Work package 2
To further our mechanistic understanding of the separate independent, interactive, and cumulative effects, and tipping points, of drought × canopy disturbance, we will set up a pan-continental forest drought-disturbance experiment.
Six regions across the European broadleaf biome were selected, stratified along gradients of precipitation and temperature. In each region, 12 plots were established: six under open canopy conditions and six under dense canopy cover. Half of the plots will serve as ambient controls, while rainout shelters will be installed on the remaining plots.
Region
The rainout shelters (equipped with transparent gutters) will intercept 35% of incoming rainfall, simulating a drought event with an estimated return interval of approximately 100 years. In Belgium, six additional drought-control plots will be installed to quantify potential impacts of the shelter constructions.
In subsequent years, we will then be able to accurately quantify the effects of experimentally induced drought on the vegetation trajectory of change at different levels of biological organisation in control vs drought plots. Such an experiment allows us to uniquely unravel the interactions of drought with canopy disturbance across European temperate forests.