Structural change in a forest due to large-scale clear-cutting
The background shows a spruce plantation with structural homogeneity in terms of tree species, growth height and density. Diverse forest structures of naturally dominant tree species, such as beech, are necessary for the long-term resilience of forests (Photo: F. Thonfeld).
The DFG project "Enhancing the structural diversity between patches for improving multidiversity and multifunctionality in production forests" is concerned with the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem services and their stability. In German forests, a decline in β-diversity driven by coniferous forest monocultures has been observed for years, which, according to the hypothesis, leads to decreasing multifunctionality in the forest. Ecologically oriented, sustainable forest management, which allows for disturbances and changes in the forest at different scales, can contribute to an increase in heterogeneity and multifunctionality.
In BETA-FOR, the influence of forest management practices on β-diversity is being investigated. In a transdisciplinary consortium of forest scientists, biologists, ecologists and geoscientists, structural parameters in the forest are recorded using earth observation, among other things. The aim is to expand expertise in the evaluation of national EO data sets, such as Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, GEDI, Landsat, Planet, aerial photographs and ALS to derive structural parameters and biodiversity indices for the German forest. These parameters are used together with terrain data on various taxa for modeling alpha, beta and gamma diversity.
Fungi on dead wood
The BETA-FOR project conducts research in the fields of biology, ecology and remote sensing.
