Climate change in the forests of northern Germany

Typical beech forest in northern Germany: the scientists took samples of wood from dominant trees at 30 locations. Photo: Banzragch Bat-Enerel Research team at the University of Göttingen finds widespread drought stress in European beech Samples of wood are taken from European beech. They are glued to wooden strips and prepared with razor blade or sandpaper so that the annual rings are clearly visible on the smooth surfaces and can be measured and dated using a microscope. Photo: Stella Gribbe More and more trees are suffering the consequences of decades of man-made climate change. The growth of the European beech has so far suffered decline mainly in southern Europe. European beech is Germany's most important native forest tree species and it is most commonly found in Central Europe. A research team from the University of Göttingen has now been able to show that the European beech is suffering from increasing drought stress in summer in northern Germany as well.