Forests are at the forefront of our efforts to mitigate climate change and achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, to ensure a sustainable life on Earth. However, forest ecosystems are particularly threatened by global change components, such as increasing frequency and severity of climate extreme events, increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide and pollutants concentrations.
All these factors strongly influence the capacity of forests to continue providing important ecosystem services we rely on, including climate regulation and mitigation, biodiversity conservation, clean water and air supply, food and energy production, and improvement of human health and well-being, particularly in urban systems.
To develop a comprehensive understanding on the interactive effects of key global change drivers (*)CLEANFOREST will focus on climate extremes (drought and heatwaves) and atmospheric nitrogen and sulphur deposition on forest ecosystems functioning and health, and on their climate and air pollution mitigation potential.
To reduce data fragmentation (at spatial and temporal scales), to define common protocols and methods for measurements and data analyses in global change studies, and to promote data exchange as key actions to advance scientific knowledge and to fulfil the need of data (and evidence)-based solutions to policy and societal challenges.
To build an inclusive and international platform promoting synergies among scientists from different disciplines actively involved in existing research infrastructures (long-term monitoring networks and manipulation experiments), and fostering exchange between researchers and stakeholders (policymakers, forest managers, citizen science associations).
The Wijnendale monitoring site is part of the ICP Forests level II network in Belgium. The Level II intensive #monitoring comprises over 600 plots in selected #forest #ecosystems with the aim of clarifying cause-effect relationships.
https://www.icp-forests.net/
