Scientists discover: dead wood is a treasure for plant diversity!

Scientists discover: dead wood is a treasure for plant diversity!

On March 13, 2025, the Neuburg Auenzentrum support association honored Florian Knülle's outstanding bachelor's thesis. The geography graduate from the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt focused his research on the importance of dead wood for plant diversity. This study was carried out in the Donauauwald between Neuburg and Ingolstadt, an area characterized by rich flora and fauna.

Knülle analyzed both unpopulated and populated dead wood and examined the location factors that play a role in areas without living creatures. Particular attention was paid to the differences in the vegetation of dead wood in the stream environment, especially between locations near the banks and alternating water zones. In order to achieve reliable results, Knülle collected comprehensive data in the field, which was then evaluated using statistical methods and current databases.

Results and significance of the research

The results of the study showed that dead wood has a high ecological value for vascular plants. Unique plant communities were identified that are particularly rich in species compared to other typical floodplain locations. These findings are groundbreaking because until now there was little information about plant colonization of dead wood in water. The prize from the support association for Knülle's research is 500 euros and was awarded for particularly innovative research work.

Professor Dr. Barbara Stammel, the supervisor of Knülle's bachelor's thesis, emphasizes the importance of this research work in her remarks. She states: “We are entering new scientific territory here.” The data collected provides a valuable basis for future research and is highly relevant to nature conservation.

Dead wood in forests and its ecological role

Dead wood has taken on a dramatically different role in our forests over the last few centuries. Historically, the proportion of dead wood in primeval forests in Central Europe was high across the board and was estimated at around 10-30 percent of the wood biomass. Today, however, the proportion of dead wood in commercial forests is only one to three percent. This is primarily due to intensive forestry use, which serves economic interests and anticipates natural aging processes and the death of trees.

For forest nature conservation, it is important to carry out targeted “dead wood management” in order to sustainably promote dead wood structures. In order to counteract the loss of these important habitats, two management strategies are proposed: a compromise between near-natural forest use and the integration of measures to preserve dead wood in managed forests, as well as full area protection in selected forests without forest use. These strategies are crucial to securing biodiversity in forests in the future.

Overall, Florian Knülle's award shows how important committed and innovative research in the field of ecology is. The results of his bachelor's thesis could make a valuable contribution to the preservation and promotion of dead wood as a habitat.

For more information on the topic of dead wood and its importance for biodiversity deutschewildtierstiftung.de be visited.

Details about Florian Knülle's award can be found on the website Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt.