The Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology MENDELU has signed a grant agreement with the Research Executive Agency of the European Commission for the EXCELLENTIA project financed by the Horizon Europe Programme. The prestigious five-year project “ERA-Chair: Striving for Excellence in the Forest Ecosystem Research” (EXCELLENTIA) will start in May. The goal is to create a cutting-edge interdisciplinary research group engaged in forest ecosystem research under the leadership of Professor Douglas L. Godbold. The team will study climate-diversity-pathogen interations in Central European forests. The research will concentrate on the University Forest Enterprise Masaryk Forest Křtiny (UFE).
The multidisciplinary team will use a unique range of stands of differing tree diversity and silivicultural approach, to study how tree diversity interacts with soils, symbiotic fungi and root pathogens in a changing climate. The work has the ultimate goal to estimate how different silicultural approaches contribute to ecosystem stability, to meet both ecological and sociological needs in future forests. Drought, the fact that different species of trees react differently to water shortage, and the susceptibility or resistance of tree root systems to pathogen attack are other questions that scientists will cover in the EXCELLENTIA. Spearheaded by of Prof Godbold the project will attempt to connect important European and international initiatives and projects, building a focal point for forest ecosystem research in the Czech Republic. UFE is a long-standing university research facility providing a unique background through diverse subsoil and tree composition. In addition, continuous measurement of tree growth has been taking place on various research plots established since 1973. Scientists thus have a unique data set at their disposal.
“EXCELLENTIA should bring new insights to the climate-endangered Central Europe forest ecosystems and society needs. Furthermore, it aims to clarify men’s contribution to instability by moving from continuous forestry cover to monocultures. EXCELLENTIA will be built on the existing data and the ongoing research programme at FFWT,” says Prof Libor Jankovský. The project builds on the ASFORCLIC project funded by the Horizon 2020 programme and other projects, such as Phytophthora Research Center funded by the Operational Program Research, Development and Education.
“Besides the scientific line, the EXCELLENTIA project aims to implement structural changes in sustainable research and innovation, intellectual property and research data management and career counselling. The plan includes, among other things, online training focused on scientific ethics and scientists’ skills to present the results of their work. Furthermore, the EXCELLENTIA project will closely cooperate with the MENDELU Central Library Services in the field of open science,” adds Pavlína Pancová Šimková. The results will be continuously introduced to various stakeholders, including the Researchers` Night. The project also envisages cooperation at the level of secondary schools within the framework of the Biology Olympiads.
The research team of the EXCELLENTIA project will have the same status as other institutes at the FFWT MENDELU. Prof. Libor Jankovský, head of the Department of Forest Protection and Wildlife Management and dean of FFWT MENDELU, coordinates EXCELLENTIA. The “ERA-Chair: Striving for Excellence in the Forest Ecosystem Research” will be implemented from 1/5/2023 to 30/4/2028. It is the project with the most significant financial contribution to MENDELU, which it has received from all EU framework programmes.
Prof. Douglas L. Godbold has nearly 30 years of experience researching plant-soil interactions in forest ecosystems. He has focused mainly on the belowground process in forest ecosystems, including fine roots, mycorrhizas and carbon dynamics. Prof Godbold has worked in both boreal and temperate forest as well as dry tropical forests of Ethiopia. He has considerable experience in use of ecosystem manipulation experiments for factors such as elevated atmospheric CO2, drought and tree diversity. This has allowed him to gain extensive experience in project management at the national and international levels.
Contact persons for more information: prof. Dr. Ing. Libor Jankovský, head of the Department of Forest Protection and Wildlife Management FFWT MENDELU, +420 739 341 961, libor.jankovsky@mendelu.cz; Ing. Pavlína Pancová Šimková, Ph.D., Department of Forest Protection and Wildlife Management FFWT MENDELU, +420 545 134 065, pavlina.simkova@mendelu.cz
More news
-
Experts from the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology at MENDELU are helping to make use of waste from fruit processing while reducing the consumption of firewood in Cambodia. They use the mango pellets to produce fuel briquettes, which are then…21. 11. 2023
-
Scientists take samples of driftwood in northern Norway. They aim to find out…
Scientists from FFWT MENDELU have completed a second mission in search of driftwood to the northern coast of Norway. As in 2022, they took samples of driftwood, which will be analysed in the MENDELU dendrochronological and anatomical laboratory. In…30. 10. 2023 -
Maples plagued by sooty bark disease, which is also dangerous to humans
Sooty bark disease in Maples is caused by the fungus Cryptostroma corticale. The Sycamore is particularly susceptible. The fungus was apparently introduced to Europe after World War II from the Great Lakes region of North America. For many decades,…15. 9. 2023 -
LDF researchers help kick-start forestry in Aragvi, Georgia
Georgia’s Aragvi – a newly established protected landscape area (PLA) of almost 100,000 hectares – is located in three separate valleys about 80 km north of the Georgian capital Tbilisi. “We are working in an area with harsh winters, sultry summers…28. 8. 2023 -
FFWT MENDELU scientists have found a new way of using sewage sludge
FFWT MENDELU scientists have found a use for sewage sludge, an unavoidable by-product of the wastewater treatment process. By mixing stabilized sludge with other waste materials, glauconite and biochar, they obtained a substrate usable in forestry…14. 8. 2023 -
Science team focuses on the decline of seagrasses, important ocean ecosystems
Seagrass beds are considered ocean rainforests. They are some of the richest marine ecosystems and play an important ecological role in the world of the seas and oceans. Globally, however, seagrass meadows are declining, with a species of seagrass…4. 8. 2023 -
FFWT MENDELU has signed EU Mission Soil Manifesto
By signing the Mission Soil manifesto, the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology (FFWT) has committed itself to the protection and restoration of soil at a time when 60% of the soil in the territory of the European Union states is considered …27. 7. 2023 -
MENDELU in Mongolia helps with the implementation of the Czech tourist signage…
Mongolia will use the Czech system of marking tourist routes. The Mongolian Tourist Association (MWA) has signed a contract with the Czech Tourist Club in Bogd Khan Mountain, one of the oldest protected areas in the world. The sprawling capital…11. 7. 2023 -
School Forest Enterprise Masaryk Forest Křtiny and Forests of the Czech…
The Memorandum of Cooperation was signed on 23 June by Tomáš Vrška, Director of the Masaryk Forest School in Křtiny, and Dalibor Šafařík, Director General of the State Enterprise Forests of the Czech Republic. The agreement was created with the…23. 6. 2023 -
A new MENDELU project aims to bring large carnivores and humans together across…
Mendel University in Brno is launching a new international project Interreg Central Europe - LECA, which will support the coexistence of humans and large carnivores in the Carpathian region. The project aims to harmonise international monitoring of…21. 4. 2023