Forest climate station Kreuth can measure climate change

Created: 07/08/2022 17:56

District forester Hans Feist informs the excursion participants of the Rottach-Egern mountain rescue service about how the Kreuth forest climate station works.

© Mortl

Kreuth – Forest fires are a sign of climate change.

An excursion by the Rottach-Egern mountain rescue service to the Kreuth forest climate station showed that this can be measured.

Because of the heat, forest fires are raging in many European countries.

This is also the case in Germany, for example in Saxon Switzerland.

Even if the causes are often of human origin, the fires are a direct result of climate change.

During an excursion to the Kreuth forest climate station, district forester Hans Feist informed a group of mountain rescue services about the effects and dangers of climate change for local forest areas.

As one of 19 in Bavaria, the Kreuth forest climate station at an altitude of 1,100 meters has been collecting measurement results on changes in the environment for around 25 years.

These include ambient temperature, amount of precipitation, surface runoff, ozone levels and substance inputs into the soil.

Devastating forest fires worldwide

"Due to the climatic conditions in our region, the data sometimes differ greatly from other climate stations in Bavaria," explained district forester Hans Feist.

“Nevertheless, the Kreuth forest climate station makes climate change visible to us.” He cites global warming as the best-known example.

“We can already see from global evaluations that nine of the ten warmest years since weather records began were in the 21st century.

Our results prove that. The higher temperatures are a consequence of climate change, which people can feel.” Not only people, but also forests are affected by these heat waves - and regularly cause devastating forest fires all over the world.

Around 18,000 hectares of forest in the Tegernsee valley

“Across Europe you can see large areas of dead forest.

Due to the combination of heat and dry wood, only a small spark is enough to start a wildfire.

Fortunately, the situation is much better here in the valley,” said the forester.

Reasons for a better starting position are the high amounts of precipitation and the soil conditions, which can store a lot of water.

The soil serves the trees as a water reservoir for hot periods and thus keeps the risk of forest fires low.

“Nevertheless, we all have to take into account the basic rules in the hot summer months: do not park the car on dry grass after a drive.

No open fire.

Do not smoke or throw away cigarette butts in dry wooded areas.

Because 90 percent of forest fires have an unnatural, i.e. man-made cause," explained the nature conservation officer of the Rottach-Egern mountain rescue service, Anita Dengel.

With a forest area of ​​around 2.6 million hectares in Bavaria - of which around 18,000 hectares are in the Tegernsee valley - there is always a fundamental risk of fires, regardless of the soil conditions - which is also increasing in parallel with global warming.

Changing the forest ecosystem in the Tegernsee Valley

But there are effects that are not immediately apparent to people and that are changing the entire forest ecosystem in the Tegernsee Valley.

During the excursion, the district forester cited the increased incidence of damaged wood and the increase in the bark beetle population, which is now laying eggs for not just two but three generations, as examples.

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"This is where one of our tasks as foresters comes into play: We have to evaluate the data and find out what measures need to be taken to ensure that our native forest survives climate change," said Hans Feist.

The right choice of trees is one of the possibilities, because not every tree species can cope with changing climatic conditions.

Take measures for the forest at Tegernsee

“For the Tegernsee region, we expect a larger number of fir trees in the future.

So far, the spruce forest has dominated,” explained the district forester.

It is always a game against time, because it takes 100 to 200 years for a newly planted seedling to fulfill its function as a tree.

“We simply must not forget that forests not only provide a basis for the life of plants and animals, but are also of great importance for people.

It is an important building block for climate protection.” For example, the trees absorb CO2 and bind it in the wood – up to a ton per tree.

As soon as the wood is not burned but used, for example, when building a house, the stored CO2 is no longer released into the atmosphere for a longer period of time.

Inputs of nitrogen and sulfur in nature

But the forest climate station measures more than temperature rise and rainfall.

In addition, inputs of nutrients into nature such as nitrogen and sulfur play a major role.

Although nitrogen, for example, is an important nutrient for all living things and is found in the earth's atmosphere, the same applies here as is so often the case: too much is unhealthy.

Introduced in excess into nature, it puts a strain on the ecosystem and leads to nutrient imbalances, soil acidification and excessive nitrate pollution.

The consequences are not only damage to the tree population, but even a species shift in flora and fauna.

But there are noteworthy positive developments: According to the Federal Environment Agency, the input of nitrogen through wastewater has been significantly reduced, even if not in agriculture.

Sulfur inputs, which mainly occur when fossil fuels such as coal and oil are burned and which contribute to further acidification, have fallen sharply.