Abstract
Abstract Global change-type droughts will become more frequent in the future and threaten forest ecosystems around the globe. A large proportion of the Estonian forest sector is currently subject to artificial drainage, which could probably lead to negative feedbacks when water supply falls short because of high temperatures and low precipitation during future drought periods. In this short article, we propose a novel research perspective that could make use of already gathered data resources, such as remote sensing, climate data, tree-ring research, soil information and hydrological modelling. We conclude that, when applied in concert, such an assembled dataset has the potential to contribute to mitigation of negative climate change consequences for the Estonian forest sector. In particular, smart-drainage systems are currently a rare phenomenon in forestry, although their implementation into existing drainage systems could help maintain the critical soil water content during periods of drought, while properly fulfilling their main task of removing excess water during wet phases. We discuss this new research perspective in light of the current frame conditions of the Estonian forest sector and resolve some current lacks in knowledge and data resources which could help improve the concept in the future.
Highlights
Drought is currently one of the most intensively discussed topics in forest sciences and ecology, since the devastating 2018 global change-type drought has shown how vulnerable European forests are against unprecedented water-shortage and excessively high temperatures (Buras et al, 2019; Toreti et al, 2019)
Karst.) with its shallow rooting system reacts markedly sensitively to soil water depletion, which could lead to negative effects under the current drainage practice if droughts become more frequent in the future (Lévesque et al, 2013; Nadezhdina et al, 2014)
We propose that once target areas with high drought vulnerability are identified, establishing long-term field study and monitoring sites is strongly required in order to validate the proposed smart-drainage system under various scenarios
Summary
Jan-Peter George1,*, Mait Lang, Maris Hordo, Sandra Metslaid, Piia Post and Toomas Tamm. J.-P., Lang, M., Hordo, M., Metslaid, S., Post, P., Tamm, T. Potential of ecological modelling and smart-drainage development for mitigating adverse effects of future global change-type droughts for the Estonian forest sector. – Forestry Studies | Metsanduslikud Uurimused 73, 98–106, ISSN 1406-9954.
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