Our DFG project on tree mortality jointly with the University of Bayreuth and other partners in Germany and Africa got funded and will start in the next months. The project addresses the impact of fire and drought as stress factors for tree mortality in savanna ecosystems. Beside vegetation surveys and vegetation measurements in the field and in laboratories, we will conduct UAS/UAV and satellite data acquisitions using Lidar, thermal and multi-spectral sensors to monitor the status and change of vegetation before, during and after fire events. Especially the spatio-temporal analysis of active fires in the research plots in conjunction with pre- and post-landscape analysis will be very relevant for analysing the impacts over the next years.
The project is lead by Dr. Mirjana Bevanda and Prof. Tobias Ullmann and will be conducted by a PhD student who will spend quite some time in the field with our African and German partners.