Karlsruhe City Forest in a changing climate
The forest today and in the future
The Karlsruhe City Forest is an essential part of the city’s green lungs - it provides people with a space for recreation and serves as a habitat for animals, plants, and fungi. However, the impacts of climate change are already evident here: prolonged heatwaves and droughts in recent summers have caused lasting damage. The forest in Oberreut, in particular, shows clearly how certain tree species, including beech, are struggling under current conditions. Future climate changes and increasing weather extremes are anticipated, making urgent protective measures necessary and inevitably altering the familiar appearance of the forest. The Karlsruhe City Forest Office is working intensively to preserve and restore the diverse forest ecosystems and enhance their resilience.
In close collaboration with the Karlsruhe City Forest Office, an interdisciplinary GERICS team has developed a brochure. Its aim is to inform forest visitors about the impacts of a changing climate on the Karlsruhe City Forest while also presenting ways in which the forest can be adapted and further developed to meet these changes. The brochure includes information on the following topics:
1. The Karlsruhe City Forest
2. Impacts of climate change
3. Climate indicators and their future changes
4. Adaptation measures
The brochure concludes with concrete tips on how visitors can support the forest, as well as a short survey on the clarity of the texts and illustrations used. Feedback will be incorporated into the second edition.
The GERICS project team is composed of experts in regional climate modeling and physical climate research, forest ecology and urban planning, environmental and resource economics, data science, and graphic visualization. The result integrates knowledge and analysis from various disciplines and practical expertise, offering targeted information for forest visitors. A key objective is to foster understanding of potential measures and their implementation.
The GERICS brochure ‘Stadtwald Karlsruhe im Klimawandel’ in single-page view
Links to further information:
- You can download the brochure ‘Stadtwald Karlsruhe im Klimawandel’ as a PDF under this link. (PDF)
- Bülow, K., Bauer, S., Steuri, B., Groth, M., Knutzen, F., & Rechid, D. (2024). Stadtwald Karlsruhe im Klimawandel - Der Wald heute und in Zukunft. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11473737 (in German)
- The database "Details on the climate models used and further information on the methods" can be found on our GitHub page under this link.
- We would be delighted to receive your feedback on the brochure. You can take part in our short survey under this link (in German only).
If you have any questions about the Karlsruhe City Forest brochure, you can contact us by e-mail. We will then be happy to get in touch with you.