Forschungsvorhaben

Research


The interdisciplinary Research Training Group 2300 (EnriCo) was established in 2017. In eleven closely linked subprojects, PhD students from forest science, soil science, animal ecology, wildlife science, nature conservation, modelling, economics, and applied statistics explore the potential of mixed forest stands for supporting multifunctional silvicultural approaches. More specifically, we focus on European temperate forests dominated by European beech and try to uncover the effect of admixed conifer tree species on ecosystem processes and services of such forests with a special focus on the importance of functional traits. Our study design includes five stand types composed of European beech (Fagus sylvatica), Norway spruce (Picea abies) and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forests and their mixtures. We hypothesize that mixtures of European beech with conifers show higher functional diversity than pure European beech stands, resulting in higher resilience and providing multiple ecosystem services. Preliminary results of the first funding period of EnriCo (2017-2022) suggest a strong effect of abiotic site conditions on many response traits, which turn out to be further modified by tree species identity. The second phase (2022-2026) focuses on ecosystem processes.