Reducing the impact of climate change and other environmental stresses on native UK oak tree health

减少气候变化和其他环境压力对英国本土橡树健康的影响

• 批准号: 2603725
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Newcastle University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2603725
• 关键词: Reducing; impact; climate; change; other

With a background in GIS and surveying, I have a strong interest in the application of novel survey techniques and remote sensing to tree health assessments and forest management. Oak trees are an iconic and essential component of the UK's treescape. Yet, in recent years, oak populations have vastly decreased. Given an increasing number of threats, there is concern for their health and future. Much is a stake, as the UK's two native oak species, Quercus robur and Quercus petraea, form the largest component of native broadleaf woodland and have the potential to store more carbon than other tree species, due to being long-lived. I'm investigating how threats such as climate change and pests and diseases, are impacting the UK's current and future oak populations. An understanding of which factors drive oak health, will help me to suggest interventions to alleviate stresses and provide stakeholders with data to evaluate forest management techniques. My PhD is partnered with the Action Oak initiative. Research Questions The primary focus of my PhD is to characterise the distribution and drivers of changes in health of the UK's native oak population and identify regions where oaks are particularly at risk. The generalised research questions are: RQ1) Where are native oak species distributed in the UK and which factors control their spatial location? Model the current native oak population of the UK using various model types e.g., a Species Distribution Model. Modelling will integrate and synthesize disparate existing inventory and mapping data. Assess the baseline of current distribution and abundance of native UK oaks. RQ2) What are the drivers of native oak health and how do they interact with one other? Conduct a fine scale study of regionally spread sites to identify and assess local drivers of oak health, in comparison to other data sets such as land use maps and climate data. Model health at national scales e.g., from extrapolating National Forest Inventory (NFI) plot data. Review existing literature to determine the nationwide factors impacting oak health. RQ3) Given increasing environmental stresses and climate change, is the distribution and health of native oaks likely to change in the future? Utilise models at multiple scales to identify regions of the UK where native oaks are either susceptible or alternatively doing well in response to future climate scenarios. Quantify the current and future extent of carbon sequestration by native UK oaks using novel remote sensing techniques. Techniques I'm going to be synthesising a range of skills and data sources including large-scale datasets, GIS, programming, modelling and field validation work. I will also develop models to identify regions of the UK where oaks are potentially susceptible or alternatively doing relatively well, in response to current and future predictions of climatic conditions. Existing datasets that will be utilised for modelling the distribution of native oak include the National Forest Inventory, Ancient Tree Inventory and UKCEH Countryside Survey. Characterising the oak population will entail quantifying current and predicted levels of carbon sequestration, due to the link with climate change. To do this, I will explore remote sensing techniques and utilise low-cost UAV platforms equipped with LiDAR technology to estimate carbon sequestration in current and future oak populations.

在地理信息系统和测量的背景下，我对新的调查技术和遥感技术在树木健康评估和森林管理中的应用有浓厚的兴趣。橡树是英国树景的标志性和重要组成部分。然而，近年来，橡树种群数量大幅减少。鉴于威胁越来越多，人们对他们的健康和未来感到关切。这是一个很大的赌注，因为英国的两个本土橡树物种，栎属和栎属petraea，形成了本土阔叶林的最大组成部分，并有可能储存更多的碳比其他树种，由于是长寿。我正在调查气候变化和病虫害等威胁如何影响英国目前和未来的橡树种群。了解哪些因素驱动橡树健康，将有助于我提出干预措施，以减轻压力，并为利益相关者提供数据，以评估森林管理技术。 我的博士学位是与行动橡树倡议合作。 我的博士学位的主要重点是研究英国本土橡树种群健康状况变化的分布和驱动因素，并确定橡树特别面临风险的地区。一般的研究问题是：RQ1）英国本土橡树物种分布在哪里，哪些因素控制着它们的空间位置？使用各种模型类型对英国当前的原生橡树种群进行建模，例如，a物种分布模型。建模将整合和综合不同的现有清单和绘图数据。评估英国本土橡树目前的分布和丰度的基线。RQ 2）本土橡树健康的驱动因素是什么？它们如何相互作用？对区域分布的地点进行精细研究，以确定和评估当地橡树健康的驱动因素，并与其他数据集（如土地利用地图和气候数据）进行比较。在全国范围内建立健康模型，国家森林资源清查（NFI）数据。回顾现有的文献，以确定影响橡木健康的全国性因素。RQ 3）鉴于环境压力和气候变化日益严重，未来本土橡树的分布和健康状况可能会发生变化吗？利用多尺度模型来确定英国本土橡树易受影响或在应对未来气候情景方面表现良好的地区。利用新的遥感技术量化英国本土橡树目前和未来的固碳程度。我将综合一系列技能和数据源，包括大规模数据集，GIS，编程，建模和现场验证工作。我还将开发模型，以确定英国地区的橡树是潜在的易感性或替代做得相对较好，以应对当前和未来的气候条件的预测。现有的数据集将用于模拟本地橡树的分布，包括国家森林目录，古树目录和UKCEH农村调查。由于与气候变化的联系，描述橡树种群的特征将需要量化当前和预测的碳固存水平。为此，我将探索遥感技术，并利用配备激光雷达技术的低成本无人机平台来估计当前和未来橡树种群的碳封存。