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Projects / Programmes source: ARIS

FOREST BIOLOGY, ECOLOGY & TECHNOLOGY

Periods
Research activity

Code Science Field Subfield
4.01.00  Biotechnical sciences  Forestry, wood and paper technology   
1.08.00  Natural sciences and mathematics  Control and care of the environment   

Code Science Field
B430  Biomedical sciences  Sylviculture, forestry, forestry technology 

Code Science Field
4.01  Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences  Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 
Keywords
forest ecosystems, climate change, biodiversity, belowground carbon allocation, genetic resources, forest protection, dendrochronology, silviculture, wood anatomy, forest techniques – economics - inventories – monitoring – landscape planning, non-wood forest products, ecosystem services, innovation
Evaluation (rules)
source: COBISS
Researchers (56)
no. Code Name and surname Research area Role Period No. of publicationsNo. of publications
1.  51924  PhD Domen Arnič  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Junior researcher  2018 - 2019  63 
2.  29875  Marko Bajc  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Technical associate  2019  286 
3.  53091  PhD Robert Alvin Bernedo Navarro  Chemistry  Researcher  2019  16 
4.  14869  PhD Gregor Božič  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  514 
5.  50519  PhD Ana Brglez  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Junior researcher  2017 - 2019  114 
6.  51497  PhD Reinhart Ceulemans  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2018 - 2019  63 
7.  15493  PhD Matjaž Čater  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  304 
8.  28856  PhD Gabrielle I. Deckmyn  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  48 
9.  29092  PhD Maarten De Groot  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  726 
10.  32943  PhD Ario de Marco  Chemistry  Researcher  2015 - 2019  248 
11.  29164  PhD Mitja Ferlan  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  226 
12.  15492  PhD Andreja Ferreira  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  218 
13.  35362  PhD Katarina Flajšman  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  188 
14.  21242  PhD Tine Grebenc  Plant production  Researcher  2015 - 2019  498 
15.  22609  PhD Jožica Gričar  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  550 
16.  29633  PhD Polona Hafner  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  162 
17.  28855  Melita Hrenko    Technical associate  2015 - 2019  43 
18.  28537  PhD Anže Japelj  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2017 - 2019  180 
19.  39600  PhD Jernej Jevšenak  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2019  117 
20.  07948  PhD Dušan Jurc  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  669 
21.  33222  PhD Andreja Kavčič  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2016 - 2019  1,045 
22.  39085  PhD Janez Kermavnar  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Junior researcher  2016 - 2019  131 
23.  16067  PhD Andrej Kobler  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  291 
24.  05093  PhD Marko Kovač  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  358 
25.  07127  PhD Hojka Kraigher  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Head  2015 - 2019  1,349 
26.  17034  PhD Nike Krajnc  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  961 
27.  15108  PhD Lado Kutnar  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  810 
28.  23655  PhD Jana Laganis  Control and care of the environment  Researcher  2015  43 
29.  37418  PhD Martina Lavrič  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Junior researcher  2015 - 2018  34 
30.  11595  PhD Tomislav Levanič  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  618 
31.  29237  PhD Boštjan Mali  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2017 - 2019  208 
32.  20842  PhD Aleksander Marinšek  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  397 
33.  19027  PhD Robert Mavsar  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015  109 
34.  50086  PhD Elisa Mazzega  Chemistry  Researcher  2017 - 2019  19 
35.  36746  PhD Nathan Gabriel Mc Dowell  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2018  85 
36.  24268  PhD Tanja Mrak  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  136 
37.  23448  PhD Nikica Ogris  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  1,232 
38.  25448  PhD Barbara Piškur  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  1,013 
39.  18112  PhD Boštjan Pokorny  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  891 
40.  32045  PhD Simon Poljanšek  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2017  45 
41.  29428  PhD Peter Prislan  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  360 
42.  10264  PhD Primož Simončič  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  710 
43.  27789  Iztok Sinjur    Technical associate  2015 - 2019  291 
44.  28590  PhD Mitja Skudnik  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2017 - 2019  368 
45.  31877  PhD Nataša Šibanc  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2018 - 2019  93 
46.  32771  PhD Ines Štraus  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2017  52 
47.  38188  PhD Tina Unuk Nahberger  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Junior researcher  2015 - 2019  56 
48.  28224  PhD Andrej Verlič  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2017  158 
49.  22592  PhD Urša Vilhar  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  424 
50.  31120  PhD Grega Ernest Voglar  Control and care of the environment  Researcher  2017 - 2019  41 
51.  24343  PhD Marjana Westergren  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  419 
52.  30892  PhD Saša Zavadlav  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2017  50 
53.  50188  Boštjan Zupanc    Technical associate  2018 - 2019 
54.  28401  PhD Peter Železnik  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Researcher  2015 - 2019  188 
55.  26472  PhD Suzana Žižek  Control and care of the environment  Researcher  2015 - 2017  86 
56.  21137  Daniel Žlindra  Forestry, wood and paper technology  Technical associate  2015 - 2019  177 
Organisations (2)
no. Code Research organisation City Registration number No. of publicationsNo. of publications
1.  0404  Slovenian Forestry Institute  Ljubljana  5051673000  12,307 
2.  1540  University of Nova Gorica  Nova Gorica  5920884000  14,363 
Abstract
The Research Programme (RP) Forest Ecology, Biology and Technology continues in its efforts to provide science-based understanding of forest functioning, to support sustainable co-natural forest and landscape management, and enhances its efforts in all knowledge based bio-economies, conservation of forest ecosystems, their functions and services, sustainable use of natural resources, and defines biodiversity based innovation in forestry. The modular structure of the RP has proven its advantages by promoting specialization in the six main fields of research, yet allowing an efficient collaboration among them in a number of studies where interdisciplinarity was an advantage; collaboration with the University Nova Gorica has enabled, and shall contribute to apply complementary methodological approaches; and collaboration of highly renowned senior scientists in selected fields, have allowed the RP and the whole institute to accelerate its human and infrastructural capacities to be compatible, comparable and competitive within the European Research Area, as shown through the exceptionally high number of projects, financed by the EU. In the forthcoming years the focus is on: A)Forest ecology: preserving forest site productivity and biodiversity under climate change and large scale disturbances, development of indicators for forest ecosystem services assessment, and wildlife ecology; B)Forest physiology and genetics: ectomycorrhizal diversity, mycelial and fine root turnover as regulators of belowground C dynamics; conservation and use of forest genetic resources shall focus on development and validation of indicators of genetic diversity in time and space; C)Forest protection: development of methods for detection, prognosis, modelling and protection against forest pests, diseases and alien harmful organisms, including transfer and proposing measures for their control to state agencies; D)Dendrochronology, silviculture and growth of trees concentrates on tree responses to past and present climates, detects past disturbances and their effects on wood quality; E)Forest techniques and economics concentrates on optimization of forest operations, quality and structure of hardwoods F)Forest and landscape planning and monitoring shall focus on development of local indicators of sustainable forest management and implementation of ecosystem services in forest management planning system. The methodological approaches have been developed and boosted through new research equipment and highly skilled specialists employed through the 7FW EU Capacities EUFORINNO project. Furthermore, the enlargement of the RP would allow to further develop several approaches, research questions and innovation ideas in their early stage of development. These are either fully patentable methodology (or equipment) oriented innovations, or more in-depth exploitation of existing (yet expensive to run) modern approaches and methodologies, for which the equipment is already available at SFI.
Significance for science
Climate change and activities for its mitigation and adaptation to support forest growth within their present areas, has been part of the research programme (RP) in the last 6-years period, and continues to be its primary goal in the next period. The RP quality is shown in a number of publications in the last 6 years (444 publications (from the total of 2300 inscriptions in COBISS), from these 147 the uppermost  5% IF in the field (http://izumbib.izum.si/bibliografije/P20140519070908-P4-0107.html) ;  with 4755 CI10 – citations); the RP contributed to a number of COST actions, and has been part of, or initiated, a number of research projects. Belowground carbon turnover is the source of most uncertainties in modelling C fluxes and basins in terrestrial ecosystems (25, 21), where mycorrhiza had been determined as the key mediator of processes driving C dynamics and site productivity (4, 58). Fine root and mycelium diversity and turnover has been studied extensively (35, 50, 55, 56, 57, 58, 91, 102, 112, 122) and shall coincide with goals of COST actions FP 1203, FP 1305, ES 1101 and others. Future adaptation of forests to the changing climates depends on the adaptability potential – genetic diversity - of forest trees. The basis for monitoring of genetic diversity has been proposed within the EUFORGEN programme (54, 63, 92, 101, 117); the RP shall contribute to the new transnational LIFEGENMON project, COST action FP 1202 and a number of national research projects. Early detection and identification of introduced alien harmful organisms for forests enables eradication, which can prevent their establishment in Europe, or mitigation of their spread, which prevents possible economic and biodiversity losses in forest ecosystems. The detection and the identification techniques for regulated forest pests from the lists of the new EU phytosanitary regulations (under acceptance) will be introduced, potential threat of most important regulated pests will be assessed and intensive field sampling shall allow to detect them if already present in Slovenia. Special activity will be devoted to harmful organisms , whose outbreaks are provoked by higher temperatures and drought; the prognosis of their development and spread will be prepared. Furthermore, the RP shall provide stable carbon isotope chronologies & reconstruction of climate for the last 1000 years for the W Balkans, identification of the main environmental factors responsible for the growth of trees, new insights into the understanding of plasticity of selected tree species in different environmental conditions and their long-term responses to extreme weather events, effects of drought stress, forest fires and / or insect outbreaks on height and radial growth, and build-up of a database of reliable and repeatable results on ecophysiological response of trees in different forest stands, in different environmental conditions and / or silvicultural practices, for future simulations.
Significance for the country
Slovenia has one of the longest traditions of sustainable and co-natural silviculture and forest management among all European countries. To continue this tradition, sustainable forest management needs information on how trees and forests behave in extreme environmental conditions, to be able to prepare forest management and silvicultural plans that would take into account changes in tree species composition, the most suitable provenances of forest reproductive material (FRM) for future severe climate conditions and climate extremes. With our research programme we will provide crucial information for future management of forests in order to mitigate impacts of negative influence of temperature and precipitation extremes and to prevent forests becoming a source instead of sink of carbon. All countries, members to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC are obliged to report their emissions by sources, and removals by sinks, for all greenhouse gases. Good practice guidelines used in the calculation of the national balance of forest ecosystems are determined by five reservoirs of carbon: above-ground biomass, dead wood, litter, organic matter in the soil and underground biomass. Allometric relationships (tested within this research programme) are used to predict the belowground root biomass (limited to coarse woody roots) with respect to the above ground biomass. These relationships present a significant source of uncertainties, and do not contribute to understanding of belowground processes, driving carbon dynamics and fluxes. For this, fine root and mycelium turnover need to be studied and incorporated into experimental models, including diversity-based impacts on ecosystem processes. Furthermore a number of methodological approaches are being developed, simplified, standardized and automated for the needs of forest monitoring. Also, development of the new forest genetic monitoring (part of a LIFE+ project LIFEGENMON), shall be supported by this programme, as well as further development of molecular databases for identification of genetic diversity and source of forest reproductive material (FRM), needed in certification of FRM and approval of forest seed objects (SFI is the state authority for these two tasks of the civil forest service in Slovenia). The activities for forest health improvement have common social significance and contribute to the social economic and cultural benefits from forests. Transfer of knowledge on risks from introduction of alien forest pests to professional and general public enables rising the perception of necessity for their control, cooperation in their early detection and in their immediate eradication. Acquaintance with ecological consequences of climate change produced by increase of thermophilic harmful organisms is significant for climate change awareness rising. Transfer of knowledge will be done through workshops for professional and by publication of results in professional journals
Most important scientific results Annual report 2015, interim report, final report
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results Annual report 2015, interim report, final report
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