Hyungwoo Lim

I am a researcher in ecophysiology, investigating how forest structures and ecosystem functions interact, and how these relationships are altered by forest management practices and a changing climate.

I emphasize identifying connections across scales and approaches: from a leaf to a landscape; from theory and mechanisms to observations and projections.

I design and conduct experiments across multiple scales to generate new datasets and identify mechanisms, thereby advancing current process-based models for broad applications.

One of my current interests is to determine how soil nutrient status (chemical forms and dynamics) and water fluxes (soil supply and atmospheric demand) interact to influence forest carbon cycles and forest growth.

Current projects

Development of ecological harvesting methods based on Nordic countries’ cases, National Instititue of Forest Science (2025–2027; ~1.1 M SEK) project leader:Hyungwoo Lim

Is boreal soil carbon getting younger? – Using historical samples to advance predictions of soil carbon transit time under rising atmospheric CO2 levels Vetenskapsrådet (2025–2028; 4 400 000 SEK, starting grant) project leader: Hyungwoo Lim

Quantifying the role of transpiration in soil nitrogen acquisition: Is really transpiration “inevitable evil” for plant growth? Kempestiftelserna (2025–2026; 1 100 000 SEK) project leader: Hyungwoo Lim

Tree branch mortality: measurement, scaling, and simulation of an overlooked carbon flux with implications for carbon storage Kempestiftelserna (2024–2026; 1 400 000 SEK) project leader: Hyungwoo Lim, participating researcher: Dr. Kenneth Olofsson

Past

Will forest fertilization benefit carbon sequestration in the future climate? Åforsk (2024–2025; 1 126 100 SEK) project leader: Hyungwoo Lim

Nutrient Optimization Fertilization: Can the enhanced forest nutrition and production be sustained? Anna och Håkanssons Stiftelse (2024–2025; 100 000 SEK) project leader: Hyungwoo Lim

Långsiktigt kvarvarande markeffekter av tidigare intensiv gödsling i ung tallskog Skogssällskapet (2024–2025; 181 383 SEK) project leader:Dr. Bengt Olsson, participating researcher: Dr. Riitta Hyvönen, Hyungwoo Lim

Linking nitrogen and water – spatiotemporally optimizing forest fertilization for balancing forest productivity and ecosystem services Formas (2021–2024; 4 467 189 SEK, mobility grant) project leader: Hyungwoo Lim

Managing boreal soil carbon stock in a changing climate: Does increasing CO2 concentration reduce boreal soil carbon accumulation capacity? Kempestiftelserna (2022–2024; 1 100 000 SEK) project leader: Hyungwoo Lim, participating researcher: Dr. Nils Henriksson

The impact of bark beetle outbreaks on forest carbon accumulation SLU Stiftelsen Fonden (2022–2023; 120 000 SEK) project leader: Hyungwoo Lim, participating researcher: Dr. Nils Henriksson

Silviculture: the science of stand management (Master)

Ecophysiological concepts and applications in forests (PhD)

Researcher. Feb 2021-Current, SLU Umeå

Visiting Researcher, Apri 2023-Mar 2024 International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria

Visiting Researcher, Apri 2022-Mar 2023 University of Tartu, Estonia;

Postdoc in Silviculture, Jan 2018-Jan 2020 SLU Umeå 
Supervisor: Prof. Tomas Lundmark (SLU)

PhD in Biology (Ecophysiology), Dec 2017 SLU Umeå 
Supervisors: Prof. Torgny Näsholm (SLU); Prof. Ram Oren (Duke Univ.)

Master in Forest Science, Feb 2011, Chonnam National University, South Korea
Advisor: Prof. Kye-Han Lee

Postdocs

Pedro Rosero (2025-current), Gaeun Kim (2025), Daun Ryu (2024-2025), Gwangjung Kim (2024-2026), Jasmin Danzberger (2023-2025)

PhD Students

Lena Reifschneider (2024-current, SLU, Assitant supervisor), Ratchanon Ampornpitak (2024-current, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, Assitant supervisor), Alexina Brännlund (2023-current , SLU, Assitant supervisor)