The Birmingham Institute of Forest Research is an experimental facility based in South Staffordshire and is imbedded in the College of Life and Environmental Sciences. The facility provides an outdoor enclosure for performing invasive and/or remote measurements in an old growth natural woodland. Our primary purpose is to create patches of woodland that mimic the atmosphere of the future. This is done by introducing additional levels of CO2 to the air (increasing up to 570ppm in comparison to global average of 420ppm CO2!) and then blowing it over mature oak trees. As a result, over the last seven years we have managed to create an Environmentally Modified Ecosystem (EME), essentially, the woods of the future. Because the trees have altered their growth rates this facility provides an exciting research opportunity to challenge current ecosystem models and to help develop policies that will impact climate change action. The facility provides technical support, including access to the upper tree canopy, leaf-gas exchange instruments, leaf porometers, leaf fluorescence and automatic leaf scanners. We also provide access to a multitude of environmental sensors and a large dataset collected over the last 8 years with technical assistance.
Key contact name:
Key contact email address:
Website link:
Telephone number:
Social media links/handles: