Forest Water Dynamics under Climate Change
The effects of climate change, particularly on forest ecosystems and water dynamics in forests, are a central research focus of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, which is also funded as part of TU Dresden's University of Excellence. Forests play a central role in maintaining the health of humans and the environment - they regulate the climate, produce wood and are important for biodiversity, fertile soils and clean water. Droughts and heat stress are putting increasing pressure on our forests. This threatens the survival of traditional forest tree species and thus the domestic forestry industry - and alters a large number of natural processes, with effects on water quality and the water and carbon cycle. Forests are extremely sensitive to the rapidly changing climate, making their adaptation to climate change an urgent priority for research and practice. With our research, we aim to achieve a comprehensive understanding of forest-water interactions at local to global scales (leaf to globe) to develop effective science-based adaptation strategies for climate-resilient forests and water security of the future.
© Karl-Heinz Feger
Research Focus Forest Water Dynamics under Climate Change
The effects of climate change, particularly on forest ecosystems and water dynamics in forests, are a core research area of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, which is also funded as part of TU Dresden's University of Excellence. Forests play a central role in maintaining the health of humans and the environment - they regulate the climate, produce wood and are important for biodiversity, fertile soils and clean water. Droughts and heat stress are putting increasing pressure on our forests. This threatens the survival of traditional forest tree species and thus the domestic forestry industry - and alters a large number of natural processes, with effects on water quality and the water and carbon cycles.
Forests are extremely sensitive to the rapidly changing climate, making their adaptation to climate change an urgent priority for research and practice. To ensure the implementation of our research results, we maintain a wide range of contacts, primarily with regional, but also with national authorities and (medium-sized) companies, as well as with international stakeholders and organizations.
Current research topics include
- Influence of climate-related changes and extremes on forest ecosystems and on water dynamics and water quality in forests
- Interactions between water, energy and carbon cycles in forests across different temporal and spatial scales
- Management options for the transformation of forestry towards drought-resilient, climate-adapted forests that maintain their ecosystem functions (among others, preservation of water quality and quantity) in the long term
Our mission is to develop a comprehensive understanding of forest-water interactions at local to global scales (leaf to globe) in order to propose effective science-based adaptation strategies for climate-resilient forests and water security of the future.
