2012 - Three master project opportunities
1. Pattern of modern fire activity in Sweden: role of human factors
Despite efficient fire suppression, forest fires do occur in Sweden and it is of theoretical and practical interest to understand human and environmental controls of this fire activity. The fires caused by humans are often unintentional and small but in combination with climatic factors like low amount of summer precipitation, may quickly increase in size and pose a serious danger to growing stock and infrastructure. It has been proved in several studies that the natural fires usually occur over a large area and pretty seldom than human induced fires. Understanding the correlations between human presence in the landscape and long-term forest fire patterns helps optimize resource allocation for fire fighting activities. In this project we will use country-wide datasets on different properties of Swedish counties (economical, logistic-, and infrastructure-oriented), GIS, and modern fire statistics to understand non-climatic controls of fire activity in Sweden over the recent decades.
2. Role of Gremmeniella epidemics in affecting biomass production of main coniferous species in Central Sweden
Fungal pathogens causing diseases of trees may significantly reduce tree productivity and increase mortality with negative ecological, economic, and social impacts. The fungus Gremmeniella abietina is one of the most serious pathogens on pine in the Northern Hemisphere. In Sweden, it attacks all three major conifer tree species (Norway spruce, Picea abies, Lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta and Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris). G. abietina causes dieback of shoots and buds and forms cankers on stems and branches. In this project we need to assess the damage caused by Gremmeniella through dendrochronological methods. The project involves sampling and analysis of tree-ring data to model the effects of Gremmeniella epidemics on regional scale in mid-Sweden.
This project is cooperation between DELA and Institutionen för skoglig mykologi och växtpatologi at SLU.
3. Development and dendroclimatic analysis of a regional beech chronology of Southern Sweden
The project will endavoir to extract climatic signals from a number of beech site chronologies and to develop a regional beech chronology. Further, the study will attemp to partition climatic, forest management, and masting effects on beech growth, and make sound predictions about dynamics of beech biomass accumulation under future climates.
Please contact igor.drobyshev(at)slu.se for further information on any of these projects.
