Latest Achievements on Climate Change and Forest Interactions in a Polluted Environment

Giulia Carriero, Juha-Pekka Tuovinen, Nicholas Clarke, Giorgio Matteucci, Rainer Matyssek, Gerhard Wieser, Teis Norgaard Mikkelsen, Richard Fischer, Pavel Cudlin, Yusuf Serengil, Fabio Boscaleri, Carlo Calfapietra, Zhaozhong Feng, Elena Paoletti

Ecophysiology of Plants, Technische Universitat München, Freising, Germany.
Federal Office and Research Centre for Forests, Innsbruck, Austria.
Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland.
Global Change Research Centre, Academy of Science of the Czech Republic, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
Global Change Research Centre, Academy of Science of the Czech Republic, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic; IBAF-CNR, Institute of Biology and Agro-Forestry, Porano, Italy.
IPP-CNR, Institute for Plant Protection-National Research Council, Florence, Italy.
ISAFOM-CNR Institute for Agricultural and Forestry Systems in the Mediterranean, Rende, Italy.
Istanbul University, Orman Fakultesi, Istanbul, Turkey.
Johann Heinrich von Thunen-Institute, For World Forestry, Hamburg, Germany.
Norwegian Forest and Landscape Inst., ?s, Norway.
Regione Toscana via di Novoli, Florence, Italy.
State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Technical University of Denmark, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry Engineering, Lyngby, Denmark.

DOI: 10.4236/ojf.2014.43026                

Abstract

The COST Action FP0903 “Climate Change and Forest Mitigation and Adaptation in a Polluted Environment (MAFor)” involved 29 countries and created a platform for information exchange with experts from different fields, with the following main objectives: 1) to increase understanding of the state and potential of forest mitigation and adaptation to climate change in a polluted environment and 2) to reconcile process-oriented research, long-term monitoring and applied modelling at comprehensive forest research sites. In particular, MAFor translated the existing European knowledge on climate and air pollution dynamics into prospects for forest research and monitoring, with focus on the carbon, ozone, nitrogen and water budgets. The aim of this paper is to summarize scientific activities and achievements of MAFor: the creation of a meta-database for highlighting the available data and integrating the information from European forest research/monitoring networks; the development of a new concept of forest sites for research and monitoring (Supersites); the identification of the main knowledge gaps; and the definition of priorities for forest adaptation to climate change in a polluted environment. The action also increased European capacity building in this sector by organizing five conferences, granting 64 short-term scientific missions, organizing four training schools and publishing more than 100 papers.

Keywords

Air Pollution, Climate Change, Forests, Supersites, COST, FP0903 Action

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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