Hydrometeorological Aspects of Sustainable Forest Regeneration Management in Climate Change

Climatic change, including an increasing frequency of large-scale disturbances, is progressively threatening the resilience and productivity of forests. Against this backdrop, the LabForest project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), investigates the effectiveness and efficiency of silvicultural measures following such calamities. LabForest includes a living lab in a forest of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University (450 ha), facilitating the comparison of forestry and timber management effects (e.g., advance regeneration, clearance, and planting versus natural regeneration) on disturbed areas. The silvicultural measures are examined and evaluated for their impacts on important ecosystem services (e.g., hydrology, carbon sequestration, and timber production) and biodiversity. Ultimately, the project aims to establish a multidimensional assessment matrix to support decision-making in forestry, balancing climate change mitigation, economic interests, biodiversity, and hydrology.

The Hydrometeorology work package develops high-resolution hydrometeorological models of varying complexity to accurately represent and compare water and matter fluxes relative to the differently managed forest plots. For this purpose, a newly setup measurement network captures components of the water balance (evaporation, soil moisture, soil temperature, fraction of photosynthetically active radiation), water quality, and micrometeorological variables. The measured quantities serve as the basis for the parameterization and validation of the models.

The modeling results and analysis of the hydrological conditions of the different forest management strategies will be incorporated into the assessment matrix for silvicultural practices. This will enable regional recommendations and an improved understanding for establishing economically and ecologically resilient forests to cope with anticipated climatic changes.