Cecilia Akselsson

I perform research about sustainability in forests: from plot to landscape scale

(1)    Sustainability at plot-scale:  We use empirical data together with the dynamic forest ecosystem model ForSAFE for two purposes - to develop process understanding about nutrient and carbon cycling in forests, and to address questions about future effects of climate change, different types of forest management and atmospheric deposition on soil chemistry, runoff water quality and tree growth. The SWETHRO monitoring network, managed by IVL, is an important platform in our work, and we have extensive and very fruitful cooperation with the SWETHRO group at IVL. One important aim with our research is to provide mainly Swedish stakeholders, e.g. the Energy Agency, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Forest Agency and the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management, with decision support.

(2)    Sustainability at landscape scale: We develop methodologies for a landscape approach for forested areas. The aim is to demonstrate how synergies and trade-offs between ecosystem services can be analyzed using this approach and highlight the advantages compared to business as usual approaches. We are part of the strategic research area BECC (Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate), and we have started collaboration with researchers from this environment working on agriculture. During 2019, I led FORMAS planning grant: "Sustainable land use - developing landscape approaches  to reach the sustainable development goals", including the forest and agriculture sectors. We are aiming to continue research on this track.

My main teaching is on the courses "Physical Geography: An introduction to the global environment" and "Land surface processes and landscape dynamics".