The focus of the AFE Group is to generate knowledge and develop state-of-the-art modeling tools to advance the scientific community and support policies that enable better understanding and management of global and regional agriculture, forestry, and natural land ecosystems.
The basis for improved assessment and management of natural resources is a deep understanding of complex and interacting biophysical processes within terrestrial ecosystems. The AFE Group aims to achieve a leading position in addressing research questions requiring integrated analyses of agriculture, forestry, and natural land ecosystems at global and regional levels.
The group’s strategic ambition of biophysical tool integration for, among others, the assessment of nature-based/climate solutions, landscape restoration options, agro-forestry, or future cropland management, is at the core of the IIASA research domain on biodiversity and ecosystem services. With sustainability and biodiversity aspects as cross-cutting environmental safeguards, the group is closely aligned with the strategic direction of its host program on Biodiversity and Natural Resources. This structural and strategic setup will ensure that AFE becomes a valuable research pillar and contributor to the overarching IIASA strategy.
Models, tools, datasets
Russian Forests and Forestry Database
Wildfire climate impacts and adaptation model (FLAM)
Global Forest Model (G4M)
The Environmental Policy Integrated Climate-based global gridded crop model (EPIC-IIASA)
Projects
Land Management for Sustainability (LAMASUS)
Integrated Future Wildfire Hot Spot Mapping for Austria (Austria Fire Futures )
The Human-Tech Nexus - Building a Safe Haven to Cope with Climate Extremes (HuT)
RESTORE+: Addressing Landscape Restoration on Degraded Land in Indonesia and Brazil
Staff
Artem Baklanov
Research Scholar (EM, AFE)
Florian Kraxner
Research Group Leader and Principal Research Scholar (AFE)
Anatoly Shvidenko
Distinguished Emeritus Research Scholar (AFE)
Johanna San Pedro
Researcher (AFE)
News
17 July 2024
Forests endure as carbon sink despite regional pressures
Despite facing regional threats like deforestation and wildfires, the world's forests continue to be a powerful weapon in the fight against climate change. A new study reveals these vital ecosystems have consistently absorbed carbon dioxide for the past three decades, even as disruptions chip away at their capacity.
17 July 2024
Summer Researchers Join AFE to Tackle Global Wildfire Occurrences
Summer season is traditionally a period when researchers from different corners of the globe, being united by a passion for systems analysis, gather at IIASA. This year, the FLAM team has welcomed two brilliant persons with diverse backgrounds – an intern and a guest research assistant – who are eager to contribute their unique perspectives to a shared research topic. We are happy to introduce these dynamic individuals and hear their expectations as they embark on this scientific journey at IIASA with us.
04 July 2024
ALFAwetlands: assessing mid-term project milestones
IIASA researchers are part of the ALFAwetlands project, which aims to map wetlands in the European Union and assess restoration measures to provide maximum benefits for climate and biodiversity. The project partners recently gathered for a Midterm Conference to review implementation progress, present and exchange current results, and discuss further plans.
Events
Rotorua, New Zealand
AFE at ForestSAT 2024
Focus
09 April 2024
Forest science and education in Ukraine: Priorities for action
Ukraine’s forest sector is suffering unprecedented challenges. War has impacted both forests and forestry – devastating forest areas, infrastructure and industry, as well as causing ‘brain drain’ and capacity loss due to the disruption of research institutions and the displacement of students and scientists. These impacts are compounded by factors including climate change, unstable forest health dynamics, landscape fires, and an overall decrease in forest productivity.
24 February 2022
The number of tree species on Earth
Since humans have walked this planet, we have loved categorizing things and ecology is no exception. One of the most basic ecological questions has always been the simple question of “how many?”
Publications
Hong, M., Song, C., Kim, M., Kraxner, F., Ko, Y., Son, J., & Lee, W.-K. (2025). Realizing climate resilient development pathways in forestry: A focus on carbon management in Republic of Korea. Environmental Impact Assessment Review 110 e107665. 10.1016/j.eiar.2024.107665. Escobar Lanzuela, N. , Seber, G., Skalský, R. , Wögerer, M., Jung, M., & Malina, R. (2024). Spatially-explicit land use change emissions and carbon payback times of biofuels under the carbon offsetting and reduction scheme for international aviation. Science of the Total Environment 948 e174635. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174635. Werden, L.K., Cole, R.J., Schönhofer, K., Holl, K.D., Zahawi, R.A., Averill, C., Schweizer, D., Calvo-Alvarado, J.C., Hamilton, D., Joyce, F.H., San-José, M., Hofhansl, F. , Briggs, L., Rodríguez, D., Tingle, J.W., Chiriboga, F., Broadbent, E.N., Quirós-Cedeño, G.J., & Crowther, T.W. (2024). Assessing innovations for upscaling forest landscape restoration. One Earth 7 (9) 1515-1528. 10.1016/j.oneear.2024.07.011. Park, E., Jo, H.-W., Biging, G.S., Chun, J.A., Jeon, S.W., Son, Y., Kraxner, F., & Lee, W.-K. (2024). Advancement of a diagnostic prediction model for spatiotemporal calibration of earth observation data: a case study on projecting forest net primary production in the mid-latitude region. GIScience & Remote Sensing 61 (1) e2401247. 10.1080/15481603.2024.2401247. Schaap, K.J., Fuchslueger, L., Hofhansl, F. , Valverde‐Barrantes, O., Quesada, C.A., & Hoosbeek, M.R. (2024). Intra‐annual dynamics of soil and microbial C, N, and P pools in a Central Amazon Terra Firme forest. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science 10.1002/jpln.202300107. (In Press) Hofhansl, F. , Maxwell, T., Franklin, O. , Stefaniak, E., & Joshi, J. (2024). Simulating ecosystem adaptation in response to a changing climate by capturing belowground plant functional traits in an eco-evolutionary vegetation model (Plant-FATE). In: The future of sustainable land use across ecosystems, landscapes and biomes, 9th — 13th September 2024, Freising, Germany.