In the fight against climate change, healthy forests are indispensable — yet rising temperatures are increasingly taking their toll on trees in Austria too. Experts recommend using seeds from other countries in forests: when reforesting in Austria, the silver fir from southern Italy could be one option going forward.
Healthy forests store large amounts of CO2 — making them important for at least partially counteracting the advancing rise in temperatures. However, the warming climate is putting increasing pressure on Europe's tree populations.
"Over the past ten years, we've observed a sharp increase in calamities: drought, bark beetle infestations, and heatwaves are becoming more frequent and more intense," explains Silvio Schüler from the Austrian Federal Research Centre for Forests (BFW) in a conversation with science.ORF.at.
While Austria's forests are currently still in comparatively good shape, measures are nonetheless needed here too in order to maintain forest health over the coming decades. "In many areas, reforestation will be necessary. This is because the tree species that are better able to cope with rising temperatures are often not yet present in today's existing stands," says Schüler.
"Tree migration" to Austria… hear and read more at science.orf.at
Under the title "The climate protection function of European forests can only be maintained through assisted migration of trees", you can find out more about the BFW study!
