My research focusses on effects of environmental change and forestry on boreal forest ecosystems. I have worked extensively on how environmental changes, including elevated levels of temperature, drought, CO2, ultraviolet- and ionizing radiation, light intensity and nitrogen, affect tree growth and phenology, plant defence, litter decomposition and belowground microbiota, plant-animal interactions, as well as ecosystem fluxes and storage of carbon.
I lead a relatively new forest monitoring project, where we study tree growth and water balance along climatic gradients In Norway by use of dendrometers and remote sensing (PREDICT). In another project, we study the long-term effects of clear-cutting on biodiversity, carbon storage and ecosystem processes in a unique field set-up in south-east Norway (EcoForest). I have also studied chemical ecology of various species of higher plants and lichens from both forests and arctic-alpine ecosystems.
I received my PhD from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) in 2003, for which I looked at UV-screening in arctic-alpine higher plants and lichens. Subsequently, I got a personal post doc grant from the Norwegian Research Council (NRC) on lichen compounds. These three years I spent largely at NMBU and had six months stay at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF, Joensuu). I was later employed at UEF for three years as a university researcher, looking at climate change effects on dioecious tree species. From 2011 I have been employed a NMBU, first as associate professor, and from 2015 as a professor in forest ecology.
Areas of Work
Publications
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