TreeDì

International Research Training Group TreeDì (GRK 2324)

“TreeDì - 林地 - Tree Diversity Interactions: The role of tree-tree interactions in local neighborhood in Chinese subtropical forests” is an International Research Training Group funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS).

Biodiversity-Ecosystem-Functioning (BEF) research in forests has become a vibrant field of research in the last decade. The aim of TreeDì - 林地 (lín dì, forest land) is to understand how tree-tree interactions in local neighborhood of varying diversity translate into the observed positive tree species richness effects on key ecosystem functions at the community scale. Tree-tree interactions range from above- and belowground competition to resource use complementarity and facilitation. In-depth knowledge of each interaction type and interdisciplinary teamwork are essential to understand the underlying processes. All research projects are carried out on the BEF-China platform in subtropical China - the largest forest BEF experiment worldwide.

In our sub-project (P8G), we are focusing on tree-tree interactions effects for soil functioning from soil carbon and nitrogen cycling modeling to microbial community properties and functioning through field measurements, decomposition experiments and modeling projects.