The forest ecologist Dr. Florian Knutzen examines the effects of global warming on forests and other natural and economic areas. He works as a researcher at GERICS since October 2020. Florian works primarily for the joint project CS4eXtremes funded by the BMBF.
CS4eXtremes aims to broaden the understanding of the intensity as well as the spatial and temporal distribution of climatic extremes that are relevant for agriculture and forestry. These include periods of drought, heat waves, strong winds and heavy rain. On the one hand, the possible effects of such extreme weather events as a result of climate change are examined and, on the other hand, strategies for adapting to the resulting challenges are developed.
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Previously, Florian worked at the “Bavarian Office for Forest Genetics” in the Berchtesgaden region within the Horizon 2020 project GenTree. The aim of this project was to provide the European forest sector with better expertise, methods, and tools for the management and sustainable use of forest genetic resources. The development of new strategies for dynamic gene conservation in Europe were based on an improved characterization of important tree species and their adaptation abilities to climate change against the background of a changing need for forest services and products.
Florian wrote his doctoral thesis about the response of beech forests to global warming during his time as research assistant of Professor Christoph Leuschner at the University of Göttingen. Here it could be shown that European beech already suffers considerably from a lack of summer rainfall in the heart of its distribution area. The investigations were carried out as part of the KLIFF project - climate impact research for Lower Saxony. This project examined the specific effects of climate change on a regional level and how the resulting problems can be overcome.
Before that, Florian carried out various mapping work, in particular of urban trees, worked with the Hamburg tree register and wrote his diploma thesis in biology on the infestation of urban trees by invasive pests.