Masterarbeitsthemen

Themen für Masterarbeiten

Nachstehend finden Sie einige Themenvorschläge von Masterarbeiten in unserem Interessensgebiet. Sollten Sie eine eigene Idee für eine Masterarbeit haben, zögern Sie nicht, Ihre Idee mit Dr. M. Lévesque oder Dr. M. Frehner zu diskutieren. In unserem Arbeitsbereich ist eine Vielfalt an Themen möglich, von Genetik, über Untersuchungen an Baumarten, Verjüngungsökologie, Naturschutz und Management, wildkundliche Fragen, Verjüngung und Pflege von Schutzwald und vieles mehr.....

laufende und abgschlossene Masterarbeiten finden Sie hier

How large do canopy gaps need to be for major European species to regenerate?

It is well known that the size of canopy gaps influences the species that will regenerate in the gap. This is due to the effect of gap size on resource availability, and the resource distribution within the gap, as well as physiological and phenological differences between species. Unfortunately, this information is spread out in many different site-specific studies, which makes it difficult to apply it in practice. This knowledge "gap" has been identified in several recent studies about continuous cover silviculture.

The aim of this project is to develop relationships between gap size and regeneration success for several European tree species. This can be done by reviewing the literature to extract information about gap sizes, the species that regenerated in the gaps and some site characteristics (aspect, altitude). The meta analysis will be complemented by data from permanent plots. This data can be used to fit regressions to predict the regeneration success of different species. This information could be used to refine continuous cover silvicultural regimes in Switzerland.

Betreuung: Dr. Mathieu Lévesque (ETH); Dr. Petia Nikolova (WSL); Dr. David Forrester (WSL)

Changes in leaf area to leaf mass ratios with age and height

Forest growth models are often used to predict the effects of climate change and species diversity on forest functioning. The relationship between foliage mass and foliage area is often an important component of these models because it is used to convert biomass to leaf area to light absorption. However, foliage area to mass relationships, such as those based on specific leaf area (SLA; m2 kg-1), often account for only age OR vertical canopy position, and not both, despite evidence that age and canopy position are both important.

This project would examine this relationship for several Swiss tree species, with complementary data potentially available from other countries. The resulting SLA relationships that are developed in the project will later be incorporated into the forest growth model 3-PG, which is currently one of the most widely used forest growth models in the world.

Betreuung: Dr. Mathieu Lévesque (ETH); Dr. David Forrester (WSL)

Accelerated growth rates in European forests - Should thinning frequency in plenter forests be increased to maintain the current structure?

Plenter forests are a special type of uneven-aged forest where stand structure and ecosystem services are assumed to be relatively stable. These forests typically have "reverse J-shaped" diameter distributions. However, forest productivity has increased in many parts of central Europe, and if this has occurred in plenter forests, the balance between standing stock, regeneration and thinning could be lost, unless the thinning frequency is increased. To avoid losing the plenter structure of these forests, it is necessary to determine whether an increased thinning frequency will be required and what the new frequency should be.

This project will examine the balance between regeneration, standing stock and thinning intensity for a range of plenter forests in Switzerland, which have all been measured at approximately 8-year intervals for a minimum of several decades but up to a century in some cases. The results will be used to inform Swiss foresters about the potentially changing dynamic of plenter forests. The results will also be relevant for other regions where plenter forests are managed, such as within Europe and North America.

Betreuung: Dr. Mathieu Lévesque (ETH); Dr. David Forrester (WSL);

JavaScript wurde auf Ihrem Browser deaktiviert