As autotrophic organisms, trees belong to the fascinating group of living beings that can convert inorganic substances into organic substances using solar energy. In doing so, plants interact with one another and with their environment and create diverse, complex and dynamic ecosystems – our forests and tree landscapes. These ecosystems are not only a basis for human well-being, but also habitat for many other organisms, production sites for valuable renewable resources, and essential for global material cycles.
At the Chair of Forest and Agroforestry Systems, the interactions of plants and the resulting ecosystem structures, dynamics and services are the focus of research interest. Various empirical research methods are applied to address research questions ranging from basic ecology to forestry and agroforestry practice.
In addition to deepening the understanding of the interactions between different ecosystem components, the aim of this research is to further increase the predictability of ecosystem dynamics. This should contribute to the scientific foundation, based on which recommendations should be developed for a sustainable and result-oriented management of silvicultural and agroforestry systems.