Seed masting; Rodent-seed interactions; Seed predation; Natural regeneration failure; Climate-adaptive silviculture; Post-disturbance recovery; Living Labs; Integrated Pest Management
TOPIC 1 – Climate-Resilient Forest Systems
Role sought: Project Partner / Work Package Leader (Biodiversity & Regeneration / Field Experiments)
Call Focus: TOPIC 1 (Climate-Resilient Forest Systems) & TOPIC 2 (Adaptive and Multifunctional Forest Management Systems)
We offer expertise and resources in:
• Seed predation & natural regeneration dynamics: Quantifying the impacts of rodent population surges on seed survival and natural regeneration failures across mast and non-mast years.
• Standardized field experimental setups: Designing and executing in-situ exclosure experiments, seed-tracking, and rodent trapping protocols in Central European post-disturbance landscapes.
• Living Lab infrastructure (ŠLP Křtiny): Providing accessible, well-documented field sites for comparative European transects (e.g., comparing Central European drought/calamity sites with Nordic, Alpine, Carpathian or Balkan regions).
• Ecological indicators & IPM: Testing non-chemical rodent management strategies and micro-habitat manipulations to support climate-resilient forest conversion without synthetic rodenticides.
Cooperation interest: We are seeking to join an international consortium as a reliable scientific partner to cover the Central European region in projects addressing masting cycles, rodent-seed interactions, and climate-adaptive forest regeneration.
Mendel University in Brno (MENDELU) – Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology
Mendel University in Brno (Czech Republic) is a leading Central European institution in forest science, silviculture, and forest ecology. The Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology combines long-term ecological research with practical forest management.
A key strategic asset of MENDELU is its Training Forest Enterprise (ŠLP Křtiny), spanning over 10,000 hectares of highly diverse, mixed, and drought-stressed forest landscapes. ŠLP Křtiny serves as a fully equipped Living Lab for field-scale experiments, natural regeneration trials, and long-term ecosystem monitoring under ongoing climate change. The research team specializes in small mammal ecology, rodent population dynamics, seed predation, and integrated pest management (IPM) in post-disturbance and adapting forest ecosystems.
