FunDivEUROPE Knowledge Transfer Platform

Welcome to the FunDivEurope Knowledge Transfer Platform

The platform supports communication and knowledge exchange among stakeholders, scientists, policy makers and the public regarding the understanding about the functional significance of biodiversity for the provision of forest ecosystem services in major European forest types. The aim is to understand and quantify how tree species diversity can be used to foster the provision of ecosystem services such as timber production, carbon sequestration and freshwater provisioning.

Featured Knowledge Elements

Our follow-up project SoilForEUROPE

The FunDivEUROPE research infrastructure is home of a new project that aims to predict European forest soil biodiversity and its functioning under ongoing climate change (SoilForEUROPE).

For more information, see:

http://websie.cefe.cnrs.fr/soilforeurope/

M.Scherer-Lorenzen - 18/04/2019

Short videos

In order to foster communication with stakeholders, policy makers and the public several short videos statements were made about the main findings of the FunDivEurope project. To improve the dissemination of the overall findings researchers communicate their results and insights. An overview about the movies is here:

H.Vacik - 03/04/2019

Publications

The overall scientific goal of FunDivEUROPE is to quantify the effects of forest biodiversity on ecosystem functions and services in major European forest types.A major aim is to understand and quantify how tree species diversity can be used to foster the provision of ecosystem services. Several publications have been made during the last years, here you can find the list of publications resulting from the FunDivEUROPE project.

M.Scherer-Lorenzen - 29/03/2019

The FunDivEUROPE project

Biodiversity research of the last 15 years could demonstrate that multiple functions and services of an ecosystem are influenced by the number of species within this system. Most of these findings, however, are based on research within grassland systems. So science has to make the next big step and address those ecosystems that control a good portion of the carbon, nutrient and water balances of the earth: the forests.

M.Scherer-Lorenzen - 23/09/2018

Earthworms - engineers with important role for forest ecosystems

Earthworms play a major role in the conversion of organic matter into humus, thus improving soil fertility in many soils. In addition to dead organic matter, the earthworm also ingests any other small soil particles which make minerals and plant nutrients accessible for plants to use. The earthworm's burrowing creates a multitude of channels through the soil and is of great value in maintaining the soil structure, enabling processes of aeration and drainage.

B.Muys - 23/09/2013

Tree diversity: an ecological weapon against pest insects

The reduction of insect herbivory is one of the services provided by tree diversity in forest ecosystems. While it is increasingly acknowledged that the compositional characteristics of tree species assemblages play a major role in triggering associational resistance to herbivores, underlying mechanisms are less well known.

B.Castagneyrol - 08/03/2015

Timber quality vs. biodiversity - a contradiction?

Timber quality describes all the wood characteristics and properties that affect the value recovery chain and the service-ability of end products. In the context of timber production the quality of timber is a major driver for the price of the final product and the income of forest owners. The higher the quality of timber, the easier it is to achieve a ‘good’ price. For construction purposes the attributes dimension, stiffness and strength or dimension stability are most important. Wood properties determinate the quality of timber as well.

J.Bauhus - 23/09/2013

Effects of biodiversity on the transmission of foliar fungal pathogens in the German tree diversity experiment BIOTREE

Current theory on transmission rates of plant pathogens predicts a strong influence of host diversity on the degree of infection. We tested this prediction for foliar fungal pathogens on forest tree species, making use of the BIOTREE tree diversity experiment in Germany. We hypothesized that fungal species diversity was positively and fungal pathogen load negatively related to tree species diversity. We conducted analyses at three hierarchical levels, at the plot level, the level of single tree species, and the level of individual fungus species.

H.Bruelheide - 11/09/2013

The understorey, a forest layer with an underestimated importance for ecosystem functioning

The major forest types in Europe, from the Boreal to the Mediterranean region, all include a variable number of native vascular plant species in the understorey layer (1.3 m height), both herbaceous and woody. In spite of its small stature and biomass this layer can contain 90% or more of the plant species of the forest. The functional role of the understory vegetation has already been shown in previous studies on temperate forests. They can serve as:

E.Ampoorter - 09/04/2014

Dead wood and nitrogen stocks: the older, the richer

Dead wood (dead trees, branches, stumps and roots in all stages of decay process) plays an important role in element cycling (carbon, nitrogen, water, etc.) and builds-up forest nutrient stocks.