Department of Forest Resource Management

Spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus) outbreaks are reshaping European forests, yet no shared, well-curated database exists to support early detection research. We are aiming to fill this gap by inviting contributions of drone imagery and field-verified infestation data to a common database.

The project’s aim is to strengthen cooperation between Slovakia and the Nordic countries, focusing on new remote sensing techniques to combat insect damage in forests.

The purpose of the project is to provide a decision-making basis for practical forest management at both European and regional levels.

A new EU-funded project aims to provide a better understanding of the EU’s greenhouse gas budget through modeling of the terrestrial carbon cycle, to support policy decisions on land use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

WindyForests explores how wind power, forestry and local interests can coexist in forest landscapes. Through stakeholder collaboration and advanced modeling, the project supports more sustainable decisions for wind power development.

We conduct research and teaching in remote sensing of forests and other vegetation, as well as environmental analysis with a focus on national maps. The work is primarily based on distance-measuring laser, electro-optical sensors, including digital cameras, and imaging radar.

Our future depends on how wisely we use the Earth’s resources. The way we manage the world’s forests will affect future generations. In the long term, this is an existential issue for humanity. Therefore, research and education in forestry are of great importance.

Despite decades of industrial deposition, nitrogen availability in the boreal forest is steadily declining. In a new study published in Nature, researchers from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences have found that atmospheric CO₂ is the main driver - using decades of unique, stored data.

Climate projections indicate that large parts of southern Sweden may become unsuitable for spruce by the end of this century. But the current management trends are moving in the opposite direction: spruce volume is increasing.

How can SLU’s goldmine of forest data be put to the best possible use? Through Digital Impact North, a collaborative network for digital innovation, powerful tools have ended up in the right hands at more than 100 public and private actors in northern Sweden – leading to award-winning products.

SLU researcher Carl Vigren has digitized and compiled nearly all forestry formulas used in Sweden and Norway over the past 70 years.

SLU Forest Damage Centre has expanded its capabilities with Sweden’s first co-aligned VNIR–SWIR–LiDAR hyperspectral drone system for advanced forest stress detection.