Im Rahmen der Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (2.-6. Juni 2025, Genf) organisieren das WSL-Forschungsprogramm Extremes, das Bundesamt für Bevölkerungsschutz BABS und das ETH Center for Security Studies CSS zwei Aktivitäten, um die Erkenntnisse aus der November-Übung 2024 auf internationaler Ebene zu teilen.
Mit diesem Kurs können die Beteiligten ihr Wissen über die Grundlagen der angewandten Naturschutzgenetik erweitern oder aktualisieren. Ziel ist es, Wissenslücken zu schliessen, das Potenzial und die Grenzen einzuschätzen, Missverständnisse zu vermeiden und den Grundstein für zukünftige Schweizer Naturschutzgenetik-Projekte zu legen.
In recent years, the availability of Earth observation data from satellites has increased dramatically, allowing for systematic and global monitoring of Earth's surface processes at an unprecedented scale.
The Western US’s massive forests face unprecedented wildfire and insect disturbances, while the society experiences a critical affordable housing crisis. Forest restoration treatments are proposed to mitigate overstocked forest conditions, with the utilization of restoration wood for mass timber construction offering a potential solution to housing affordability. However, the forestry sector confronts two major obstacles: the high cost of restoration hindering essential forest management, and a shrinking, aging workforce, especially in forestry-dependent rural areas, leading to labor shortages.
Festival der Natur 2025: Gemeinsam Biodiversität entdecken!
Einblick in die Entwicklung von FlorID, und anschliessende Feldbegehung mit Tipps für das sichere Anwenden der App.
IUFRO Div. 7 Working Parties Conference
Ein zentrales Anliegen der Holzbranche ist die entschiedene Mehrnutzung von Schweizer Holz. Strategisches Ziel ist mittelfristig ein Plus von 1 Mio Kubikmeter pro Jahr. Viele der noch ungenutzten Bestände der für die Holzwirtschaft wichtigen Fichten und Weisstannen finden sich dabei in voralpinem oder alpinem Gelände. Die Wissenschaft hat interessante Vorarbeit zur optimaleren Erschliessung dieser Gebiete geleistet. Aber ist diese auch umsetzbar?
Many cities worldwide have introduced densification strategies. Yet, the current implementation of densification brings many challenges for a just and socio-ecological urban development, particularly regarding the displacement of lower-income residents, high CO2-emissions stemming from building activities, and the rather low democratic acceptance of densification. In this talk, I will exemplify these challenges and outline potential strategies towards a fair and sustainable densification.
There is a growing consensus that business-as-usual approaches to sustainability are inadequate to address urgent problems such as climate change and biodiversity loss. Yet how do we transform at the rate, scale, speed, and depth that is called for by researchers, decision makers, and activists?
For several decades now, the invasive ascomycete fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus has caused a serious, steady population decline of common ash (Fraxinus excelsior) across Europe. This decline in ash populations in Sweden caused the species to become Red-listed in 2010, and since 2015 its status has only worsened to become critically endangered.
Flechten begegnet man auf Schritt und Tritt - vom Vorgarten bis auf die höchsten Berggipfel. Sie sind gute Indikatoren, beispielsweise zur Bestimmung der Luftgüte. Dieser Kurs gibt Einblick in die Biologie, Ökologie und die Bestimmung von Flechten. Anhand von ausgewählten Flechten werden die wichtigsten Merkmale zur Bestimmung von Flechten eingeführt. Wir werden auf Flechtenpirsch gehen, das gesammelte Material unter dem Binokular anschauen und mithilfe von Fachliteratur bestimmen.
Biodiversity loss isn’t just a political issue—it’s a cultural one. In this talk, Claudi Keller will explore how narratives can shape values and influence action for biodiversity.
As a drought-sensitive species, European beech is thought to be particularly vulnerable to climate change (Leuschner, 2020) and increasing temperatures and rain-free days in Switzerland and Europe. The drought in 2018 has led to significant dieback in Switzerland (Frei et al., 2022) and models estimate large reductions in population growth rate in the coming decades in Europe (Martinez del Castillo et al., 2022). However, there is evidence that some beech individuals or populations may be more drought tolerant (Kurath et al., 2024). Characterizing the spatial distribution of genomic variation underlying beech resistance to drier and hotter climates will be key to determine where and under what conditions beech forests will persist in Europe.
Das WSL-Forschungsprogramm Extremes organisiert ein eintägiges Forum für Wissen am WSL-Standort Birmensdorf. Die Veranstaltung vermittelt den Stand der Forschung zu zukünftigen Extremereignissen, insbesondere zu Trockenheit, und stellt die gemeinsam mit der Praxis entwickelten Lösungsansätze für den Umgang mit zukünftigen Extremereignissen vor.
Despite increasing scientific knowledge and the implementation of hazard and risk management strategies, mountain societies continue to be affected by high loss events (e.g. events Grison, Valais, Ticino in the summer 2024).
Current trends in urban development across the planet contradict all principles of sustainability. It is a remarkable irony that the more knowledge and planning capacity societies have at their disposal, the more common increases in urban sprawl have become, particularly in Europe.
Anhand eines einfachen Risikokonzepts (RI.S.S.K.) werden die zentralen Inhalte des klassischen Risikomanagements in eine leicht umsetzbare Form gebracht, die auch von ausgesprochenen Praktiker_innen gut umsetzbar sind.
Mittels zugehöriger APP werden alle Grundlagen dokumentiert und kommuniziert bzw. in der jeweiligen Anwendergruppe auch geteilt.
Biodiversity is more than an abstract concept—it can be experienced! Science journalist Atlant Bieri makes it tangible through sight, smell, and touch. In his talk, he’ll share how he communicates biodiversity to a broad audience.
Rockfall is a significant natural hazard in mountainous areas posing a major threat to infrastructure, transportation lines, and human safety. Simulation techniques to predict rockfall trajectories in complex three-dimensional terrain have great practical value as they can be used to determine the danger of rockfall run-out zones as well as to dimension protection measures.
Seed masts in temperate forests create resource pulses that ripple through ecosystems, affecting rodents, predators, and even insectivorous birds like the ground-nesting, migratory wood warbler. How do these fluctuations shape songbird populations—and what does climate change mean for them?
The workshop will bring together the WSL community engaged in alpine biodiversity research and monitoring programs to identify new opportunities and directions for research on global change impacts in mountain environments.
Exploring the impact of snow on energy prices and production in Northern Europe, as well as how research from the oil industry can contribute to improving hydropower production planning.
Landscapes receive water from rain and snow, and then release it as "blue water" that flows downward to streams and "green water" that flows upward to vegetation
How do trees and their associated fungal partners respond to water deficit? Félix Fracchia (WSL) will discuss the impact of soil water availability in Switzerland on the fungal communities associated with the root systems of decaying and healthy beech trees in natural beech forests.
A Research Software Engineer (RSE) is basically anyone that contributes a significant portion of their time to software/technical development for research. An RSE can be a scientist with a focus on programming as well as a software engineer with a connection to science. In the frame of the ETH Domain ORD Program M2: “Building a Research Software Engineering Community to Promote Open Science”, we are organizing a first RSE community meeting at WSL, in order to introduce and clarify the concept of RSE at WSL, to connect to the wider RSE community, and to exchange ideas for the future.
This Workshop aims to inform interested scientists about Copera (history, current research, available data, status, potentials, and limitations of the research site) and to connect scientists who want to write a project proposal for further research in Copera.
In diesem Workshop werden die Ergebnisse einer Tabletop-Übung zum Thema extreme Trockenheit, die zuvor mit Mitgliedern des Schweizer Bevölkerungsschutzes durchgeführt wurde, aus der Perspektive des Versicherungssektors und seiner Bedürfnisse analysiert.
Nadine Schütz is a media-artist and master student in Curatorial Studies (Art Education) at Zurich University of the Arts. As part of the transdisciplinary Master Series residencies, she accompanied and exchanged with mycologist Artemis Treindl in her field research. Her talk is the end-presentation of this 3-month long exchange.
Debbie Leigh (WSL) will present the results of a common garden experiment to characterize standing local adaptation and trait genomic architecture.
Antrittsvorlesung von Janine Bolliger an der Universität Zürich
Increasingly sophisticated algorithms have already become part of our lives. This development is also starting to extend to avalanche forecasting. It is starting to impact our work as forecasters and will eventually also influence our forecast products.
The operational model chain at SLF now encompasses the physical snow-cover model SNOWPACK but also recently developed machine-learning models. These models deliver predictions on various aspects relevant to regional avalanche forecasting, such as the likelihood of dry-snow or wet-snow avalanches in a region, snowpack instability, and the danger level. Taking the perspective of the avalanche forecaster, I will share examples to underscore the potential advantages and challenges associated with utilizing these models in operational avalanche forecasting at SLF.
Seismometers record signals from more than just earthquakes. Ground vibrations due to natural processes were recognized more than a century ago by scientists designing the instrumentation for earthquake detection, who mostly interpreted those signals as something polluting the seismograms, and therefore to be discarded. However, what happens if we neglect earthquakes and analyse what remains in the records?
New Zealand’s climate and topography create conditions for challenging avalanche problems. For example, large wet avalanches will sometimes generate powder clouds, and storms will bring > 500 mm of rain to an alpine snowpack the middle of winter. Relatively sparse observational records hamper efforts to characterize avalanche hazards in many places. Our work aims to better understand avalanches in New Zealand using remote sensing observations and modelling.
Recent unprecedented heat and heavy rainfall extremes broke previous observed record intensities by large margins. Given their unprecedented intensity some media outlets and scientists raised the question whether extremes intensify faster than projected. Here I address this question and highlight some of the challenges such events pose to widely used methods in model evaluation and attribution. Furthermore, I discuss ways forward in quantifying the potential intensity of future record-shattering events.
As it will be the anniversary of the 1959 Dyatlov Pass Incident in Russia which will be the topic of the presentation, and after the title of a National Geographic article.
Davnah Urbach will introduce the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment research network before building on the work it performs to give an overview (i) of the current state of knowledge and research on mountain biodiversity in the face of global change and (ii) of current efforts and options to support science-based policy making for mountain biodiversity.
Glacier mass change has crucial impacts on hydrology, sea level rise, and climate change. Geodetic and glaciological mass balance observations so far have insufficient resolution to capture processes occurring on small spatial and/or short temporal scales. However, a permanent Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) station adjacent to Hintereisferner (HEF, Ötztal Alps, Austria) provides daily Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), which allow closing spatiotemporal gaps in established glacier monitoring methods. An uncertainty assessment showed that smaller-scale processes, such as snow deposition and redistribution with a vertical spatial scale >0.10 m can be investigated with the TLS setup at HEF
Forschung und Verwaltung kommunizieren über verschiedenste Themen: Forschungsresultate, Politik, fachliche Wissensvermittlung und Sensibilisierung und vieles mehr. Damit die unterschiedlichen Kommunikationsbedürfnisse erfüllt werden könnten, braucht es eine gute Abstimmung und Umsetzung. Wissenschaftliche Findings müssen beispielsweise «übersetzt» werden, damit sie für das Zielpublikum wie Medien, Bevölkerung und Politik verständlich sind und einheitlich darüber kommuniziert wird - eine Auslegeordnung aus Sicht des Bundes.
Lessons learnt from an inter- and transdisciplinary project on biodiversity loss and climate change
The Living Well Within Limits project investigated the energy requirements of well-being, from quantitative, provisioning systems and political economy perspectives. In this presentation, I will communicate cross-cutting findings from the project, in the form of 10 stylized facts, and their implications, present and future. These stylised facts cover the current and future energy requirements of wellbeing, their unequal distribution, the crucial role played by provisioning systems and public services, the importance of political economy approaches and the necessity to consider transformations beyond capitalism. I will also briefly present upcoming research on post-growth economies. I thus argue for the active (as in activist) engagement of the research community.
The presentation of the doctoral thesis introduces a comprehensive framework for modelling avalanche hazard and risk to buildings at large scale, considering climate change scenarios.
This 22nd international course on "Wood Anatomy and Tree-Ring Ecology"
will be held in Hotel Morteratsch, Pontresina, Switzerland
