DendroNEP

Linking dendrochronological information with net ecosystem productivity of forest ecosystems

Overall Framework

Within the COST Action FP0903 MAFor, we plan to advance a new method that allows to derive net ecosystem productivity (NEP) with simpler and less costly point dendrometers with fine temporal resolution (hours and better), following Zweifel et al. (2010).

Methodology

We will use a hierarchical approach in which we benefit from the European collaboration within COST by using selected forest sites with continuous eddy covariance flux measurements and continuous dendrometers to explore the applicability of the method over a latitudinal gradient from Italy to Finland. Currently, we are working with Prof. Dr. Anders Lindroth from Lund University, Sweden, with Prof. Dr. Timo Vesala from the University of Helsinki, Finland and with Janusz Olejnik from the Poznań University of Life Sciences, Poland. The network however is still growing and is open to any European institute or research institution interested in collaborating.

On the national level, we will extend the existing measurements to a small network with dendrometers to address the small-scale variability of forest growth in the diverse climatic and edaphic conditions in Switzerland (external page TreeNet). As the lowest level, it will be investigated how simple manual dendrometer measurements and readings could possibly be used to approximate NEP even at sites where neither eddy covariance nor continuous dendrometer measurements are possible.

Publications

2016

Zweifel R, Haeni M, Buchmann N, Eugster W (2016) Are trees able to grow in periods with shrunken stems? New Phytologist 211: 839–849 external page doi: 10.1111/nph.13995