Technical tour 1

Free Air Humidity (FAHM) experimental site – SMEAR station – Järvselja Nature Reserve – Agali

The Free Air Humidity Manipulation (FAHM) research facility was established in Estonia in 2006-2007 to elucidate the functional consequences of climate change on the growth and functioning of forest ecosystems. The impact of elevated humidity is being studied in stands with different degrees of functional complexity and on the processes within these ecosystems (water, carbon and nitrogen cycles, productivity, changes in species composition, etc.). The main tree species in FAHM are silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) and since 2020 Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.), grown in monospecific and mixed-species sub-plots. Previously, hybrid aspen (Populus tremula L. × P. tremuloides Michx.) was included in FAHM. The experimental plots are additionally manipulated by two different types of understory – forest and pasture.

The next stop will be at the SMEAR Estonia – Station for Measuring Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relation.

We will also visit the Järvselja Nature Reserve in south-eastern Estonia, which contains primeval mature herb-rich forests. The forest has been under strict protection since 1924, and has had almost no human impact throughout the history. The tree layer consists of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) and deciduous tree species (most commonly Acer platanoides L., Populus tremula L., Tilia cordata Mill.). During the walk in the reserve, the forest management strategies in Estonia and sustainable forestry practices will also be introduced. People will be divided in 2 groups, of which one group will walk ca 3 km and the other group ca 5 km – your choice! In case of bad weather, bus transport is provided.

We will end our trip at the Agali forest experimental site, where the impact of flooding on forest biogeochemical cycle is studied