Living Lab@Waldlabor
Context
The external page Waldlabor Zurich offers many different opportunities to link science and outreach in a "Living Lab" or a "Reallabor". And this is exactly what we do. Using a micrometeorological technique, the eddy covariance technique, we aim to answer scientific questions with large real world implications.
Young forests are carbon (C) sources. The question about when exactly a forest turns from a C source into a C sink is highly relevant for many C asset claims, restoration efforts as well as for the provisioning of ecosystems services (e.g., biodiversity, cooling of the atmosphere, erosion protection). The impacts of extreme events such as droughts and heat waves, which will become more frequent and more severe in the future, on young plantations are largely unknown. These questions are of particular interest within the context of the currently very popular offers to compensate greenhouse gas emissions by planting trees.
Project aims
Thus, our specific objectives are
- to quantify the carbon balance of a young plantation forest, and
- to quantify the response of a young plantation forest to climate extremes.
The project is carried out at a mixed forest plantation (Hönggerberg) of WSL within the framework of the Waldlabor Zurich. Thus, our project results will also inform the public about potentials and limitations of compensating carbon emissions by planting trees in a forest.