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.

凭借地理信息系统和测量的背景，我对新颖的测量技术和遥感在树木健康评估和森林管理中的应用产生了浓厚的兴趣。橡树是英国树景的标志性和重要组成部分。然而，近年来，橡树的数量大幅减少。鉴于威胁数量不断增加，人们对他们的健康和未来感到担忧。这是一个利害攸关的问题，因为英国的两种本土橡树——夏栎和彼特拉栎——构成了本土阔叶林地的最大组成部分，并且由于寿命长，有可能比其他树种储存更多的碳。我正在调查气候变化、病虫害等威胁如何影响英国当前和未来的橡树种群。了解哪些因素会影响橡树的健康，将有助于我提出缓解压力的干预措施，并为利益相关者提供评估森林管理技术的数据。 我的博士学位是与 Action Oak 计划合作的。 研究问题 我的博士学位的主要重点是描述英国本土橡树种群健康变化的分布和驱动因素，并确定橡树特别面临风险的地区。一般性研究问题是： RQ1) 英国本地橡树品种分布在哪里？哪些因素控制它们的空间位置？使用各种模型类型（例如物种分布模型）对英国当前的本地橡树种群进行建模。建模将整合和综合不同的现有库存和地图数据。评估英国本土橡树当前分布和丰度的基线。 RQ2) 原生橡木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，与土地利用地图和气候数据等其他数据集进行比较，以确定和评估橡树健康的当地驱动因素。在国家范围内建立健康模型，例如根据国家森林清查 (NFI) 地块数据推断。回顾现有文献以确定影响橡木健康的全国性因素。 RQ3) 鉴于日益增加的环境压力和气候变化，原生橡树的分布和健康状况未来是否可能发生变化？利用多个尺度的模型来确定英国哪些地区的本地橡树要么容易受到影响，要么在应对未来气候情景方面表现良好。使用新颖的遥感技术量化英国本土橡树当前和未来的碳封存程度。技术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。我还将开发模型来识别英国橡树可能受影响或表现相对较好的地区，以响应当前和未来的气候条件预测。将用于模拟原生橡树分布的现有数据集包括国家森林清查、古树清查和 UKCEH 乡村调查。由于与气候变化的联系，描述橡树种群的特征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量。