Grossiord Lab

Research focus

ERC Consolidator Grant · 2025

Trouble in the air: How European forests keep their cool under atmospheric drought

The 21st century has witnessed a steady rise in the frequency and intensity of heatwaves, creating unprecedented challenges for ecosystems. Europe, in particular, has experienced its hottest heatwaves in the past two decades, increasingly coupled with elevated vapor pressure deficit (VPD)—the atmospheric demand for water—resulting in a new form of “atmospheric droughts.” These droughts disrupt plant water relations, diminish carbon sink capacity, and trigger large-scale tree mortality. Our overarching goal is to unravel how European forests respond to rising VPD and temperature, their extremes, and compounding soil drought effects. COOL integrates innovative methodologies, including…

From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.