250 years.

In the future, the forests should be characterized as far as possible by diversely structured mixed populations. This is the target of forest conversion throughout Germany. But this also has an impact on the water balance. The impact of the individual phases of forest conversion on the water balance is an important research topic for the Thünen Institute.

Video

Forests and water

Filtering water, storing water, using water: those are among the life maintaining functions of our forests. This film shows how we observe and study the trees at work (in German).

Expertise

Water deficiency – Forests in danger?

During dry periods in spring the forest thirsts. Does this drought cause any damage at that time? We know that the tree species show different adaptations to drought.

How do different provenances of Scots pine respond to drought?

Drought tolerance in pine forests is a topic with increasing impotrance, due to the climate change. In a joint project, researchers have tested various provenances of Scots pine.