News

Forest management and timber production are not profitable, yet forest services should be for free. The new DIAGONAL explains why this fails to work.

Great illustration by Yvonne Roggenmoser in the new DIAGONAL with the focus topic «wood».

WSL analysis finds that while the Federal Council received emergency powers at the start of the pandemic, Swiss federal governance endured.

Earlier vegetation growth is changing the food supply available to roe deer during the birthing season. This could see more moving to higher altitudes.

Erratic boulders transported to the lowlands by the glaciers are home to rare mosses and ferns. What does this mean for climbers? Read it in DIAGONAL magazine.

How should forests in Switzerland be tended and the wood be used to ensure the best climate protection? Read up on it in the new DIAGONAL.

A WSL research programme is examining the impact of climate change on rock slope failures, avalanches and debris flows and developing responses.

Floods, landslides and debris flows caused some CHF 85 million of damage and resulted in five fatalities in 2019.

New centre to explore climate change and natural hazards in the Alpine region.

Wood can be building material, CO2 storage and even a force of nature. The latest issue of Diagonal is dedicated to this renewable resource.

Leg 3 of MOSAiC takes 3 months longer than planned. The WSL remote sensing installation threatened by ice crack finally allows good data collection.

The lockdown saw many Swiss people go to forests more often than usual, but even more stopped visiting them entirely, a survey reveals.

A study with the participation of WSL professor Charlotte Grossiord published in Science shows the impact of global warming on forest age structure.

"Swissinfo.ch": melting ice can release viruses and bacteria that are potentially harmful to humans. With Beat Frey (WSL).

To mark Biodiversity Day (22 May), a WSL and an Eawag researcher tell us why it is important to look beyond the system boundaries.

Some good news on World Bee Day (20 May): the city of Zurich is home to a surprising variety of wild bees, with 164 species recorded.

The forest canopy mitigates peak summer temperatures for the understorey. When that shade disappears, the organisms living there suffer.

A real visual treat: Info Flora’s species portraits now include over 1,000 stem cross-sections and descriptions prepared by WSL collaborators.

Burnt beech forests provide less protection against natural hazards than intact woods. A new WSL Fact Sheet describes the fire and vegetation dynamics.

Swiss chestnut forests contain a genetic diversity that is unique in Europe, indicates a new study. Many chestnut forests consist of grafted trees.