
Dr. rer. nat. Somidh Saha
- Head of research group
- Research group “Sylvanus – Increasing resilience and reducing trade-offs during forest transformations”
- Room: 518
- Phone: +49 721 608-24644
- somidh sahaBmw9∂kit edu
Institut für Technikfolgenabschätzung und Systemanalyse (ITAS)
Postfach 3640
76021 Karlsruhe
Fields of work
- Challenges in sustainable and multifunctional forest management
- Trade-offs between climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies
- Increasing resilience of forests to climate change impacts
- Meta-analysis and quantitative review in forestry and ecology
- Synthesis of National Forest Inventory data
- Stress ecology (e.g. drought) of trees in forests
- Urban forestry and urban ecology
Current positions
- Since 2014: Deputy Coordinator of Working group “Ecology and Silviculture of Oaks”, Silviculture division, International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO), Vienna, Austria
- Since 2016: Task Force Member of IUFRO's Task Force on “Forest Adaptation and Restoration Under Global Change”, Vienna, Austria
- Since 2017: Scientist at Research area Sustainability and environment at ITAS, KIT, Germany in the project “Potential of beech-fir mixed forests to adapt from the climate change impacts in commercial forests (BuTaKli)”
- Since 2018: Project leader of the project „Inter- and transdisciplinary approaches to develop strategies for increasing the resilience of trees in growing cities and urban regions (GreenLung)“
- Leader of KIT Junior Research Group “Sylvanus”
Professional background
2000 - 2003 | B.Sc. in Zoology (Honours), Presidency College, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India |
2003 - 2005 | M.Sc. in Forestry (Management and Economics), Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India |
2005 - 2008 | Forester, Centre-in-Charge, The Bamra Forest Centre, BILT Pulp and Paper (Unit - Sewa), Odisha, India |
2008 - 2012 | Doctor rerum naturalium (Dr. rer. nat.) in Forestry, University of Freiburg, Germany (DAAD Fellowship) |
2013 - 2016 | Scientist at University of Freiburg, Germany |
since 2017 | Scientist at ITAS, KIT, Germany |
Selected publications
(Please visit my ResearchGate profile to see the full list of publications.)
Almeida, I.; Rösch, C.; Saha, S.
Comparison of Ecosystem Services from Mixed and Monospecific Forests in Southwest Germany: A Survey on Public Perception.
2018. Forests, 9 (10), Article: 627. doi:10.3390/f9100627
Chakraborty, A.; Saha, S.; Sachdeva, K.; Joshi, P. K.
Vulnerability of forests in the Himalayan region to climate change impacts and anthropogenic disturbances: a systematic review.
2018. Regional environmental change, 18 (6), 1783–1799. doi:10.1007/s10113-018-1309-7
Saha, S.; Kühne, C.; Bauhus, J. (2017)
Lessons learned from oak cluster planting trials in central Europe. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 47: 139 - 148.
Link
Sohn, JA.; Saha, S.; Bauhus, J. (2016)
Potential of forest thinning to mitigate drought stress: a meta-analysis. Forest Ecology and Management, 380, 261 - 273.
Link
Saha, S.; Kühne, C.; Bauhus, J. (2014)
Growth and stem quality of oaks (Quercus robur and Q. petraea) established in cluster plantings respond differently to intra- and interspecific neighborhood competition. Annals of Forest Science, 71, 381–393.
Link
Publications
Naturnah gärtnern – für Mensch, Tier und Klima. Einblicke in die Kampagne zur Förderung naturnaher Gärten in Rheinstetten.
2020. Transforming cities, (3), 84–86
Photosynthetic performance, height growth, and dominance of naturally regenerated sessile oak (Quercus petraea [Mattuschka] Liebl.) seedlings in small-scale canopy openings of varying sizes.
2020. European journal of forest research, 139, 41–52. doi:10.1007/s10342-019-01238-7
Assessing Restoration Potential of Fragmented and Degraded Fagaceae Forests in Meghalaya, North-East India.
2020. Forests, 11 (9), Art.-Nr.: 1008. doi:10.3390/F11091008
Assessing forest structure and composition along the altitudinal gradient in the state of Sikkim, Eastern Himalayas, India.
2019. Forests, 10 (8), Art.-Nr.: 633. doi:10.3390/f10080633
Public preference for mixed forests - The results of a transdisciplinary research project on ecosystem services in Germany.
2019. IUFRO World Congress (2019), Curitiba, Brazil, September 29–October 5, 2019
Managing urban trees and forests under the threats of climate change, urbanization, and pollution.
2019. IUFRO World Congress (2019), Curitiba, Brazil, September 29–October 5, 2019
Technology assessment in forestry sector under climate change.
2019. 4. Internationale TA-Konferenz (2019), Bratislava, Slovakia, November 4–6, 2019
Comparison of Ecosystem Services from Mixed and Monospecific Forests in Southwest Germany: A Survey on Public Perception.
2018. Forests, 9 (10), Article: 627. doi:10.3390/f9100627
Vulnerability of forests in the Himalayan region to climate change impacts and anthropogenic disturbances: a systematic review.
2018. Regional environmental change, 18 (6), 1783–1799. doi:10.1007/s10113-018-1309-7
Biomass, annual growth, C and O isotope signatures in tree rings revealed high ecological plasticity in European beech (fagus silvatica l.) trees under multiple drought events.
2018. 11th 11th International Beech Symposium, Viterbo, I, September 18-21, 2018 (2018), Viterbo, Italy, September 18–21, 2018
Cork oak: Sustainable forests and eco-friendly products.
2018. Eco Forum Global Annual Conference (2018), Guiyang, China, July 6, 2018
Lessons learned from oak cluster planting trials in Central Europe and scope for cluster planting in restoration of degraded forests and conversion on monospecific forests.
2018. 4th International Congress of Planted Forests (2018), Beijing, China, October 23–27, 2018
High public support for mixed forests over monospecific forests in Germany.
2018. 4th International Congress of Planted Forests (2018), Beijing, China, October 23–27, 2018
Comparison of ecosystem services from mixed against monospecific forests in the southwest Germany: a survey on public perception.
2018. 11th 11th International Beech Symposium, Viterbo, I, September 18-21, 2018 (2018), Viterbo, Italy, September 18–21, 2018
Higher diversity and productivity in silver fir. Beech mixed forests over monospecific forests in Germany.
2018. 4th International Congress of Planted Forests (2018), Beijing, China, October 23–27, 2018
Assessing restoration potential of fragmented and degraded fagaceae forests in Meghalaya, North-East India.
2018. 4th International Congress of Planted Forests (2018), Beijing, China, October 23–27, 2018
Silver fir - European beech mixed forests have higher productivity than pure forests of beech in South Germany.
2018. 11th 11th International Beech Symposium, Viterbo, I, September 18-21, 2018 (2018), Viterbo, Italy, September 18–21, 2018
First Report on the Ethnopharmacological Uses of Medicinal Plants by Monpa Tribe from the Zemithang Region of Arunachal Pradesh, Eastern Himalayas, India.
2017. Plants, 6 (1), 13. doi:10.3390/plants6010013
Influence of multiple biotic and abiotic factors on the crown die-back of European beech trees at their drought limit.
2017. Flora, 229, 58–70. doi:10.1016/j.flora.2017.02.012
Generalized biomass and leaf area allometric equations for European tree species incorporating stand structure, tree age and climate.
2017. Forest ecology and management, 396, 160–175. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2017.04.011
Group planting of cherry (Prunus avium L.) fosters growth and tree quality is superior to conventional row planting in Germany.
2017. Journal of forestry research, 29 (4), 1099–1110. doi:10.1007/s11676-017-0506-4
Role of multiple stressors on crown dieback and growth sensitivity of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) trees under recurrent droughts.
2017. IUFRO 125th Anniversary Congress, Freiburg, September 18-22, 2017
Ecology and silviculture of four important oak tree species in East and South Asia: a review.
2017. IUFRO 125th Anniversary Congress, Freiburg, September 18-22, 2017
Anthropogenic disturbances differently impacted natural regeneration and coppicing ability in nine Fagaceae tree species in moist oak-laurel hill forests of Khasi Hills, Northeast India.
2017. 3rd Conference ’Restoring Forests - Regeneration and Ecosystem Function for the Future’, Lund, S, September 12-14, 2017
High public support for beech-fir mixed forests.
2017. BuTaKLi Project Meeting, Freiburg, November 9, 2017
Does mixing species increase forest ecosystem services under changing climate? A study in beech-fir forests.
2017. 1st Biannual Meeting of the BuTaKLi project, Freiburg, May 3, 2017
Inter- und transdisziplinäre Entwicklung von Strategien zur Erhöhung der Resilienz von Bäumen in wachsenden Städten und urbanen Regionen.
2017. Vernetzungskonferenz Zukunftsstadt, Frankfurt, 13.-14.Dezember 2017
Young European beech plants had differently tuned root and shoot growth between dry and less-dry forest plots in summer drought of 2003 and 2011: a study on limestrone outcrop in Northern Switzerland.
2017. IUFRO 125th Anniversary Congress, Freiburg, September 18-22, 2017
Stand structure, vegetation, and regeneration of the semi-natural deciduous mixed oak forests in the Western Qinling Mountains, China.
2017. IUFRO 125th Anniversary Congress, Freiburg, September 18-22, 2017
Group planting fosters better growth and superior tree quality compared to conventional row planting: The first study on wild cherry trees (Prunus avium L.) from Germany.
2017. IUFRO 125th Anniversary Congress, Freiburg, September 18-22, 2017
Trade-offs between climate change adaptation and mitigation objectives in Germany.
2017. IUFRO 125th Anniversary Congress, Freiburg, September 18-22, 2017
Cluster planting as a lower cost alternative. Lessons learned from the central European oak cluster planting trials.
2017. Synthesizing and Sharing Globally Available Forest - Related Scientific Knowledge, San Juan, PR, June 6-9, 2017