6:30 a.m., Hanover Airport. Researchers Natalie Müller (CAU Kiel), Ramona Riedel and Karla Wagener (both TUBS) are in high spirits – and with good reason: they are on their way to sunny Costa Rica. It is currently the dry season at the Estación experimental Forestal Horizontes in the north-west of the country – meaning temperatures of 40°C and no rainfall for four months. But how do trees cope with these extreme conditions and how do they adapt their water balance to them? Using geophysical methods and marking experiments with stable water isotopes, the scientists want to investigate whether and how much water is redistributed in the soil and how this affects the tree water balance of different species. The trip is part of the Klaus Tschira Foundation-funded project ‘Hydraulic Redistribution for Resilience’ (HR4RES), which is being carried out jointly by the Isodrones group (Dr Matthias Beyer) and Kiel University (Prof Matthias Bücker). Alberto Iraheta (TUBS) and a master's student from the University of Honduras are also participating in the fieldwork. We wish them every success in the field!
