Ronny Rotbarth

My main research interest lies in the exploration of resilience of various (eco)systems, especially forests, to global change and its impacts (i.e. drought, wildfire, insect outbreaks). This means that I study if and how systems can recover from these impacts.

I am particularly fascinated about developments of early warning indicators that may tell us whether an ecosystem may become less resilient over time. I use multiple data sources to investigate changes in resilience: remote sensing data (e.g. from satellites and drones), field data (such as tree rings, vegetation data), and model data. Beyond the ecological questions related to system resilience, I aim to figure out whether and how answers to these questions can lead to actionable change, for example in forest management measures or environmental policies.

My system focus so far has been on Arctic tundra (mainly Siberia), boreal and temperate forests as well as infectious disease outbreaks.