The overall goal of the CLIMFOR project is to reconstruct the climate variability for Carpathian region for the past 1000 years and to predict forest response to climate changes..

The general objectives of the project are the following:

Objective 1. Millennial paleoclimate variability from multiple proxy data;
Objective 2. Impacts of climate change on forest growth;
Objective 3. Increase of Romanian paleoclimatology research competitiveness by infrastructure and human resource developments.

The specific objectives of the project and the associated activities grouped by working packages are:

WP.1 Tree-ring proxies for the climate of the last millennium

• Sampling, measurements and basic analysis on tree line and lowlands
• Maximum density chronology development
• Regional chronology development and advanced chronology statistics
• Cellulose stable isotope based climate reconstruction

WP.2 Sediment proxy data for the last millennium

• Sediment sampling, description and logging
• Chronology, analysis of microfossils, geochemestry of sediments and sediment analysis

WP.3 Stable isotopes in caves ice as proxy for air temperature

• Ice core drilling
• 14C dating of organic matter trapped in ice and age-depth model construction for the ice core
• Stable isotope analysis of samples collected from the ice core

WP.4 Integrative climate reconstruction

• Synchronize all proxy data onto common time scale
• Model development for paleoclimate reconstruction

WP.5 Assessment of forest response to climate changes

• Analyses of disturbance regimes and main drivers of change in forest ecotone areas
• Quantification of extreme climate events impact on forest growth

WP.6 Improve existing infrastructure and create a new environment research laboratory

• Equipment acquisition: High-resolution multi-scanner for climate science, forestry and geology analysis
• Personal training for the new research facility
• Upgrade existing tree ring research facilities

WP.7 Human resources development (HRD)

• Involvement of young researchers in the projects graduate students)
• Training of young researchers in donor countries
• Research visits in donor countries by postdocs and senior scientists

WP8. Research dissemination

• Public relation activity
• Editing the results and scientific articles publication, scientific communication, dissemination conferences, seminars, workshops

WP9. Project management

• Project organization
• Project implementation