Julia Rieder will defend her PhD thesis “Abiotic and biotic drivers of drought responses in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) inferred from field and LiDAR data” on the 11th of June at 4 p.m. at the EORC, John-Skilton-Straße 4a, Seminar room 2. The defense will be in English. Everyone is cordially invited to join her presentation and the following discussion.
From her abstract:
This thesis investigates why some European beech trees suffered severe drought damage during the 2018/2019 drought in Central Europe while neighbouring trees of the same age remained unaffected. Across 20 forest sites in northern Bavaria, 520 mature beech trees were studied to identify the abiotic and biotic factors driving individual tree responses to drought. Using LiDAR remote sensing, soil analyses, and a newly developed R package (TreeCompR), the study links tree structure, competition, soil conditions, and canopy gap dynamics to drought-induced defoliation and mortality. The findings offer practical insights for sustainable forest management to improve the resilience of beech forests under climate change.
We are looking forward to a lot of you joining!
