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Solar energy and natural resources in eastern Europe

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The advanced optimal management of forests under a changing climate is a vital problem in eastern Europe because wood is a major natural resource in this region and environmental conditions, such as tap water composition, depend to a large degree on the functioning of forests. Forest management is a traditional subject both for wood production and the protection of the environment. As sustainable forest management is frequently neglected, to forecast the impact of forest resources is of major interest.

Among the environmental factors affecting plant growth, solar radiation has a central role as being the only source of energy for the process of photosynthesis. In general, the supply of light sets a limit on potential production, but if light is not a limiting factor then other variables may dominate the actual production. From this point of view, a plant stand may be appropriately conceptualised as a solar energy trap - the higher the amount of solar energy it captures, the greater is its photosynthetic capacity. The canopy photosynthesis results from the interaction between the photosynthetic response of leaf elements and the distribution of radiation on these elements. As the photosynthetic response of leaf is characterised by a large temporal and spatial variation, the temporal and spatial variation of the radiative field in the forest canopy influences to a large degree canopy photosynthesis. These variations of solar radiation in the forest canopy depend on the three-dimensional forest structure. Besides the natural factors, the forest structure, however, can be influenced by man via choosing the tree species when planting the stand, by the planting pattern and by thinning activities, i.e. the forest development can be controlled by various factors. Given a known soil water supply and temperature, and nutrition potential for a chosen forest area, one can pose the problem of finding an optimal control of the forest development if the aim of optimisation is defined. The aim depends on natural site conditions and on the technical, economical and environmental framework encountered in the forest area.

Five research teams working independently up to now on separate parts of forest characteristics will join together in this project to predict an optimal strategy to manage a forest with respect to its functioning as a radiation trap. The models that will be produced will help the management of wood resources in eastern Europe in an efficient and more sustainable manner. Computer models with specific modules will be developed by each research team and will be coupled into a mathematical model for forest growth so that processes can be simulated leading to forest growth, laying special emphasis on three-dimensional structural characteristics and their dynamics.

Problems of module coupling as well as specification of module interfaces will be published in Russian forest science literature. The final results of the project will be edited as a separate issue of Berichte des Forschungszentrums Waldökosysteme in Göttingen.

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Georg-August Universität of Göttingen
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Büsgenweg 1
37077 Göttingen
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Letzte Aktualisierung: 19 September 1996

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Permalink: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/INTAS-93-1550/de

European Union, 2024