Climate change is expected to influence growth, properties and well-being of trees in our forests. It is important to foresee what may happen, develop silvicultural practices and find suitable future trees to reduce potential problems and maybe also exploit some benefits. For this purpose, experiments are now run on different species around the world.
One such experiment is established in the north of Sweden by SLU. Climate chambers with controlled atmospheres have been build around full-size trees. A team of researchers have investigated effects of elevated CO2, O3 and temperature on stemwood of Norway spruce as part of a
thesis. Innventia has analysed wood and fibre properties of the trees with
SilviScan and performed a first phase of the data evaluation.
Samples are now collected in the US from another experiment related to aspen, birch and maple.
Innventia has since the late 1990s built
databases of SilviScan data with detailed information on radial variations in wood and fibre properties, complemented with background data on origin, etc. The data carry information about fundamental growth processes, such as cell division, expansion and wall thickening year by year. If related to data on local climate/weather, this will form a strong basis for research on effects of climate change.
Climate chambers around Norway spruce trees (Picea abies) in an experiment of SLU in the north of Sweden.