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

• Identifying drought vulnerable areas based inventory and map data (Action 2)
• Identifying factors predisposing forests to different biotic damages based on ICP I data (Action 6)
• 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)
• Investigating methods to estimate LAI based on inventory data, comparison with MODIS LAI (Action 2)
• Construction of maps of LAI and absorbed radiation (Action 2)

Forthcoming activities

• Deliverable 31.12.2012 Report on creating input dataset for modeling: incl. forest structural and soils data (Action 2)
• Deliverable 31.12.2012 Report on using ICP I level data on damage modelling (Action 6)
  

Past activities

• Participated in EU COST FP1106 action meeting concentrating on tree responses to stresses (Mikko Peltoniemi, Annikki Mäkelä)
• Merging of forest damage data sets (Action 6)
• Presented project topics and preliminary project results in "Ilmastonmuutos ja ääriarvot" seminar organized by Finnish society of soil sciences (Mikko Peltoniemi)
• Presented two project posters at the "Second Nordic International Conference on Climate Change Adaptation" held in Helsinki 29-31.8.2012 (Mikko Peltoniemi, Sanna Härkönen)
• Presentation about modeling climatic impacts on forests at the "Second Nordic International Conference on Climate Change Adaptation" held in Helsinki 29-31.8.2012 (Annikki Mäkelä)
• Investigating high performance database system solution for the support of model calculations on broad spatial scales, Shova Sah ended her training period (Action 2)
• Deliverable ready: Model bundle and documentation (Action 3, 29.6.2012)

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...