Climforisk

Climforisk EU Life+ project investigates climate effects on forests

Climforisk merges several forest related data sources and ecosystem models to predict carbon and water balances of forests, and vulnerabilities of forests to drought, pest and pathogen damages. Project will derive maps and indicators of results that support the decisions of officials and forest managers, and disseminate them to public through Internet. Climforisk (2011-2014) is a joint project between Finnish Forest Research Institute (coord.) and Department of Forest Science, University of Helsinki.

Current activities

• Investigating representations of drought indexes, and their potential implementation (Action 2)
• Documenting model for predicting ecosystem photosynthesis and water balance (Action 3)
• Testing ecosystem model with soil water measurements (Action 3)
• Comparing seasonality predictions of the ecosystem model to satellite observations of snow and NDVI, collaboration with Finnish Environment Institute and FMI (Life+ Snowcarbo project) (Actions 2 and 3)
• Merging of forest damage data sets (Action 6)
• Investigating enhanced methods to estimate LAI based on inventory data (Action 2)
• Construction of biomass and LAI maps (Action 2)

Forthcoming activities

• Organizing research seminar on recent scientific knowledge about climate induced variability of forest carbon sinks, Metla Vantaa, 15-16.5.2012. (Action 7)
• Life 20+ years in Science Centre Pilke (Rovaniemi, Finland). Presenting Climforisk in the joint forest sector Life+ project exhibition
• Comparing LAI maps to MODIS-estimated LAI (Action 2)

Past activities

• Action 2 meeting (28.3.2012)
• Action 6 meeting (29.3.2012)
• Designing bark beetle monitoring in Finland. Meeting with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Finnish Forest Centre, and Metla, 16.3.2012. Informing stakeholders about possibility of using Climforisk methodologies (Actions 6 and 7)
• Presented GPP- and evapotranspiration model at COST 0603 Meeting in Bordeaux, France, ,1-2.3.2012 (Action 7).
• Meeting with ilmasto-opas.fi portal representatives for potential collaboration (offspring of CCCRP Life+ project) (28.2.2012)
  

More past activities..

Climate change and forests

Climate change will influence forest growth, and the rate of carbon sequestration by forests. Even modest changes in temperature and rainfall can lead to significant changes in the population dynamics of forest damaging agents such as insects and pests. Information about the areas most sensitive to these changes can be used to guide forest management in future. It is already timely, as the forest management practices of today will be reflected in the structure and function of forests for years to come. Read more...