AnaEE-ERIC took part in the conference “Forests of the Future: Research and Forest Management in an Era of Change” where it presented its research facilities and experimental capabilities to the forest science community.
—— September 20, 2026. Plitvice, Croatia
Janko Arsić of the AnaEE-ERIC Interface and Synthesis Centre presented the abstract, titled “From Mediterranean Drought to Boreal Change: AnaEE-ERIC Facilities for Experimental Research on Forest Resilience.” It introduced AnaEE-ERIC and the services it offers to the scientific community, with a focus on forest ecosystems, climate change, and forest resilience.
Facilities for forest resilience research
European forests face drought, warming, air pollution, and interacting biotic pressures. Because their responses vary with climate, structure, and species composition, findings from a single site are hard to generalise.
Forests of the future
The presentation showed how AnaEE-ERIC’s complementary facilities can support coordinated research across contrasting climatic zones, drawing on five facilities in Mediterranean and boreal environments:
- Oak Observatory at the Observatory of High Provence (O3HP): long-term precipitation exclusion, canopy access, and soil warming for studies of downy oak responses.
- Puéchabon Experimental Site: throughfall exclusion combined with thinning, extreme-drought and soil-warming experiments, and continuous CO₂ and water-flux observations.
- Free-air O3 Exposure (FO3X O3-FACE): open-air ozone exposure combined with drought, nutrient availability, pathogens, and plant-associated microorganisms.
- Hyytiälä-SMEAR II: continuous ecosystem-atmosphere measurements in a managed Scots pine forest since 1996, covering greenhouse gases, volatile organic compounds, pollutants, aerosols, and meteorology. New plots compare clear-cutting, continuous-cover forestry, and unmanaged controls.
- Boreal Forest Regeneration Platform (BoFoReg): controlled chambers, nursery facilities, and field environments for studying the early stages of tree development.
Together, these facilities combine open-air experiments with long-term monitoring, from seedlings to mature stands and from tree physiology to ecosystem-atmosphere fluxes. The presentation also highlighted that harmonised protocols, variables, and metadata would help distinguish site-specific responses from general mechanisms, improve model calibration, and strengthen forecasts of forest stability.
Building connections
The conference was also a valuable opportunity to exchange knowledge and meet researchers and representatives of scientific institutions working in related fields. Discussions explored potential scientific collaborations, access to AnaEE-ERIC facilities and services, and ways to expand the AnaEE network.
Particular attention was given to strengthening links with Croatian colleagues and exploring how they might become involved in AnaEE-ERIC in the future, including potential membership.
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