SAS
HRS4R 
Research Group Head
Area of Research
Eco-physiological research of forest ecosystems to understand the mechanisms involved in plant adaptation and acclimation to adverse environmental conditions (drought, heat stress, pollution)
- Dendroecology and DendrochronologyWe investigate growth processes, treeline dynamics and changes in forest trees populations using tree-ring methods and dating in relation to forest disturbances and extreme weather events nowadays.
- Photosynthesis and Biochemical ProcessesAssessment of photosynthetic performance as the main process in plant life to provide rapid screening of physiological vitality, resistance and resilience of forest tree populations. We are aimed mainly on plant-water relations, osmotic adjustment, gasometric measurement and modelling, photosynthetic efficiency, chlorophyll a fluorescence, thermostability of PSII photosystem and photosynthetic pigments, as well as significant biochemical markers of stress: proline amino acid, abscisic acid and its metabolites, carbohydrates.
- Forest VegetationEvaluation of plant species diversity along ecological gradients, syntaxonomy of forest vegetation in temperate zone, spatio-temporal changes in spreading of non-native (invasive) plants, vegetation affinity and chorology of vascular plants.
Objectives (research strategy)
- to develop and improve the methods for the identification and quantification of production and survival risks of the individual tree species and their provenances related to stress events based mainly on dendrometric time series – linking with isotope analyzes in tree rings
- new perspectives on the adaptation of forest ecosystems to global environmental change and acceleration of tree phenotyping: identification of useful forest populations for future forestry practices using the physiological, morphological and biochemical markers
- clarify the knowledge about the adaptive potential of forest tree species using an integrated approach with a combination genetic and ecophysiological research
