Opportunità di ricerca nel campo forestale grazie al progetto MULTIFOR - Multi-scale observations to predict Forest response to pollution and climate change

Climate change poses serious threat to Mediterranean forests. In particular, frequency, intensity, duration and timing of climatic events have a negative impact on productivity and carbon storage capacity. Furthermore, forests, especially in cities and nearby environments, are subject to a further element of environmental stress represented by gaseous pollutants (NOx, VOC, particulate matter, ozone among all) produced by anthropogenic activity. For these reasons, a team of scientists involved in different ecological monitoring networks and experts in the evaluation of forest resources will collaborate within the multi-objective project MULTIFOR by adopting innovative methodologies to better understand the specific effects of pollution and climate change on growth. and forest productivity through four interconnected Work Packages (WP): management and dissemination of project results (WP1); response of ecosystems to environmental stresses (WP2) with "ad hoc" measurement campaigns to measure greenhouse gas, VOC and particulate flows and enhancement of flow data measured with the Eddy Covariance technique at sites belonging to the ICOS network (Integrated Carbon Observation System) ; Applications of "Precision Forestry" for the characterization of forest stands and advanced statistical evaluation of the footprint in Eddy Covariance measurements (WP3); assimilation of big data to predict the response of forests to environmental disturbances and climate change by combining a multivariate dataset of observations at a single site and at a regional level by proposing innovative statistical sampling designs; application of advanced forest models to predict growth and the impacts of climate change and pollution according to reference scenarios (WP4). Through an approach that covers multiple spatial and temporal scales, MULTIFOR will contribute to improving current knowledge on the mechanisms that regulate the exchanges of greenhouse gases and pollutants between forest ecosystems and the atmosphere and will support the creation of a new information system of forest resources at regional level / national.