Nora Sophie Pohl

I am currently in my last year of my PhD at the Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre in Alnarp, SLU. My main topic involves the recruitment of oak trees into the canopy in regards to stand structure and light availability in mixed oak-dominated forests in southern Sweden using alternative forest management practices. At the same time, I also look into conservation of large oak trees and their associated biodiversity through non-intensive forest management. For this, I analyse data from short (Transforest) and mid-term (Swedish Oak Project, Eriksköp) projects and long-term data from the Swedish NFI. 

I was the Chairperson of the SHS Doctoral student council at the Forestry faculty for two years (2023-2024).

My PhD project aims to create knowledge for improving strategies against oak regeneration failure and gain insight into the role of stand structure and associated light availability on growth and canopy recruitment of natural oak regeneration. Furthermore, the project aims to analyse different stand structures and evaluate their relation to biodiversity in mixed oak forests.

Forest and Landscape Ecology (BA) and Broadleaves course (MA)

I studied Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology with a focus on Tropical and International Forestry (M.Sc.) at the University of Göttingen, Germany. My master thesis project assessed the influence of daylength on the budburst timing of seven temperate tree species and the interaction of Gypsy moth hatching and budburst in regards to potential mismatches. I conducted my MSc project through the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) in Birmensdorf, Switzerland. I conducted my BSc in Ecosystem Management through the University of Göttingen, Germany (2014-2017). During my study time, I collected data in different biogeographical regions (USA, Tenerife, Laos, Germany, Italy, Switzerland).

Main supervisor: Magnus Löf (Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, SLU)

Co-supervisors: Jorge Aldea (INIA, Spain), Emile Gardiner (USDA-Forest Service, USA), Björn Nordén (NINA, Norway), Annika Felton, Per-Ola Hedwall (both SSFRC, SLU)

Peer-reviewed scientific publications in international journals

Pohl, N.S., P.-O. Hedwall, J. Aldea, A.M. Felton, E.S. Gardiner, L. Muraro, B. Nordén, M. Löf. 2025. Effects of stand structural attributes on oak recruitment in mixed temperate forests. Forest Ecology and Management, 586:122721. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122721

Vitasse, Y., N. Pohl, M.G. Walde, H. Nadel, M.M. Gossner, F. Baumgarten. 2024. Feasting on the ordinary or starving for the exceptional in a warming climate: Phenological synchrony between spongy moth (Lymantria dispar) and budburst of six European tree species. Ecology and Evolution, 14:e10928. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10928