Post-Drought Beech Forest Health Inventory in Rhӧn Biosphere Reserve

Environmental Information Data Centre provides forest inventory and canopy health data from the UNESCO Rhӧn Biosphere Reserve in Germany, collected in 2021. The dataset captures individual tree and stand-level characteristics to analyze the response of European beech trees to the 2018/2019 extreme drought event.

Use Cases

• Model the relationship between diameter at breast height, tree height, and the extent of overall canopy damage to predict drought vulnerability.
• Analyze how social class and relative crown distance correlate with observed discolouration and defoliation levels.
• Assess stand-level canopy condition by aggregating individual tree measurements of defoliation and damage across the study sites.

Strengths

• Data focuses on a specific, ecologically significant event—the 2018/2019 extreme drought in central Europe.
• Includes both structural inventory (e.g., diameter, height) and detailed health metrics (e.g., defoliation, discolouration).
• Collected from core protected areas within a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, ensuring a defined and protected study environment.

Limitations

• Sample size and row count are unknown, limiting assessment of statistical power.
• Data is from a single year (2021), providing a snapshot rather than a longitudinal view of recovery.
• Geographic scope is limited to specific sites within one German biosphere reserve.

Provenance

Source

Environmental Information Data Centre

Collection Method

Field assessments of individual tree and stand canopy health, collecting canopy condition assessments and measurements of tree size and stand demography.

Time Range

2021

Freshness

Data was collected in 2021, with metadata last updated in 2026.

Geography

Core protected areas of the UNESCO Rhӧn Biosphere Reserve, Germany.