About
21
Publications
6,115
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
155
Citations
Introduction
Hi, I’m Gerhard, a forest ecologist with a deep interest in how trees respond and adapt to drought stress. The severe droughts of 2018 and the following years have shaped my research interest, driving me to explore tree mortality and adaptation strategies. My current work focuses on the rapid dieback of beech under recurrent drought stress, the causes and consequences of epigenetic diversity in trees, and how soil water potential and vapor pressure deficit affect beech growth and vitality.
Current institution
Publications
Publications (21)
The increasing severity and frequency of droughts will play a pivotal role in shaping future forest ecosystems worldwide. Trees growing in mixtures are thought to be less susceptible to drought stress, but evidence for such positive admixture effects remains limited. This study examines how interspecific neighbourhood structures affect the growth r...
Trees are integral to ecosystems and hold considerable economic importance. Their exceptional longevity and modular structure also make them valuable models for studying the long-term accumulation of somatic mutations and epimutations in plants. Empirical evidence indicates that the annual rate of these stochastic events correlates negatively with...
Societal Impact Statement
Forests worldwide face significant challenges due to climate change, impacting their health and productivity. In this study, we examined how European beech and Scots pine influence each other's phenology and growth in mixed forests. Our findings indicate that mixing these complementary tree species can increase resource ef...
Trees are critical components of ecosystems and of major economic importance. Due to their extraordinary longevity and well-defined modular architecture they have also emerged as model systems to study the long-term accumulation of somatic mutations in plants. Coupled with retrospective life-history and environmental data, trees can offer unique in...
Mixed mountain forests consisting of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.), European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), and silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) are among the most productive and stable forest ecosystems in Europe. Their southeasternmost geographical distribution range is located in the Western Rhodopes, where they have high economic, recreatio...
To enhance our understanding of forest carbon sequestration, climate change mitigation and drought impact on forest ecosystems, the availability of high-resolution annual forest growth maps based on tree-ring width (TRW) would provide a significant advancement to the field. Site-specific characteristics, which can be approximated by high-resolution...
In this study, we investigate the immediate and short-term consequences of defoliation by the spongy moth Lymantria dispar on secondary growth of oaks (Quercus robur L. and Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.), including the interplay between defoliation and water availability during the defoliation period within a large-scale field experiment in southe...
During the summer of 2022, an acute drought once more afflicted central and southern Europe. This marked the third episode (after 2015 and 2018) of severe aridity in large parts of Germany within the last decade, leading to increased soil water depletion. Consequently, from July 2022 onward, European beech trees (Fagus sylvatica L.) exhibited early...
Key message
Considering their drought tolerance and growth characteristics, rare native tree species are well-suited admixed species for the development of climate-stable forests in Central Europe.
Abstract
In our study, we assessed the growth and drought reaction of the four rare native tree species European hornbeam (Carpinus betulus L.), Europe...
Drought effects on tree growth and mortality are widely studied, but scant knowledge exists on its impact on stand density, size variation, or mixing proportions. Grasping drought's influence on structural and compositional diversity is crucial for stand dynamics, ecosystem services, and silvicultural adaptation. We relied on KROOF, a 5-year throug...
Defoliation, a manifestation of foliage loss from trees, arises from various influences: animals, microbes or drought stress. Removing the principal photosynthetical part of a tree has been shown to markedly influence tree growth across an array of forest ecosystems. Among these, European oak woodlands, integral providers of essential ecosystem ser...
Aim of study: Detecting possible small-scale soil effects on height growth of single trees in monospecific stands of three important tree species (Abies alba, Fagus sylvatica, and Picea abies).
Area of study: 37 mature stands along an ecological gradient in Southern Germany from the cold and wet “optimal niche zone” to warmer and drier niche zones...
Against the backdrop of global change, the intensity, duration, and frequency of droughts are projected to increase and threaten forest ecosystems worldwide. Tree responses to drought are complex and likely to vary among species, drought characteristics, and site conditions. Here, we examined the drought response patterns of three major temperate t...
The European Dendroecological Fieldweek (EDF) is a one-week course that takes place every year at varying locations in Europe according to the principle “Bring tree-ring research to the people”. The EDF welcomes early-career to advanced researchers, but also forest service and other federal agency employees and private people interested in tree-rin...
Key message
Structural characteristics of tree crowns obtained by TLidar scanning can be used for estimating the course of the stem diameter growth in the past.
Abstract
To improve human well-being through sustainable management of ecosystems, particular attention is given to the structures, functions, and services of forest trees and stands. T...
Thinning experiments were primarily established for analysing how treatment variants determine the amount and quality of wood production. Given climate change, they may also explain how silvicultural treatment determined drought resistance. Especially for tree species cultivated in regions beyond their natural range, silvicultural treatment may hel...
Due to high productivity and past management approaches, the forests of Central Europe are heavily dominated by conifers, even on sites where they do not occur naturally at all. One prominent example is Norway spruce (Picea abies H. Karst.), a species considered particularly vulnerable to severe droughts, especially outside of its ecological niche...
