Fürstenfeld (FF) - Austria

The site is situated in the East Styrian lowlands and hills, the woodland community being an Oak-Hornbeam forest and was established in 1997. The main research questions center around (site) water balance and different patterns of water consumption of different tree species. In order to address the research questions, the site is instrumented with on-line registering climate stations as well as on-line soil water content measurements, soil temperature measurements as well as sap flow measurements. These data are complemented with data on soil physics, rooting densities, stand growth and LAI. Main results demonstrate very clear seasonal patterns, which may lead to drought stress of conifers (Norway spruce) resulting in unstable stands prone to secondary (f.e. insect) damage. So far the site has been used by three national and 2 international projects.