Who are we?

Urban and peri-urban forests (UPFs) are vital to human well-being and have been identified by the WHO and the United Nations as critical infrastructure in a post-covid society. However, the health of trees in urban forests and the provision of ecosystem services by them are threatened by the effects of climate change and urbanization.
In the URBORETUM project, we aim to uncover the ecological processes associated with the degradation of tree health in urban forests and the provision of ecosystem services in different types of UPFs. Furthermore, we aim to quantify the impact of UPFs on human brain function and psychological well-being and improve current urban forest management practices by translating the research results into practice.

The URBORETUM project involves a diverse and transdisciplinary consortium. The research work is divided into a total of seven work packages, which are managed independently by the respective partners.
In the TreeEcos work package, which is led by the Sylvanus research group at the Institute of Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the focus is on investigating the changing structure and composition of urban forests. Research is being conducted into how the availability of nutrients, light and water influences the ecological processes of trees.
The TreePulse work package, also at KIT, is concerned with the combination of functional ecology and remote sensing. It examines the health of individual tree species in urban areas and how this declines under drought conditions. In addition, an irrigation experiment is being carried out in collaboration with the Karlsruhe Horticultural Office to show how the irrigation of urban trees can be optimized in order to reduce the impact of drought on tree health.
As part of the TreeCare work package, dendroecological studies are being carried out at the Albert Ludwig University, including analysis of the isotopic composition of dendrochronological cores. This serves to draw conclusions about physiological processes in trees during or after extreme climatic events.
The TreeNeuro work package, which is led by the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim, is dedicated to identifying critical factors of urban forests and their influence on the well-being of the urban population. It also investigates the individual psychological and physiological benefits of urban trees and the underlying neural and physiological mechanisms.
The research in URBORETUM is supported by our municipal partner, the Horticultural Department of the City of Karlsruhe, with its own work package (TreeCityKA).
In addition, URBORETUM is accompanied by two leading companies in the field of wood and tree analysis (TreeInspect) and digital urban forestry (TreeTwin).