Dr. Flurin Babst
Funktion
Gastwissenschafter
Eidg. Forschungsanstalt WSL
Zürcherstrasse 111
8903 Birmensdorf
Standort
Birmensdorf Bi HL C 39.1
Scientific record
Researcher ID (Web of Science): C-5651-2017
ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4106-7087
Research interests
My primary research activities focus on small to large scale influences of (a)biotic factors on forest growth. I investigate spatial and temporal trends in the climate response of forests and quantify the resulting changes in biomass accumulation and resource allocation. While my background is in dendrochronology, I use tree rings in conjunction with other observational (e.g. eddy-covariance data, forest inventories, earth observations) and computational sources to address environmental change questions. Tree rings thereby enable the contextualization of shorter-term data streams and recent extreme events. I am further interested in natural and anthropogenic disturbances on forest growth. My work contributes to reducing uncertainties in terrestrial carbon and water cycling in light of the ongoing and predicted climate change.
Academic memberships
Association for Tree-Ring Research (ATR)
FURTHER INFORMATION
Publications WSL
Scientific publication article peer reviewed
Trotsiuk, V.; Babst, F.; Grossiord, C.; Gessler, A.; Forrester, D.I.; Buchmann, N.; Schaub, M.; Eugster, W., 2021: Tree growth in Switzerland is increasingly constrained by rising evaporative demand. Journal of Ecology, 109, 8: 2981-2990. doi: 10.1111/1365-2745.13712
Babst, F.; Friend, A.D.; Karamihalaki, M.; Wei, J.; Von Arx, G.; Papale, D.; Peters, R.L., 2021: Modeling ambitions outpace observations of forest carbon allocation. Trends in Plant Science, 26, 3: 210-219. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2020.10.002
Jeong, J.; Barichivich, J.; Peylin, P.; Haverd, V.; McGrath, M.J.; Vuichard, N.; Evans, M.N.; Babst, F.; Luyssaert, S., 2021: Using the International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB) records as century-long benchmarks for global land-surface models. Geoscientific Model Development, 14, 9: 5891-5913. doi: 10.5194/gmd-14-5891-2021
Peters, R.L.; Von Arx, G.; Nievergelt, D.; Ibrom, A.; Stillhard, J.; Trotsiuk, V.; Mazurkiewicz, A.; Babst, F., 2020: Axial changes in wood functional traits have limited net effects on stem biomass increment in European beech (Fagus sylvatica). Tree Physiology, 40, 4: 498-510. doi: 10.1093/treephys/tpaa002
Reyer, C.P.O.; Silveyra Gonzalez, R.; Dolos, K.; Hartig, F.; Hauf, Y.; Noack, M.; Lasch-Born, P.; Rötzer, T.; Pretzsch, H.; Meesenburg, H.; Babst, F.; Frieler, K., 2020: The PROFOUND database for evaluating vegetation models and simulating climate impacts on European forests. Earth System Science Data, 12, 2: 1295-1320. doi: 10.5194/essd-12-1295-2020
Klesse, S.; DeRose, R.J.; Babst, F.; Black, B.A.; Anderegg, L.D.L.; Axelson, J.; Ettinger, A.; Griesbauer, H.; Guiterman, C.H.; Harley, G.; Harvey, J.E.; Lo, Y.; Lynch, A.M.; O'Connor, C.; Restaino, C.; Sauchyn, D.; Shaw, J.D.; Smith, D.J.; Wood, L.; ... Evans, M.E.K., 2020: Continental-scale tree-ring-based projection of Douglas-fir growth: testing the limits of space-for-time substitution. Global Change Biology, 26, 9: 5146-5163. doi: 10.1111/gcb.15170
Trotsiuk, V.; Hartig, F.; Cailleret, M.; Babst, F.; Forrester, D.I.; Baltensweiler, A.; Buchmann, N.; Bugmann, H.; Gessler, A.; Gharun, M.; Minunno, F.; Rigling, A.; Rohner, B.; Stillhard, J.; Thürig, E.; Waldner, P.; Ferretti, M.; Eugster, W.; Schaub, M., 2020: Assessing the response of forest productivity to climate extremes in Switzerland using model-data fusion. Global Change Biology, 26, 4: 2463-2476. doi: 10.1111/gcb.15011
Hudson, A.R.; Alfaro-Sanchez, R.; Babst, F.; Belmecheri, S.; Moore, D.J.P.; Trouet, V., 2019: Seasonal and synoptic climatic drivers of tree growth in the Bighorn Mountains, WY, USA (1654–1983 CE). Dendrochronologia, 58: 125633 (10 pp.). doi: 10.1016/j.dendro.2019.125633
Babst, F.; Bouriaud, O.; Poulter, B.; Trouet, V.; Girardin, M.P.; Frank, D.C., 2019: Twentieth century redistribution in climatic drivers of global tree growth. Science Advances, 5, 1: eaat4313 (9 pp.). doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aat4313
Lu, X.; Liang, E.; Wang, Y.; Babst, F.; Leavitt, S.W.; Julio Camarero, J., 2019: Past the climate optimum: recruitment is declining at the world's highest juniper shrublines on the Tibetan Plateau. Ecology, 100, 2: e02557 (10 pp.). doi: 10.1002/ecy.2557
Zhang, Z.; Babst, F.; Bellassen, V.; Frank, D.; Launois, T.; Tan, K.; Ciais, P.; Poulter, B., 2018: Converging climate sensitivities of European forests between observed radial tree growth and vegetation models. Ecosystems, 21: 410-425. doi: 10.1007/s10021-017-0157-5
Wu, X.; Liu, H.; Li, X.; Ciais, P.; Babst, F.; Guo, W.; Zhang, C.; Magliulo, V.; Pavelka, M.; Liu, S.; Huang, Y.; Wang, P.; Shi, C.; Ma, Y., 2018: Differentiating drought legacy effects on vegetation growth over the temperate Northern Hemisphere. Global Change Biology, 24, 1: 504-516. doi: 10.1111/gcb.13920
Trouet, V.; Babst, F.; Meko, M., 2018: Recent enhanced high-summer North Atlantic Jet variability emerges from three-century context. Nature Communications, 9, 1: 180 (9 pp.). doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-02699-3
Babst, F.; Bodesheim, P.; Charney, N.; Friend, A.D.; Girardin, M.P.; Klesse, S.; Moore, D.J.P.; Seftigen, K.; Björklund, J.; Bouriaud, O.; Dawson, A.; DeRose, R.J.; Dietze, M.C.; Eckes, A.H.; Enquist, B.; Frank, D.C.; Mahecha, M.D.; Poulter, B.; Record, S.; ... Evans, M.E.K., 2018: When tree rings go global: challenges and opportunities for retro- and prospective insight. Quaternary Science Reviews, 197: 1-20. doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.07.009
Klesse, S.; Babst, F.; Lienert, S.; Spahni, R.; Joos, F.; Bouriaud, O.; Carrer, M.; Di Filippo, A.; Poulter, B.; Trotsiuk, V.; Wilson, R.; Frank, D.C., 2018: A combined tree ring and vegetation model assessment of European forest growth sensitivity to interannual climate variability. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 32, 8: 1226-1240. doi: 10.1029/2017GB005856
Wu, X.; Li, X.; Liu, H.; Ciais, P.; Li, Y.; Xu, C.; Babst, F.; Guo, W.; Hao, B.; Wang, P.; Huang, Y.; Liu, S.; Tian, Y.; He, B.; Zhang, C., 2018: Uneven winter snow influence on tree growth across temperate China. Global Change Biology, 25: 144-154. doi: 10.1111/gcb.14464
Marchand, W.; Girardin, M.P.; Gauthier, S.; Hartmann, H.; Bouriaud, O.; Babst, F.; Bergeron, Y., 2018: Untangling methodological and scale considerations in growth and productivity trend estimates of Canada’s forests. Environmental Research Letters, 13, 9: 093001 (23 pp.). doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/aad82a
Pappas, C.; Mahecha, M.D.; Frank, D.C.; Babst, F.; Koutsoyiannis, D., 2017: Ecosystem functioning is enveloped by hydrometeorological variability. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1, 9: 1263-1270. doi: 10.1038/s41559-017-0277-5
Montané, F.; Fox, A.M.; Arellano, A.F.; MacBean, N.; Ross Alexander, M.; Dye, A.; Bishop, D.A.; Trouet, V.; Babst, F.; Hessl, A.E.; Pederson, N.; Blanken, P.D.; Bohrer, G.; Gough, C.M.; Litvak, M.E.; Novick, K.A.; Phillips, R.P.; Wood, J.D.; Moore, D.J.P., 2017: Evaluating the effect of alternative carbon allocation schemes in a land surface model (CLM4.5) on carbon fluxes, pools, and turnover in temperate forests. Geoscientific Model Development, 10, 9: 3499-3517. doi: 10.5194/gmd-10-3499-2017
Evans, M.E.K.; Falk, D.A.; Arizpe, A.; Swetnam, T.L.; Babst, F.; Holsinger, K.E., 2017: Fusing tree-ring and forest inventory data to infer influences on tree growth. Ecosphere, 8, 7: e01889 (20 pp.). doi: 10.1002/ecs2.1889
Belmecheri, S.; Babst, F.; Hudson, A.R.; Betancourt, J.; Trouet, V., 2017: Northern Hemisphere jet stream position indices as diagnostic tools for climate and ecosystem dynamics. Earth Interactions, 21, 8: 1-23. doi: 10.1175/EI-D-16-0023.1
Babst, F.; Poulter, B.; Bodesheim, P.; Mahecha, M.D.; Frank, D.C., 2017: Improved tree-ring archives will support earth-system science. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1, 2: 0008 (2 pp.). doi: 10.1038/s41559-016-0008
Alexander, M.R.; Rollinson, C.R.; Babst, F.; Trouet, V.; Moore, D.J.P., 2017: Relative influences of multiple sources of uncertainty on cumulative and incremental tree-ring-derived aboveground biomass estimates. Trees: Structure and Function, 32, 1: 265-276. doi: 10.1007/s00468-017-1629-0
Szejner, P.; Wright, W.E.; Babst, F.; Belmecheri, S.; Trouet, V.; Leavitt, S.W.; Ehleringer, J.R.; Monson, R.K., 2016: Latitudinal gradients in tree ring stable carbon and oxygen isotopes reveal differential climate influences of the North American Monsoon System. Journal of Geophysical Research G: Biogeosciences, 121, 7: 1978-1991. doi: 10.1002/2016JG003460
Charney, N.D.; Babst, F.; Poulter, B.; Record, S.; Trouet, V.M.; Frank, D.; Enquist, B.J.; Evans, M.E.K., 2016: Observed forest sensitivity to climate implies large changes in 21st century North American forest growth. Ecology Letters, 19, 9: 1119-1128. doi: 10.1111/ele.12650
Babst, F.; Wright, W.E.; Szejner, P.; Wells, L.; Belmecheri, S.; Monson, R.K., 2016: Blue intensity parameters derived from Ponderosa pine tree rings characterize intra-annual density fluctuations and reveal seasonally divergent water limitations. Trees: Structure and Function, 30, 4: 1403-1415. doi: 10.1007/s00468-016-1377-6
Frank, D.; Reichstein, M.; Bahn, M.; Thonicke, K.; Frank, D.; Mahecha, M.D.; Smith, P.; Van der Velde, M.; Vicca, S.; Babst, F.; Beer, C.; Buchmann, N.; Canadell, J.G.; Ciais, P.; Cramer, W.; Ibrom, A.; Miglietta, F.; Poulter, B.; Rammig, A.; ... Zscheischler, J., 2015: Effects of climate extremes on the terrestrial carbon cycle: concepts, processes and potential future impacts. Global Change Biology, 21, 8: 2861-2880. doi: 10.1111/gcb.12916
Wu, X.; Babst, F.; Ciais, P.; Frank, D.; Reichstein, M.; Wattenbach, M.; Zang, C.; Mahecha, M.D., 2014: Climate-mediated spatiotemporal variability in terrestrial productivity across Europe. Biogeosciences, 11, 11: 3057-3068. doi: 10.5194/bg-11-3057-2014
Babst, F.; Bouriaud, O.; Alexander, R.; Trouet, V.; Frank, D., 2014: Toward consistent measurements of carbon accumulation: a multi-site assessment of biomass and basal area increment across Europe. Dendrochronologia, 32, 2: 153-161. doi: 10.1016/j.dendro.2014.01.002
Babst, F.; Bouriaud, O.; Papale, D.; Gielen, B.; Janssens, I.A.; Nikinmaa, E.; Ibrom, A.; Wu, J.; Bernhofer, C.; Köstner, B.; Grünwald, T.; Seufert, G.; Ciais, P.; Frank, D., 2014: Above-ground woody carbon sequestration measured from tree rings is coherent with net ecosystem productivity at five eddy-covariance sites. New Phytologist, 201, 4: 1289-1303. doi: 10.1111/nph.12589
Nehrbass-Ahles, C.; Babst, F.; Klesse, S.; Nötzli, M.; Bouriaud, O.; Neukom, R.; Dobbertin, M.; Frank, D., 2014: The influence of sampling design on tree-ring-based quantification of forest growth. Global Change Biology, 20, 9: 2867-2885. doi: 10.1111/gcb.12599
Babst, F.; Poulter, B.; Trouet, V.; Tan, K.; Neuwirth, B.; Wilson, R.; Carrer, M.; Grabner, M.; Tegel, W.; Levanic, T.; Panayotov, M.; Urbinati, C.; Bouriaud, O.; Ciais, P.; Frank, D., 2013: Site- and species-specific responses of forest growth to climate across the European continent. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 22, 6: 706-717. doi: 10.1111/geb.12023
Babst, F.; Carrer, M.; Poulter, B.; Urbinati, C.; Neuwirth, B.; Frank, D., 2012: 500 years of regional forest growth variability and links to climatic extreme events in Europe. Environmental Research Letters, 7, 4: 045705 (11 pp.). doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/7/4/045705
Wilmking, M.; Hallinger, M.; Van Bogaert, R.; Kyncl, T.; Babst, F.; Hahne, W.; Juday, G.P.; De Luis, M.; Novak, K.; Völlm, C., 2012: Continuously missing outer rings in woody plants at their distributional margins. Dendrochronologia, 30, 3: 213-222. doi: 10.1016/j.dendro.2011.10.001
Babst, F.; Esper, J.; Parlow, E., 2010: Landsat TM/ETM+ and tree-ring based assessment of spatiotemporal patterns of the autumnal moth (Epirrita autumnata) in northernmost Fennoscandia. Remote Sensing of Environment, 114, 3: 637-646. doi: 10.1016/j.rse.2009.11.005
Further scientific publications
Babst, F.; Bouriaud, O.; Frank, D., 2012: A new sampling strategy for tree-ring based forest productivity estimates. In: Gärtner, H.; Rozenberg, P.; Montès, P.; Bertel, O.; Heinrich, I.; Helle, G. (eds), 2012: TRACE. Tree Rings in Archaeology, Climatology and Ecology. Volume 10. Proceedings of the Dendrosymposium 2011. May 11th - 14th, 2011 in Orléans, France. 10. TRACE conference (Tree Rings in Archaeology, Climatology and Ecology), Orléans, France. 62-70.
Babst, F.; Frank, D.C.; Parlow, E.; Esper, J., 2010: Age and susceptibility of Fennoscandian mountain birch (Betula pubescens) towards insect outbreaks. In: Levanič, T.; Gričar, J.; Hafner, P.; Krajnc, R.; Jagodic, Š.; Gärtner, H.; Heinrich, I.; Helle, G. (eds), 2010: TRACE. Tree Rings in Archaeology, Climatology and Ecology. Volume 8. Proceedings of the dendrosymposium 2009. April 16th - 19th, 2009 in Otočec, Slovenia. 8. TRACE (Tree Rings in Archaeology, Climatology and Ecology) conference, Otočec, Slovenia. 26-32.