Scientific and Research Projects

• Growth and drought stress: What does tree-ring cell structure tell us about water supply?
  Description of the project:

  The process of tree-ring formation is controlled by internal and external factors. In this cooperative research project between the Chair of Forest Growth and the Forest Research Institute Baden-Württemberg (FVA), Freiburg, we investigate the cell structure of tree-rings of Norway spruce (Picea abies) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica) with special emphasis on the instantaneous and lagged growth responses to the dry conditions in the years 1976 and 2003. The study trees were sampled at various sites of the forest soil inventory (BZE) and the intensive forest monitoring (Level II) in Baden-Württemberg. This makes it possible to parameterize locally adapted soil water balance models for the study sites, and thus to reconstruct the water availability of the trees. The aim of this tree-ring-based research is to identify cell parameters by which drought stress intensities can be quantified. Moreover, the analyses provide data and information for the validation of ground water balance models.
  
  contact person: Dr. Hans-Peter Kahle
  Phone: +49 761 203-3739
  Email: Hans-Peter.Kahle@iww.uni-freiburg.de

  Runtime:

  Start of project: 2008
  End of project: (unlimited)

  Project Management:

  Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg
  Dr. Hans-Peter Kahle, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Heinrich Spiecker, Clemens Koch