Ulrik Ilstedt

Ulrik Ilstedt is leading the research group "Trees and Forests for Global Development" at the Department of Forest Ecology and Management. His research is largely focused on using trees to restore different types of degraded land and creating sustainable land management practices that take advantage of the environmental services that trees can provide. 

Examples of such services include increased water infiltration, enhanced fertility, higher soil organic matter, the presence of soil-stabilizing rooting systems and promotion of biodiversity. 

Restoring tropical landscapes with trees

Land degradation due to unsustainable management practices is a major problem in many tropical areas, which results in the loss of carbon, nutrients, water, and biodiversity. This, in turn, affects food production and access to water.

Some examples of questions that he works with are:

– What management practices and what tree traits contribute most to ecosystem services?

– Can we use a more diverse set of indigenous tree species rather than a few exotics and is there an added value in doing this?

Currently, Ulrik is working on a project to restore degraded rainforest in Malaysia. In Tanzania, Mozambique and Rwanda he studies how trees can be used to improve livelihoods, soils and water resources in agricultural landscapes. 

Ulrik teaches forest ecology, hydrology, and soil science at the basic and advanced levels. He is also a co-organizer of a master's course in "Sustainable Forestry and Land-use Management in the Tropics".

Forest soils and climatology

Sustainable Forestry and Land-use Management in the Tropics