Research of Forest Ecology and Forest Management
Our research focusses on the ecology of trees and forests and contributes to the scientific basis of sustainable use and management of forests worldwide.
Globally, forests are of great importance for the biodiversity they harbour and the ecosystem services they provide. Global threats like land-use and climate change, biodiversity decline and a growing human population increasingly challenge the way in which forest can adapt to these changes and maintain and improve the delivery of ecosystem services, conserve biodiversity and mitigate climate change. These changing realities and new roles of forests form the context in which the Forest Ecology and Forest Management group (FEM) operates. The FEM Group focusses on the ecology of trees and forests and contributes to the scientific basis of sustainable use and management of forests worldwide, with currently three main themes:
- Multiple forest resources use and management.
- Resilient forests.
- Forest restoration.
Mission
Our mission is to understand trees and forests in relation to site and climate, and to apply this knowledge to support forest management aimed at the provision of ecosystem services.
Objective
Our objective is to contribute to understanding of forest ecosystems, and their responses to changing environmental, biotic and social conditions. This knowledge guides and supports the development of sustainable forest resource use systems.
Focus
We focus on forest ecosystems worldwide, with emphasis on Dutch forestry, European forest resources, and tropical rainforests and their conservation and restoration. We work at local, regional and national scales and in a wide variety of forest ecosystems. We scale up from detailed eco-physiological observations of the individual tree to ecosystems and landscapes. Our strategy combines the ecology and management of forests in both tropical and temperate forests and favours collaboration between disciplines and geographic regions.
Approach
Our research approach is to combine field data, statistical analysis of large datasets and mechanistic modelling to increase fundamental understanding of forest ecosystems and their properties. However, our work is not just fundamental. Ee evaluate the ecological consequences of environmental changes on ecosystem functioning and on the services forests provide to humans. We then seek to determine how forest functioning and services may be restored, sustained or optimised by management that follows ecosystem dynamics.
