Members of the GTTN network have now the opportunity to publish their work in a special issue of the journal Forests in the section Forest Ecophysiology and Biology. Background of the special issue is to bring different applications of wood research together and support the foundation of global change research.
Tropical forests are known for their tremendous capacity to store organic carbon (nearly half on earth), of which almost 100% is actually wood. The structure and function of tropical forests and the resources they provide for global and local economies are calling out for investigative wood research. The analysis of wood traits generates a deeper understanding of requirements of ecosystem models on carbon fluxes, carbon sequestration processes can be examined through vegetation reconstructions from fossil wood and charcoal. Timber qualities can be studied, so that squandering valuable wood material can be avoided.
“Finally, public concern for the fate of tropical forests has resulted in the creation of a number of mechanisms for assuring biodiversity conservation and sustainable production of goods and services. Implementation and enforcement of these instruments very often imply various tools from the domain of wood science. Verification of the authenticity of a material is, for instance, done through microscopic or chemical identification”, writes Hans Beekman, wood biologist and guest editor of the publication.
Everything considered, it cannot be denied that tropical wood science is needed for a comprehensive foundation in global change research. The special issue will pick up these statements among many more.
