Publications
Disentangling drivers of litter decomposition in a multi-continent network of tree diversity experiments. KU Leuven
Litter decomposition is a key ecosystem function in forests and varies in response to a range of climatic, edaphic, and local stand characteristics. Disentangling the relative contribution of these factors is challenging, especially along large environmental gradients. In particular, knowledge of the effect of management options, such as tree planting density and species composition, on litter decomposition would be highly valuable in forestry. ...
The land use impacts of forestry and agricultural systems relative to natural vegetation; a fundamental energy dissipation approach KU Leuven
In agriculture and forestry the land use impacts that occur during production are important; including as necessary inputs for life cycle assessments. There are major differences in land use impacts between different forest management approaches and, in future, those forestry systems which deliver ecosystem services while having lower adverse land use impacts will be of greater value. Here we examine the land use impacts of seven contrasting ...
Forest structure and composition alleviate human thermal stress KU Leuven
Current climate change aggravates human health hazards posed by heat stress. Forests can locally mitigate this by acting as strong thermal buffers, yet potential mediation by forest ecological characteristics remains underexplored. We report over 14 months of hourly microclimate data from 131 forest plots across four European countries and compare these to open-field controls using physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) to reflect human ...
Shifts in dominance and complementarity between sessile oak and beech along ecological gradients KU Leuven
Recruitment credit cannot compensate for extinction debt in a degraded dry Afromontane forest KU Leuven
QUESTION: Anthropogenic disturbances severely affect dryland forests worldwide, but their effects on woody species population structure and long‐term persistence remain poorly understood. LOCATION: The research was conducted in Desa'a, a dry Afromontane forest in northern Ethiopia, Tigray region. AIMS: Woody species diversity, extinction debt, recruitment credit and colonisation credit were quantified and mapped based on an inventory of mature ...
Blazing the trail: Social innovation supporting wildfire-resilient territories in Catalonia (Spain) KU Leuven
Mediterranean territories have co-evolved and been shaped by fire throughout history. However, global environmental change conditions are increasing the size, intensity and severity of wildfires, which have gone from a regular natural disturbance to a serious threat for civil protection, surpassing firefighting capacities. Therefore, building resilience in fire-prone territories is an increasingly relevant policy and management objective. ...