Securing the capacity of forests to buffer climate extremes - the interplay between canopy and soil water

Forests buffer understories against increasingly frequent heat and drought.

This buffering capacity is highly dependent on the local water balance, as moist sites cool the understory more efficiently. Water scarcity can reduce buffering, which is rarely considered in predictions of forest functioning and biodiversity. Climate change and forest management combined put forest buffering under pressure.

Forest microclimate buffering is an overlooked ecosystem function at threat that needs investigation and systematic long-term monitoring.

I aim to quantify the interactive effects of canopy cover and soil moisture on forest buffering and understory biodiversity and develop tools and strategies to secure forest buffering in a changing climate.

First, I exploit a global state-of-the-art microclimate database to investigate forest buffering across global aridity gradients with a focus on canopy-soil moisture interactions.

Second, I explore spatio-temporal variations in forest buffering in Sweden complementing existing microclimate data with my own systematic measurements, and initiating a national microclimate monitoring network. Third, I use transplant experiments to test the minimum requirements of microclimate-sensitive understory species.

Finally, I map buffering capacity and stability, identify vulnerability hotspots and potential refugia and give advice on how and where to maintain or restore sufficient levels of forest buffering to support forest biodiversity.