Effect of Forest Management on the Mortality of Beech Trees in Years of Drought 2018/19
Research team studied eleven Hessian natural forests without logging and neighboring commercial forests
The extreme drought years of 2018 and 2019 led to the death of numerous forest stands. The effects were not limited to spruce forests, which are generally known to be sensitive, but also extended to beech forests, which are typically considered to be robust, yet also often showed a noticeably sparse foliage and an increased mortality rate. Several German states responded by placing a moratorium on tree harvesting in old beech forests. A research team from the Northwest German Forest Research Institute (NW-FVA) and the University of Freiburg investigated whether the mortality rates of beeches in managed forests differed from those in unmanaged forests in the drought years 2018/19. The researchers wanted to find out whether tree mortality is increased by the management-induced opening of canopies. The team of scientists, led by Dr. Peter Meyer from the NW-FVA and Prof. Dr. Jürgen Bauhus from the Chair of Silviculture at the University of Freiburg, published their findings in the current issue of Plant Biology.
Read press release: https://kommunikation.uni-freiburg.de/pm/...