Division Forest, Nature and Landscape  

Forest Ecology and Management - Bart Muys

Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation – Martin Hermy

Landscape Analysis and Land Use – Hubert Gulinck

Agricultural Ecosystems Research Group - Jos Van Orshoven

How can we manage forests in a sustainable and ecologically responsible way? Which plant species grow at what place? Why are some of them rare?
How strongly are our landscapes fragmented and how can we measure that?
How can we use remote sensing to find out ecosystem structures, their ecological impact, and vitality?
How can forests and soils contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions?
Where can agriculture contribute to and where is it constrained by the quality of the environment?

All these questions are addressed in the Division Forest, Nature, and Landscape, and they are essential for the future of man and nature on the earth. More specifically, the research focuses on the following:

• The way of plant propagation in nature and its velocity. Application of this knowledge in the framework of forest expansion, nature development, and nature re-establishment
• The impact of mankind on landscapes and methods to evaluate it
• The social, ecological, and economical functions of landscapes
• CO2-uptake by forests and soils in order to reduce the greenhouse-effect
• Development of measurement methods and indicators for sustainable forest management
• The use of earth observation with satellites to derive useful information over growth and vitality of natural and agricultural ecosystems
• The contribution of Geographic Information Science & Technology (GI S&T) to more sustainable land use and management.

The research takes place in Flanders as well as in other countries of the temperate and tropical climate zones (i.e. USA, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Cuba, South-Africa, Ecuador, etc.). Close relationships are established to foreign partner universities in Europe, North and Latin America,  Africa and Asia.