Title: Greening of the high mountains: long-term vegetation change in response to climate warming and land-use transformations
Grant Number: PN-IV-P2-2.1-TE-2023-0726. Contract no. 65TE ⁄ 08.01.2025. Project funded by: UEFISCDI – Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding, Romania (2025-2026).
Research Team:
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Pavel-Dan Turtureanu – Project leader
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Mihai Pușcaș – Vegetation of high mountains, biogeography
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Thomas Kuhn – Land cover change, remote sensing, statistics
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Tudor-Mihai Ursu – Imagery analysis, remote sensing,vegetation dynamics
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Anamaria Roman – Land use change, remote sensing, climate change
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Olimpiu Traian Pop – Dendroecology
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Zoltan-Robert Balazs – PhD student; dendroecology
Summary: Terrestrial ecosystems have undergone significant transformations due to climate warming and land use shifts. Such profound changes have been detected from the early 1980s, since a global rise in “vegetation greenness” has been identified through satellite observations. This greening phenomenon, which signifies the increase in vegetation cover or productivity, is determined by monitoring surface reflectance values that indicate chlorophyll concentration. Our project centers on the Carpathians, where preliminary assessments demonstrate elevated greening trends that suggest major undergoing ecological alterations. The project objectives include identifying regional greening hotspots and variations based on land cover types. It also involves investigating the driving factors of greening, such as regional climate changes, microclimate variability, and significant shifts in land use practices. Additionally, the project aims to examine underlying processes, such as shrubland cover increase, culminating in an analysis of the cascading effects on biodiversity. Our methodology incorporates innovative harmonization of high-resolution remote sensing data, historical and current aerial imagery, dendroecological studies, long-term climate records, microclimate measurements, and biodiversity resurveys. Therefore, this venture aims to elucidate the complexity of greening and its expected detrimental effects on biodiversity. Our initiative will enhance research team cohesion.
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📊 Key Results
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High-resolution greening intensity and land cover complexity in the High Tatras