Kolloquium: Simone Stünzi

Boreal forests constitute approximately 55% of the total global permafrost area and play a crucial role in maintaining the stability of permafrost through various mechanisms such as shading, modulation of turbulent fluxes, and interception of precipitation. However, ongoing climatic changes and related ecosystem shifts pose a threat to the delicate thermal equilibrium between the atmosphere, vegetation, and permafrost. We develop and apply a numerical process model (CryoGrid) with a detailed multilayer canopy module to investigate the complex interactions as well as related processes such as thermokarst, disturbances and forest loss, or forest greening, with the overall goal of understanding the ecosystem's role in a changing climate.