Full Day Excursions

Description: With rental bikes we will start from the city of Freiburg to visit several silvicultural experiments and demonstration plots in the vicinity of Freiburg. The sites include experiments to study the influence of tree species diversity on ecosystem functioning (productivity, nutrient cycling, herbivory), new approaches to regenerate oaks in former floodplain forests, and so-called “Marteloskops”, where participants can carry out virtual thinning and harvesting to assess the economic and environmental outcome of their management approach. Some of these sites are also regularly used for teaching purposes. The whole tour will be around 25 km. Lunch will be provided in the field.

Description: We will head towards the “Feldberg”, the highest mountain of the Black Forest. At the Nature Conservation Centre we will be introduced to the region and its special landscape. From there we will start a short hiking trip to the nearby strictly protected forest reserve “Feldseewald”, one of the nature conservation monitoring sites of the Forest Research Institute of Freiburg. We will get insights on the current research in strictly protected forest reserves, the methodology of data collection and its results especially for the reserve “Feldseewald”. Further down the path we will reach the typical Black Forest farm and restaurant “Raimartihof” where we will have lunch.

In the afternoon we will continue from the Raimartihof by transport to visit the museum “Resenhof” in Bernau. There we will have the possibility to learn how it’s like living in a remote Black Forest village in historical times. The museum is located in a historical building from 1789. At 4 p.m. at the latest, we will return to Freiburg.

Description: Topic of the excursion is the management of Douglas-fir in southwestern Germany.

In 1873 the first Douglas-fir was planted in the German Southwest: in the forest district of Kandern, where the excursion will take place. Here, three rather differently managed Douglas-fir stands will be presented:

1. A 90 year old stand that has been managed extensively at the beginning and has seen no intervention since six decades; a quite unique situation in the region. Thus, the stand presents a rare and interesting example of an “unmanaged control” with regard to volume production, timber quality, and risks.
2. This stop presents a location with a 50 year old stand that is part of the experiment series called “the stem number experiment in Douglas-fir”. As several German states participate in the series, the experiments provide a substantial database. The series exists of plots planted with different spacings at initial densities of 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 trees per ha and thinned later on under a high thinning regime in favour of selected target crop trees (150 per ha at top height 12m). The objective of the series was to study the effects of different planting densities on growth, timber quality, and value production. Currently, the stands have reached approx. 35m of top height, allowing to draw conclusions at the end of the thinning phase.
3. We will finish in a mixed stand consisting of naturally regenerated beech, silver fir other tree species under a 110 year old overstorey of impressively large Douglas-fir trees. The stand exemplifies the goal targeted by the management of Douglas-fir mixed stands outlined in the official silviculture guidelines of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

Description: Objects of the excursion are two long-term experiments with Norway spruce (Picea abies) and silver fir (Abies alba) in the southern part of the Black Forest.

One experiment is focused on the effects of different felling procedures on the growth of the old stand and on species composition and development of the regeneration. The experiment consists of 4 plots:

• plot 1, 50% of the current increment to be removed during 35 years, then final cutting
• plot 2, first shelterwood cutting to initiate the regeneration, continued with group felling of large trees over regeneration plots during 35 years, then final cutting
• plot 3, 50% of the current increment to be removed during 50 years, then final cutting
• plot 4, first shelterwood cutting to initiate the regeneration, continued with group felling of large trees over regeneration plots during 50 years, then final cutting

This experiment started in 1980 at about 30 m stand height with no resp. only little regeneration. After 37 years of observation, the effects of the different felling procedures are clearly visible.

The second experiment is a selection forest (“Plenterwald”), a forest type typical for agrarian forest owners in the middle and southern part of the Black Forest and Switzerland. It consists of the shade-tolerant tree species silver fir, Norway spruce, and beech with the peculiarity that the tree species are mixed in all dimensions on a very small scale. Harvesting is mainly focused on the mature trees, and the regeneration can develop in these wells uncovered after felling.

The silvicultural goal is to maintain a balanced interaction of harvest, mortality, tree number per diameter class and diameter increment, the so-called steady state curve of a selection forest. Besides the steady state curves, the presentation will focus on the function of the three tree species, wood quality aspects, and damage impacts.

Description: Hartmannswillerkopf mountain, named after the village on the foothill, is dominating the Alsace plain. 700 m above everything, it was a perfect point to control the troop and train movements in the South Alsace during WW I. It was one of the fiercest and bloodiest battle fields of the Vosges underlined by the French name given by the soldiers: “le Vieil Armand”. After the end of the war and major demining, nature reconquered the site without human support. The undisturbed succession gives this site its specificity and elicits high scientific interest on the forest recovering in an area with such a history of disturbance. Its scenic location as a view point on all the South Alsace and the highest mountains of the Vosges, gives to this mountain its renown.

From this historic position to the highest Vosges summit, the “Grand Ballon”, only a few kilometers away, the slopes are covered by the silver fir (Abies alba) forest in a mixed stand with beech (Fagus sylvatica), spruce (Picea abies), maple (Acer spec) and others, while the smooth mountain tops sometimes are opened by grazing areas (“les hautes chaumes”).

The cappercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), once common in this forest, is now extremely rare. Strict measures have been developed by the french National Forests Office (ONF) in association with scientists and bird protection associations in order to carry out a silviculture aiming to shape an optimum stand composition and structure for this birds habitat demands. The second stop will be devoted to this aspect of silviculture.

From the mountain to the plain we will cross the Alsatian vineyard. Its location on the Vosges foothill with its very complex geological structure, well protected from the rain by the Vosges, nests highly renowned fruitful vines which are discintly different of the other French white wines. We shall visit a Grand Cru area : the “Steinert”, in the village of Pfaffenheim, we shall analyze its geological and geographic specificities in one of the driest areas of France, and meet a wine grower who will explain his life between the vineyard and the wine cellar where wood barrel take care of the wine education.

Description: The Jura Mountains extend from France across most of the northern part of Switzerland. They may not be as spectacular as the famous European Alps, but they harbor many treasures, an interesting cultural heritage, beautiful forests, spectacular views and peculiar land-use systems.

Besides general information on the landscapes, land use and the history and ecology of the area, the excursion will feature

• a visit to the famous wooded pastures of the Jura mountains
• breath-taking views from Mt. Chasseral – one of the highest peaks (1600 m a.s.l.) of the Jura mountains – extending over the Swiss Plateau with its beautiful lakes to the snow-peaked European Alps (cf. picture)
• a hike with informational stops through one of the Swiss Forest Reserves in which systematic monitoring is being conducted, extending over many decades
• an optional wine-tasting event on the hillslopes above Lake Bienne with spectacular views of the vineyards and the lake.

After a two-hour bus drive from Freiburg (leaving at 8:00), you will arrive at Mont Tramelan, where you will be informed about the peculiarities of the wooded pasture land-use system by researchers and local land managers. You will continue with a short ride and have lunch on the top of spectacular Mount Chasseral. After lunch, you will make a short hike to the forest reserve of St Jean and will experience a guided tour through the reserve. After the hike back, a short bus ride will take you across the ridge of Mount Chasseral to the hillslopes above Lake Bienne, where many villages are focusing on winemaking. You will stop at the “House of Lake Biel wine” for an optional wine-tasting event (those not interested can take a stroll through the vineyards, or simply rest and enjoy the view). In slightly more than two hours, you will be back by bus in Freiburg, at around 19:00.

Description: The Biosphere Reserve Black Forest is the youngest one in Germany. It was founded in 2016. The size of the area is 63,000 ha with about 70 % of forest land. 28 communes and a part of Freiburg belong to the area. The typical landscape has resulted from a long cultural utilization on forestry and agriculture.

The field trip will start with the bus in Freiburg. There will be different bus-stops for sight-seeing. The following topics will be explained and discussed:

1. General information about the Biosphere Reserve Black Forest
2. Information about the formation of the typical landscape “Southern Black Forest” with regard to aspects on geology, agriculture, forestry and nature protection
3. Presentation of protected forests in the valley of Oberried-St. Wilhelm
4. Discussion about landscape conservation in the valley of Präg
5. Lunch Break in the restaurant “Schwarzwaldhaus” in Bernau
6. Firm tour “Holzbau Bruno Kaiser Gmbh”: wood construction and the old traditional production of shingles will be presented.

Finally there will be a visit in the monumental cathedral of St. Blasien. After that the field trip will return to Freiburg crossing further impressions of the Black Forest.

Description: With 5.000 hectares of forest the City of Freiburg is among the biggest communal forest owners of Germany. The woodland surrounding the city of 220.000 inhabitants is stretching from the peak of Schauinsland down to the lowlands of the Rhine Valley. The diverse conditions of topography, soils, usage history as well as proximity to the city have led to a huge diversity of forest types, functions and present challenges. Known as “Green City”, ecological topics and thus also forest management receive a high perception among Freiburg’s citizens and in the city council. In this social and political framework management concepts and decision strategies have been developed that include civil participation, transparent communication and both integrative and segregative management approaches.

By cable car we will ride up the Schauinsland, which is the fourth highest peak of the Black Forest, offering an impressing view over the landscape. From the upper station we will start a hiking field trip up to the summit tower which is the first highlight of the tour, geographically as well as in the sometimes competing functions of people’s recreation and nature conservation. Walking all the way back down to the valley where we started we will pass various geological and climate-zones and will cover all aspects of sustainable forestry with changing focus on economical, ecological and social sustainability as well as wildlife-management and recreational aspects. For lunch we will stop at the mountain restaurant Holzschlägermatte, which offers traditional and regional food.

Description: Ash dieback is a tree disease, caused by the invasive fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. Currently the majority of European ash trees (Fraxinus excelsior) is killed through infections in leafs, twigs and root collars.

The excursion will lead the participants to one of four stands of European ash, which are part of a provenance trial (c.f. Enderle et al. 2013). The trial was established in 2005 and comprises eight populations and almost 2000 trees. Since 2009 and on a yearly basis, disease progression has been monitored in detail in the trial. The results of this study will be presented and discussed with the participants, based on general aspects of disease resistance, host genetics, the pathosystem and site effects.

Subsequently we will visit floodplain forests along the river Rhine. Ash has been an important component in these forests and had been planted extensively in recent decades, until the onset of ash dieback. Participants will visit succumbing and partially clear-cut stands and experience the severe implications of the disease. Jürgen Schmidt and Detlef Franke of the local forest authority will explain how the disease is managed under strict official requirements for nature conservation and water management. Forest regeneration and reforestation is expensive and challenging due to strongly emerging herbaceous vegetation, which occurs in these areas if canopy breaks up.

The participants will be able to recover from these impressions during a picnic at the picturesque local forest nursery hut.