Main menu

WSL Home About WSL Organisation Research UnitsForest Dynamics

Forest Dynamics

Main menu

The Research Unit explores the functional significance of forest diversity with respect to the ecology of managed and unmanaged forests. In order to assess the future development of forests in Switzerland and other temperate and mountainous regions, the Unit pursues a threefold research agenda:

it performs basic research on forest diversity and its influence i) on forest dynamics, i.e. successional processes including tree growth, mortality and regeneration, and ii) on ecosystem goods and services;
it studies the disturbance agents such as storms, avalanches, fires and insects with respect to their occurrences and their impact on forest dynamics, as well as the importance of forest diversity to resist disturbance;
it investigates the impact of management operations on forest structure and development to improve sustainable forest management.

Based on the research outcomes, the Unit develops recommendations for best practice to sustain or improve forest products and services such as production of timber and other forest goods (e.g. mushrooms), catchment value, water quality, protection against natural hazards and pests, conservation and recreation. The infrastructure of the Research Unit includes extensive networks of forest study plots and laboratories for insects and fungi analysis.

The Unit has partners both within WSL and the wider scientific community. Stakeholders are mainly the forest services, forest owners and federal agencies.

Research groups

Forest Dynamics

Topics

National Forest Inventory (NFI)

The NFI has been continually recording the condition and changes in the Swiss forest since 1983. The surveys take place every nine years.

Forests and Climate Change

Climate change will drastically alter the Swiss forest, with consequences for humans. WSL conducts research into the relevant processes.

Tree-ring research

Trees react to their environment. At WSL, tree-ring scientists date and analyze these natural archives.

Long-Term Forest Ecosystem Research (LWF)

We examine the long-term effects of stresses on the forest and identify the risks that are relevant to people.

SwissForestLab

The SwissForestLab is a research platform and infrastructural network in forest research.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Projects

Spectral screening for the early detection of a highly invasive beetle in Switzerland

The emergence of visible tree-stress symptoms caused by the emerald ash borer occurs only several years after its arrival and are hard to tell apart from those caused by soil drought. Here, we investigate the potential of reflectance spectroscopy as an early-warning screening tool.

TradeES

To better inform forest practitioners, the TradeES project examines trade-offs among drought impact on forest growth, ecological functions and ecosystem services in thinned and unthinned Norway spruce-dominated stands in Switzerland.

INSIghtForest: IN SItu tracking of water fluxes in Forest ecosystems

INSIghtForest will accompany the Cost Action WATSON "WATer isotopeS in the critical zONeproposes" by establishing a unique data set of high frequency in-situ measured water isotopes located in a long-term irrigation experiment Pfynwald in the naturally dry valley of Valais, Switzerland.

MiCSS - Physiological drivers of tree growth

MiCSS is a SNF-funded project that aims to investigate the key physiological processes underlying tree growth in order to improve forest dynamics and carbon cycle modelling.

Harnessing forest genetic resources

OptFORESTS is an European funded project that aims to support the conservation and sustainable use of forest genetic resources.

Calibrating remote-sensed drought impact

The main objective of the project is to contribute towards a better understanding of the impact of drought on forests from the Alps by integrating satellite based remote sensing with ground-based measurement of tree water use and carbon fixation performed at sub-seasonal resolution.

VPDrought: A novel approach to disentangle atmospheric and soil drought

By deciphering the single vs. combined VPD and soil moisture effects, we will be able to improve global predictions. We aim to apply a scale spanning approach to disentangle the processes affected by atmospheric (i.e., VPD) and soil droughts from the tissue to the tree and the ecosystem level.

How does a changing light environment in terms of intensity and spectrum affect plant functioning?

Using stable isotopes, we want to investigate how a changing light quality could affect plant functioning and what mechanisms underlie these responses, especially when light interacts with other environmental factors.

PhenoMast

This project aims to integrate the recording of standardized mast observation into existing phenology networks (e.g. PhaenoNet, Phenowald, PhenoRanger) and field surveys. The recorded data will be made publicly available on the already established platform of MastWeb hosted at WSL.

StillbergDAT

This ETH-Domain ORD Program Contribute Project aims at curating and uploading the existing data of the European Long-term treeline Ecosystem Research (eLTER) site Stillberg, Switzerland, was established in to national and international ORD platforms (EnviDat, DEIMS-SDR).

Urbtrees

Our project combines high-resolution field measurements, modelling and participatory workshops in the fields of plant ecology, atmospheric chemistry and social urban science. We expect our work to lead to the elaboration of feasible nature-based solutions strategies for our cities where environmental, sociocultural, and infrastructural factors are fully co-considered.

High-resolution climate reconstruction

Tree-ring d13C variations are a valuable archive of climatic information. A novel laser-ablation isotope-ratio mass-spectrometer enables to study variations within a single tree ring. We therefore plan to determine the occurrence of dry and wet periods of the past with unprecedented resolution.

Digiforest

The mission of DIGIFOREST is to develop the technology needed to achieve sustainable digital forestry. It includes fundamental science for mobile robotic navigation (multi-sensor motion tracking, 3D mission planning etc.) and data-driven semantic mapping.

Nanoplastic uptake and transport in trees

In this project we assess the uptake and transport of nanoplastics in trees by using polystyrene nanoparticles doped with Palladium and detection of these particles with ICP-MS.

TreeWater - Disentangling the isotopic signal transfer from source water to tree rings

TreeWater aims to improve our understanding of whether and how information on water uptake dynamics can be retrieved from the oxygen and hydrogen (i.e. water) isotopes in tree rings.

MountEx

The MountEx project, part of the WSL research program Extremes, aims to develop guidance and tools for managing spruce-dominated mountain forests under the influence of previously unthinkable, extreme disturbances.

ProtoAIM - Enhanced Plot Design for Advanced Inventorying and Monitoring

We will enhance the design of the Swiss NFI plots to accomodate an augmented series of measurements, sampling and analysis needed to respond to pressing research question on status and change of the Swiss forest.

MastWeb 2.0: Mobile friendliness and interactive analysis tool to assess and visualize annual tree fecundity levels

New and improved functionality for the mastweb.ch platform to collect, distribute, visualise and evaluate data on tree fecundity levels in Swiss forests.

EMERGE - Extreme droughts in mountain regions

EMERGE will investigate the impacts of historic megadroughts on water fluxes and ecosystems in mountain regions, and use this knowledge to develop stress-test scenarios for a possible future megadrought in the Swiss Alps.

Detecting temperature thresholds for photosynthesis and understanding how they are controlled by long-term acclimation to soil drought

We evaluate the potential of thermal imaging with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to detect drought stress in Pinus sylvestris in a long-term irrigation experiment in the Pfyn forest in Valais (southern Switzerland).

European beech under climate change

We will conduct a continental-scale climate sensitivity analysis of European beech and will investigate how different beech provenances differ in their climate growth response

Functional ecology of alpine meadows

The ongoing climate change has caused changes in the species composition of alpine meadows. Complementing the vegetation surveys realized in the GLORIA initiative, this project investigates the functional responses above- and belowground to abiotic drivers in alpine forb and grass species.

COMMON-RING SwissForestLab Project

Accounting for evolutionary responses based on tree-ring traits will allow reducing uncertainties in the spatial distributions of European trees species under forthcoming climate change scenarios

ICOS-2: Integrated Carbon Observation System in Switzerland, Phase 2017-2021

Die Forschungsstation Seehornwald Davos wurde in den 80er-Jahren von der WSL initiiert und ist damit eine der ältesten permanent betriebenen Wald-Vegetations-Forschungsstationen in der Schweiz.

Tracing hybridization of oriental beech following assisted gene flow

Development of a cost-effective remote sensing tool based on optical spectroscopy to track the hybridization between European and oriental beech

PhenoRangers

"PhenoRangers" aims to establish interactions between current research on the impact of climate change on the forest and the public, using phenology as the main tool.

SCC II - REACT

Species-specific reactions of temperate European forest trees to a changing environment. A project related to the Swiss Canopy Crane II (SCC II) site near Basel and the network TreeNet.

Drivers and consequences of drought-induced hydraulic dysfunctions and mortality under global warming

This project explores the specific impact of VPD and temperature increase on tree water use and mortality. It also investigates the potential damages of using X-ray MicroCT to track embolism in living trees.

Polytunnel Greenhouse Experiment

Das Projekt untersucht, wie gut zukunftsfähige Baumarten während der Verjüngungsphase in einem Klima mit wärmeren Wintern und heiss-trockenen Sommermonaten wachsen, wie sie sich gegenseitig beeinflussen und welche Auswirkungen ihre Präsenz auf den Boden und die darin lebenden Organismen hat.

Partitioning of resources between beech trees during drought

We will examine whether recent drought events shifted the partitioning of growth among tree size classes of beech trees and use this information to develop thinning strategies for mitigating drought impacts in lowland and montane Swiss beech forests

Cold stress mighgt limit carbon gain also in a warming climate

Photosynthesis of forest ecosystems can be reduced in spring most likely due to cold temperatures. Such cold-related processes are, however, not captured in mechanistic models and we thus aim to assess the mechanisms and frequencies of such depressions and include them into models.

N-DEPEND - Is there a "Nitrogen Deposition Penalty" for Forests under Drought?

This project intends to test the "N-penalty" hypothesis for the Swiss forests. By statistical modeling and quasi-experimental analyses based on N deposition estimates, drought indices and NFI data, we assess interacting effects of N deposition and drought on forest health and productivity.

deepT - deep neural network algorithms to recognize species and their specific response patterns in stem growth data of TreeNet

deepT investigates times series of stem radius changes with deep neural network (DNN) algorithms in order to recognize tree species, growth patterns and tree water deficit-induced stem shrinkage characteristics.

How will changes in the phenology of species affect the biodiversity of lakes and their surrounding watersheds?

As part of the Blue-Green Biodiversity Research Initiative (Eawag-WSL funded by ETH), we study differences in the effect of global environmental change on the phenology of primary production in lakes and their surrounding watersheds using remote sensing techniques.

ROXAS X

The aim of this project is the complete revision of ROXAS, the successful image analysis tool for quantifying xylem cell anatomical features is ROXAS.

TM Wrapper

We develop a R package for the easier applicability of the forest landscape model TreeMig.

Patterns and processes of biological invasions in freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems

Insects are among the most successful invasive species but there are surprisingly few aquatic insects that invaded freshwater ecosystems. In this collaborative project between WSL and Eawag we are analysing several international datasets to determine why insects are under-represented among aquatic i

Phenological synchrony between soil microbes, nutrient availability, trees leaf-out and moths

The synchronization between supply and demand of resources in temperate forests is vital to ensure the optimal and sustainable functioning of these ecosystems. This project aims to understand how global warming is disrupting interactions between above- and below-ground organisms.

Global blue-green richness differences

This project contributes to the Blue Green Biodiversity Research Initiative - an Eawag-WSL collaboration focusing on Biodiversity at the interface of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

TreeNet - The biological drought and growth indicator network

TreeNet ist ein internationales Beobachtungs- und Forschungsnetzwerk, in dem Punktdendrometer automatisch die täglichen Stammradiusschwankungen von Bäumen erfassen. Der kontinuierliche Fluss von Daten liefert Echtzeitinformationen über die Wasserverhältnisse im Baum und das radial Stammwachstum

Soil and tree resilience after forest wildfire in Southern Italy

Pine tree stand and forest site resilience after the severe 2017 wildfire on the slopes of Vesuvius, Italy

Drought & beech: Effects of the 2018 summer drought on beech on the northern side of the Alps

In this project, we investigate causes for the impacts of the extreme summer drought 2018 on the vitality of beech trees in different regions of the Swiss Plateau and Jura.

Impact of tree species interactions on tree water relations under a warmer and drier climate

This research aims to gain a mechanistic understanding of the role of tree species interactions on tree plastic physiological responses to heat and drought stress. It combines an experimental climate manipulation with tree seedlings and fieldwork in a mature forest subjected yearly to hot droughts.

ExtremeImpact

This project build up on high-resolution observations of conifer tree growth in the Swiss Lötschental valley to quantify at cell-based resolution the impact of the extreme summer drought 2015 on tree-ring biomass, sapwood conductivity, and water use efficiency.

Moringa

We aim on analyzing the exact formation of tree-rings (Xylogenesis) in Moringa peregrina (Forssk.) Fiori during a calendar year, building a long chronology for this species, and analyzing 13C and 18O to assess the tree-environment interactions, particularly precipitation.

Bridging paleoclimate records and climate model simulations

We plan to measure anatomical properties of trees that grow in highly temperature-restricted environments and compare and assimilate them with ensembles of climate models (PMIP4/CMIP6).

UAV-based monitoring of physiological tree responses

In this project, we investigate the potential of spectral proxies, obtained from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) high-resolution multispectral and thermal imaging, to detect trees pre-visual drought stress responses.

Integration of biodiversity conservation and forest management

The publication "How to balance biodiversity conservation and forest management - a tour across Europe" written by more than 70 scientific and professional experts from 50 Institutions and 20 different countries explores how to best integrate biodiversity conservation in forest management

eLTER Switzerland

The Long-Term Ecologiocal Research in Europe (LTER-Europe) capitalizes on research infrastructures such as the in-situ network of sites and information technology. Thousands of research projects have been carried out taking advantage of this infrastructure.

Climate-smart forestry directions based on national Forest Inventory data

In this project we use the data of the Swiss national forest inventory to develop an assessment system that accounts for the three aspects of climate-smart forestry: mitigation, adaptation and the sustainable provision of forest ecosystem services.

Modelling forest growth using 3-PG

Testing 3-PG in uneven-aged forests, comparing predictions with an empirical model and developing a 3-PG R package.

Acclimation and environmental memory

Which are the main mechanisms conveying adaptation on the organ and whole tree level, how fast does acclimation occur and how long is an acclimation potential sustained?

Swiss Biomass

The aim of the project is to determine the biomass of individual trees more precisely using non-destructive measurement methods. Such estimates are central for the greenhouse gas inventory, Kyoto reporting and for the estimation of wood resources and bioenergy potentials.

PFF2020

Our main objective is the installation of a long-term Plant Physiological Facility for online determination of gas exchange and isotope fractionations at WSL in the 2020s.

Dormancy-Track

The project aims to track the progress of winter bud dormancy of major temperate trees by regularly tracing the amount of isotopically labelled water that can be transferred to the buds during the whole dormancy period.

Anyui – Volcanoes, Climate and the Peopling of the Americas

We performed ambitious fieldwork on and documentation of the little-known Anyui volcano in northeast Siberia.

TreeCarbo: From assimilates towards tree-rings - Triple isotope analysis of carbohydrates

The project aims to provide novel mechanistic ways to reconstruct functional responses of trees to climatic changes in high temporal and spatial resolution by improving and combining fractionation models for carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen isotopes.

Give and take: how much water does soil retain for trees?

Establishing an inventory of soil water availability to trees in Swiss forest soils. This is done by means of model-based analysis of the water balances at 16 long-term monitoring sites in Switzerland, representing various geographical locations, soil and vegetation types.

Effects of unbalanced winter-spring warming

Saplings of an evergreen and a deciduous tree species are treated with various levels of defoliation (to change the C-resource availability) and unbalanced winter-spring warming, to study the effects of unbalanced winter-spring warming on spring phenology and its C-resource related mechanisms.

Caldera

In this SNF funded Sinergia project - aimed at quantifying climate and societal impacts induced by major volcanic eruptions of the Common Era - the WSL mainly contribute by providing a unprecedented millennial long chronology of wood cell anatomical features.

Waldlabor Zürich

Das Waldlabor Zürich ist ein erlebnisorientierter Bildungs- und Forschungsort, es ist das erste Waldlabor der Schweiz. Im Zentrum steht der vom Menschen beeinflusste Wald, der "Kulturwald" mit verschiedenen Formen der Waldpflege und -bewirtschaftung, der Leistungen der Waldeigentümer und der Bedeutu

Assessing past atmospheric composition in Northern China using novel tree-ring analyses

We aim to assess the presence of particles in trees and to correlate them through dating to known air pollution and sandstorms' episodes.

XELLCLIM

We identify the best xylem cell anatomical features for climate reconstructions and assess their characteristics across temporal scales compared to established tree-ring parameters, and against instrumental records and climate model simulations.

Drought 2018 - TreeNet meets Sentinel2

TreeNet permanently measures growth and tree water deficit (TWD) of about 250 tree individuals in forests all over Switzerland with so-called point dendrometers. TWD has shown to be a reasonable biological indicator for drought stress and quantifies the amount of missing water a tree needs to reach full saturation. In combination with spectral anomalies of satellite-based indices (e.g., NDWI from Sentinel2ab) between 2018 and a reference period we test whether we can find a close link between the two drought stress indicators.

FORClimateS

The project aims to aggregate and synthesize existing information on different spatial and temporal scales to provide decision-makers with relevant and robust information on short- and long-term risks for forests and forest functions and on adaptation strategies under different climate futures

Ash Dieback in Switzerland

In Europe, the Ash Dieback disease caused by Hymenoscyphus fraxineus has led to high mortality rates of common ash. We analyze how radial growth and wood anatomical parameters influence the disease progression in trees.

Legacy effects on stem growth

Establishing hydrogen isotope analysis of organic material

We aim to develop a method for hydrogen isotope (d2H) analysis of organics which will have many applications in plant and soil sciences and thereby provide a powerful new tool to disentangle and reconstruct past and present physiological, biochemical, and hydrological processes.

ISOWEB

Our objective is to develop a protocol to analyse food webs in deadwood using compound-specific stable isotope analyses. The applicability to track changes in foodwebs between tree species and different management types along deadwood decomposition will be tested using data from a large experiment.

GenWood

We link genomic and dendro-phenotypic data in Norway Spruce (Picea abies) to study the genomic basis of wood anatomy and assess the adaptive potential of forest trees under climate change.

Isodrought

We want to explore a stable isotope tree-ring approach for analyzing physiological drought responses of trees. The results are expected to provide a novel diagnostic tool for understanding causes of tree decline.

BLACKDYNAMITE

This Swiss-Spanish project investigates the dynamics and competition of the black Périgord and Burgundy truffles under the influence of climate change.

Root endophytic fungi and their contribution to arctic and alpine climate change feedback

Arctic and Alpine vegetation dynamics under climate change can exert a lasting impact on belowground processes and ultimately on world's largest carbon stocks. This long-term field manipulation investigates the functional significance of plant interactions with species-specific endophytic fungi.

Environmental impact on wood formation

Wood formation is a process that not only fix carbon into the wood structure, but also determine how much and how safely water can be transported trough the stem of a tree. This project make use of dated tree-rings to investigate how the environment impacts wood formation and structure

Drought duration effects

The present study will analyze the within-tree distribution of C, N, and P reserves in trees treated with different drought duration and frequency, to investigate the C, N and P reserves in relation to recovery ability and mortality following repeated drought events with various drought duration.

Photoperiod and ciracian clocks - effects on adaptation and acclimation

Do evolutionary constraints on photoperiod and circadian clocks hinder adaptation and acclimation of plants to climate change? With this project, we will provide the mechanistic basis and a conceptual framework to understand how climatic and daylight/photoperiod cues jointly affects tree functioning.

Understanding how species interactions modulate long-term heat and drought impacts

The project aims to assess the physiological processes by which trees adapt and interact with each other under a changing climate, determine how these processes affect tree physiological responses to climatic stresses, and better understand long-term shifts in tree internal carbon and water cycles.

Adaptation of trees to extreme climate events

Extreme climate events are expected to become more frequent with climate warming. We test genetic differentiation in resistance to late frost and drought in silver fir populations planted in the 1980s in Swizterland and abroad.

QUPFIS

Our aim is to estimate Swiss forest net ecosystem productivity (NEP) at monthly or seasonal resolution for each individual year in order to link biomass changes over time with global drivers.

Carbon storage and ungulate browsing

The joint effects of drought tolerance and herbivory is determined by analysing the extent to which water use efficiency and C storage of Abies alba saplings are influenced by genetic factors and ungulate browsing.

Forests under stress

In this project we will assess the physiological processes by which trees adjust and interact among each other under a changing climate, determine the consequences of these processes on forest responses to climatic stresses and improve our understanding of these effects on forests functioning at a large comprehensive scale.

Host-mistletoe relationships

The project focuses on the host-mistletoe relationship in relation to changes in the growth environment of the host, and the underlying physiological mechanisms.

PRO3FILE

To improve our assessment of ozone effects on forest ecosystems, we advocate the need (i) for further experimental and long-term monitoring studies and (ii) to develop physiological and demographic modelling tools.

Sumforest - ForRISK

Risk resilient forest management - Adapting forest management regimes, including risk assessment related to potential climate change impacts.

Junior Research: Der Waldboden lebt, Föhren sterben heimlich und Jahrringe erzählen aus der Vergangenheit

Was steckt hinter diesen Aussagen? SchülerInnen vertiefen sich in eines dieser Themen, eignen sich neues Wissen an, lernen genau hinzuschauen und haben Gelegenheit, sich zeigen zu lassen, wie in der Forschung gearbeitet wird.

The dynamic of ozone injury and responses within tree foliage

Relating the stress and detoxification responses at cell level to the phytotoxic ozone dose in foliage of trees

TEA-Electrical potentials and accoustic emissions of trees

TEA combines established methods in ecophysiology (i.e., measuring sap flow, detecting continuous stem radius changes, and recording the microclimatic conditions) with advanced methods of measuring ultrasonic acoustic emissions (UAEs) and detecting electrophysiological signals, so-called electrical potentials (EPs).

Metalink

Soil contamination with heavy metals is a widespread problem affecting natural, cultivated, urban and industrial sites throughout Europe. The main objective in this Swiss/Polish collaboration project is to characterize the links between environmental, genotypic, and phenotypic features in the metal-tolerant plant model Arabidopsis halleri.

Drought effects on reproductive phenology and the underlying physiological mechanisms in pine trees

We use a long-term precipitation manipulation experiment in mature Pinus sylvestris forests and a natural precipitation gradient from 840 mm to 290 mm/year with Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica, to study the "Drought effects on reproductive phenology and the physiological mechanisms of pine trees".

Tea bag decomposition study

Decomposition of plant litter is a key process for the transfer of carbon and nutrients in ecosystems. Carbon contained in the decaying biomass is released to the atmosphere as respired CO2, and may contribute to global warming. Litterbag studies have been used to improve our knowledge of the drivers of litter decomposition, but they lack comparability because litter quality is plant species-specific. The use of commercial tea bags as a standard substrate was suggested in order to harmonize studies, where green tea and rooibos represent more labile and more recalcitrant C compounds as surrogates of local litter.

Considering nature conservation in thinning

The project aims to examine how a balance between ecological and economic goals in thinning decisions can be achieved.

CaNuPine/MICRO

In this project, adaptive and stress responses to drought stress and varying nutrient availability are being analyzed at tissue, cell and subcellular level in foliage of Scots pine and downy oak.

Carbon and nutrient dynamics of Scots pine

In the CaNuPine project, we study the effects of drought and nutrient availability on the carbon dynamics within Pine (Pinus sylvestris) trees. This will contribute to the controversial debate whether drought may or may not cause acute growth decline and mortality via carbon starvation.

Wildfire, insect attack and windthrow in mountain forests are on the rise again

Eine internationale Gruppe von Forschern zeigt, dass zunehmende Fläche und Holzvorräte in Bergwäldern in den letzten 150 Jahren zu mehr natürlichen Störungen wie Waldbrand geführt haben.

Compartmentation of de-icing salts and structural reactions to salt accumulation in foliage of ornamental lime trees

Street greenery has recently emerged as a major research and urbanization issue. The main objectives in this project are to study the accumulation and effects of de-icing salts in foliage of lime trees (Tilia x vulgaris) and to apply this knowledge for selecting more tolerant lime species and cultivars, with a view to street plantation.

Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS)

Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) is a European research infrastructure to quantify and understand the greenhouse gas balance of the European continent and of adjacent regions.

Götterbäume in der Südschweiz

Götterbäume breiten sich derzeit rasant in den milden Lagen der Südschweiz aus und werfen vor allem im Schutzwald grosse Fragen auf: Als kurzlebige Pionierbaumart mit gebietsweise hohem Kernfäulebefall können sie zu einer Destabilisierung beitragen, die waldbaulich schwer zu korrigieren ist.

Net Ecosystem Productivity - NEPSRI

Point dendrometer-based SRI data are collected within the project TreeNet and used to estimate NEP. The estimation is performed in near-real-time on the TreeNet processing platform (TreeNet_Pro) and needs temporally highly resolved SRI data and a site-specific leaf area index as input.

MOUNTROOT

The project MOUNTROOT aims at comparing structure-function relationship in roots of two dominant herb species of pasture-woodlands in response to simulated climate change, and to integrate these below-ground insights with above-ground responses to a whole-plant framework.

Impact of fuel wood piles on saproxylic beetles

In Switzerland, a strong increase in the demand for energy wood is expected for the next decades. This is likely to have a strong influence on saproxylic beetles (dependent on dead wood). On the one hand, fewer old trees and less deadwood will remain and decompose in the forest, which directly limits habitat availability for saproxylics. On the other hand, fuel wood exploitation might have indirect ecological consequences.

Antimony uptake as a function of waterlogging in the rhizosphere

Antimony (Sb) is a rather rare but toxic element increasingly contaminating ecosystems. Principal objectives in this project are to investigate the role of changes in the soil conditions and root structure on the uptake of Sb. The results will provide understanding of the soil and root processes governing Sb availability and plant uptake.

Wild fire and insects

In 2003 some 300 ha of forest on the hillside above Leuk burnt down. Along a horizontal gradient from within-forest to the center of the fire area and along an altitudinal gradient from 1200 to 1700 m a.s.l. we investigate the process of colonization by insects and the succession of the taxonomic and functional groups.

trees

In our research project 'trees: Rendering Ecophysiological Processes Audible', we are working on the acoustic recording, analysis and representation of ecophysiological processes in plants and studying the acoustic and aesthetic requirements for making them perceptible.

Disentangling truffle ecology

We study the complex biotic and abiotic ecology and the population genetics of the Burgundy truffle (Tuber aestivum) in Switzerland and the German pre-Alps, with particular emphasis on the ecological and climatological drivers for the productivity and phenology of this most valuable truffle species.

Stillberg enzyme activities

Climate change will particularly influence species distribution and the structure and function of sensitive ecosystems at the treeline. In an interdisciplinary experiment carried out at Stillberg Davos we will investigate how soil warming and enhanced CO2 concentrations will affect the ectomycorrhizal community structure and extracellular enzyme activities in the soil and at mycorrhizal roots.

How beeches cope with drought

The BuKlim project aims to study the responses of Swiss beech provenances to drought. The results of the project help to assess the adaptational potential of this tree species to the changing climate.

chestnut blight

The introduced chestnut blight fungus Cryphonectria parasitica causes severe damage to chestnut forests and orchards across Europe. We investigate the biology and epidemiology of the disease and provide the scientific basis for biological control.

Below-canopy climate

Microclimate is a key factor influencing regeneration in forests. Particularly available light, water supply and temperature determine the success or failure of certain tree species. How will future climate change influence below-canopy microclimate and tree regeneration?

Evolutionary traits

Elevated heavy metal concentrations in the soil are a frequent consequence of past or ongoing industrial activities. The principal objective in this project is to characterize mechanistic aspects of metal accumulation and tolerance and relate it to the genetic structure of populations of Biscutella laevigata. The expected results should provide innovative insights on evolutionary processes of metal tolerance.

MICRO

Microscopical changes in cells and tissues in response to various environmental stress factors are investigated in trees to develop diagnosis tools and understand the mechanistic link between stress and injury.

Exotic tree species

Exotic tree species, which are adapted to a warmer and dryer climate, could contribute to coping with climate change. Six such species are tested in a long-term field experiment near Mutrux (Canton of Vaud).

Foliar symptoms specific for ozone stress in rain forest trees of southern Brazil

The toxic effects of tropospheric ozone concentrations on plants have been reported primarily for ecosystems from the northern hemisphere with a mediterranean, temperate or boreal climate. In the southern hemisphere with its tropical climate, the impact of ozone on natural ecosystems is still mostly unknown.

Boron & salt allocation

With a quickly growing world population and raising demand for agricultural products, the productivity of irrigated agricultural soils is threatened as a consequence of soil salinization in many places with arid climates. Main objectives of this research project are to investigate the compartmentation-based mechanisms contributing to tolerance in foliage of poplar trees grown on soils contaminated with elevated levels of Boron and salts in the San Joaquin Valley in Central California.

Understory removal experiment Salgesch

Long-term research on the interactions between changes in land use and climate and their consequences regarding forest health and dynamic in the pine forests at low elevation of Central Alps

Kastanienrindenkrebs

Der eingeschleppte Kastanienrindenkrebs gefährdet die Edelkastanienbestände auf der Alpennordseite. Um diese Bestände zu erhalten, wird im Rahmen dieses Projektes der Kastanienrindenkrebs auf der Alpennordseite mit hypovirulenten Pilzstämmen bekämpft

Soil as a site factor

This project delivers soil and site related information for Swiss forests which are based mainly on measured values: (i) response of tree species relating to direct and indirect environmental variables, (ii) quantitative characterisation of species' ecological niche and (iii) soil ecological indicator values for forest plant species.

Trockenheit als limitierender Faktor für An- und Aufwuchs von Hauptbaumarten

Für die Anpassung unserer Wälder an ein wärmeres Klima sind verschiedene Strategien denkbar. In diesem Projekt wird die Plastizität verschiedener Provenienzen von Waldföhre und Fichte bezüglich Trockenheit in der Jugendphase untersucht.

Nadelbäume und Trockenheit

Sehr starke waldbauliche Eingriffe im Gebirgswald können kurzfristig ökonomisch vorteilhaft sein. Langfristig könnten sie aber die Waldverjüngung verzögern und den Holzuwachs vermindern. Ob solche nachteiligen Auswirkungen auftreten und wie gross sie allenfalls sind, wird mit retrospektiven ertragskundlichen und dendroökologischen Erhebungen in Gebirgswäldern abgeschätzt.

Tree regeneration after windthrow

Wind disturbance is the main natural driver of forest stand dynamics in Central and Northern Europe. On the basis of a large sample of windthrow gaps, this project aimed to quantify natural tree regeneration after wind disturbance, and to identify factors influencing tree regeneration dynamics.

Mountland

The goal of ‹Mountland› is to investigate the sensitivity of the provision of mountain ecosystem services to both climatic and land-use changes and to suggest policies and governance structures for mitigating the impact of such changes and enhancing sustainable management practices.

Germination experiment

Recent Scots pine mortality in forests of the upper Rhone valley have been suggested to be caused by climate change. In an ongoing PhD study, effects of different climate parameters and interspecific competition on the regeneration of both Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and black pine (Pinus nigra) are tested.

Querco

Querco, in the sense of "quid Quercus, quo vadis?" To study the reaction of 3 local species of oak (each species with 4 provenances) to drought, increasing air temperature and a combination of the two will be the focus of this experiment.

Mycorrhiza and forest fire

In this project, we aim to investigate 1) to what extent diversity of mycorrhizal fungi is diminished by forest fire, and 2) whether this has consequences for performance of Pinus sylvestris seedlings.

Lötschental

Lötschental offers an ideal setting to study the influence of global warming on tree-growth

Macro- and micro morphological reactions to low soil water availability in the foliage of Scots pine from Wallis

In this project, the structural changes in foliage of Scots pine are used as sensitive bioindications of environmental constraints to study the reactions of dry pine forests in Wallis to low soil water availability and changes in land use.

Evoltree

A large network of research institutions collaborates within an EC-funded Network of Excellence to study the impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems from an evolutionary perspective.

Composition of the driftwood

During the floods in August 2005 in Switzerland, many villages encounter problems not only because of a high water flow, but also because of large amounts of driftwood. Therefore the question of the origin and the formation of the driftwood arised.

Impact of leaf litter collecting in forests

Only 150 years ago, Swiss forests were markedly affected by agro-forestal uses. In many places leaf litter was collected for different reasons. By experimental removing of the leaf litter, we examine the ecological consequences of this forest use and we evaluate it's potential as a new tool for nature conservation in forests.

Irrigation Experiment Pfynwald

Drought-induced forest decline will gain in importance as the frequency and severity of drought events are expected to increase in the context of climate change. To understand how chronic drought affects tree growth, we study mature Scots pine in an irrigation experiment in an inner-Alpine dry valley since 2003.

Nadelchemie der Fichte

Mit dem Projekt "Monitoring Flankierende Massnahmen Umwelt" (MFM-U) untersucht die Schweiz die Umwelt-Auswirkungen des Landverkehrsabkommens mit der EU sowie die Umwelt-Auswirkungen der flankierenden Massnahmen. Im diesem Teilprojekt stehen die Auswirkungen auf den Wald im Vordergrund.

Diagnose von Wald- und Baumkrankheiten

Wichtige Informationen zur Beurteilung der Waldgesundheit stammen aus der Beratung, bei welcher mittels differenzialdiagnostischen Methoden die Ursachen von Baumkrankheiten analysiert werden. Die Kunden agieren als externe Mitarbeiter und erhalten als Gegenleistung die Diagnose inklusive einer Empfehlung für das geeignete weitere Vorgehen.

Treeline in Ural

Historical photographs document that the upper treeline of the Ural mountains has moved up 60 to 80 m during the last century. We assess how the expansion of forests into tundra affects soil organic matter dynamics in the pristine Southern, Northern and Polar Ural.

Soil solution in LWF plots

The chemistry of soil solution and the soil water availability for plants have been monitored since 1997 in seven forest plots in Switzerland. This project, linked to the Swiss Long-term Forest Ecosystem Research project (LWF), aims to assess the soil response to atmospheric pollution (acidifying substances and nitrogen) and to climate change.

Tree Response to Climate Change - Valais

In Valais, Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and pubescent oak (Quercus pubescent) grow at least temporally at the edge of their physiological capabilites. We investigate the (potential) adaptation of these and co-occurring tree species to climate change and search for limits they might reach with increasing temperatures and droughts.

Nitrogen and ground vegetation

Ground vegetation is a powerful bio-indicator of the environment. The project aims at discriminating the various factors which may influence the dynamics of ground vegetation. Emphasis is being given to the role of nitrogen.

Crown condition assessment

It is important to have good information on the condition of the trees in the plots. Therefore scientists determine the relationships between crown condition and a number of environmental parameters.

Windthrow fauna

After the devestating windstorms in 1990 (Vivian) and 1999 (Lothar) investigations were started to monitor the development and succession of the insect fauna on cleared and uncleared windthrow areas, relative to control treatments in the intact forest. Until now, insects have been sampled during 7 (Vivian) and 4 (Lothar) years.

Schadenanalysen in Forstentomologie

Insekten prägen massgebend die Dynamik unserer Waldökosysteme. Informationen zur Verbreitung, Biologie und Epidemiologie der Waldinsekten dienen dazu, für Praxis und Behörden angepasste Massnahmen der Überwachung und Bekämpfung zu erarbeiten.

TreeNet

TreeNet is a biological drought and growth indicator network of forest ecosystems. It provides information about drought responses of trees all over Switzerland and their effects on the carbon balance of forests. TreeNet links the research of the eddy flux super sites Davos and Lägeren to the forest next to your home.

WATER

A network of four research institutions collaborates within an EC-funded Network of Excellence to determine and understand the influence of genetic diversity of trees and site water regime on neutral and functional diversities of the associated mycorrhizal community.

Show all

Publications

Puchi, P.F.; Khomik, M.; Frigo, D.; Arain, M.A.; Fonti, P.; Von Arx, G.; Castagneri, D., 2023: Revealing how intra- and inter-annual variability of carbon uptake (GPP) affects wood cell biomass in an eastern white pine forest. Environmental Research Letters, 18, 2: 024027 (11 pp.). doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/acb2df

Wang, Y.; Liu, X.; Treydte, K.; Zhang, Z.; Kang, H.; Zeng, X.; Xu, G.; Wu, Q.; Kang, S., 2023: Permafrost degradation alters the environmental signals recorded in tree-ring lignin methoxy group δ²H in Northeastern China. Science of the Total Environment, 860: 160519 (10 pp.). doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160519

McFadden, I.R.; Sendek, A.; Brosse, M.; Bach, P.M.; Baity‐Jesi, M.; Bolliger, J.; Bollmann, K.; Brockerhoff, E.G.; Donati, G.; Gebert, F.; Ghosh, S.; Ho, H.; Khaliq, I.; Lever, J.J.; Logar, I.; Moor, H.; Odermatt, D.; Pellissier, L.; De Queiroz, L.J.; ... Narwani, A., 2023: Linking human impacts to community processes in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Ecology Letters, 26, 2: 203-218. doi: 10.1111/ele.14153

Lu, Q.; Liu, X.; Treydte, K.; Greule, M.; Wieland, A.; Liu, J.; Zhao, L.; Zhang, Y.; Kang, H.; Zhang, L.; Zeng, X.; Keppler, F.; Chen, Z.; Xing, X., 2023: Altitude-specific differences in tree-ring δ²H records of wood lignin methoxy in the Qinling mountains, central China. Quaternary Science Reviews, 300: 107895 (14 pp.). doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107895

Frey, B.; Moser, B.; Tytgat, B.; Zimmermann, S.; Alberti, J.; Biederman, L.A.; Borer, E.T.; Broadbent, A.A.D.; Caldeira, M.C.; Davies, K.F.; Eisenhauer, N.; Eskelinen, A.; Fay, P.A.; Hagedorn, F.; Hautier, Y.; MacDougall, A.S.; McCulley, R.L.; Moore, J.L.; Nepel, M.; ... Risch, A.C., 2023: Long-term N-addition alters the community structure of functionally important N-cycling soil microorganisms across global grasslands. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 176: 108887 (11 pp.). doi: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2022.108887

Showing only the newest 5 publications

Show all publications (page display may take very long)

Staff

Forest Dynamics

Dr. Thomas Wohlgemuth	interim Head of Research Unit, Member of Directors Board
Prof. Dr. Andreas Rigling	Visiting scientist
Dr. Ryan Shipley	Scientific staff member

Ecophysiology

Dr. Marcus Schaub	Groupleader, Senior Scientist
Dr. David Jonas Basler	Postdoc
Dr. Arun Bose	Visiting scientist
Nicolas De Girardi	temporary employee
Dr. Sophia Etzold	Scientific staff member
Jonas Gisler	Technical staff member
Dr. Madeleine S. Goerg-Günthardt	Visiting scientist
Wen Guo	PhD student guest
Dr. Rudolf Häsler	Visiting scientist
Marie Horvath	Master student
Dominik Andrin Hummel	Technical staff member
Prof. Dr. Maihe Li	Senior Scientist
Gian-Battista Macor	Master student
Marius Mösinger	Civil service employee
Xi Qi	PhD student guest
Dr. Volodymyr Trotsiuk	Software engineer
Benjamin Turc	Visiting scientist
Dr. Pierre Vollenweider	Scientific staff member
Qingshui Yu	PhD student guest
Yanli Zhang	PhD student with Scholarshiop
Dr. Roman Zweifel	Scientific staff member

Plant regeneration ecology

Dr. Barbara Moser	interim Groupleader
Anton Burkart	Guest
Dr. Esther Frei	Scientific staff member
Céline Gauye	Master student
Ingrid Jansen	Technical staff member
Gioia Jutzi	Master student
Anna Neycken	PhD student guest
Anouchka Perret-Gentil	lab technician
Dr. Daniel Scherrer	Scientific staff member
Ulrich Wasem	Visiting scientist
Samuel Woodcock	Software engineer

Dendrosciences

PD Dr. Georg von Arx	Groupleader
Paula Ballikaya	PhD student
Mattias Barigazzi	Trainee
Hugo Berger	Visiting scientist
Davide Bernasconi	Trainee
Dr. Jesper Björklund	Scientific staff member
Andrea Lina Bringolf	Master student
Prof. Dr. Ulf Büntgen	Senior Scientist
Antoine Cabon	Scientific staff member
Prof. Dr. Paolo Cherubini	Senior Scientist
Prof. Emad Farahat Shaaban	Visiting scientist
Dr. Marina Fonti	Technical staff member
Dr. Patrick Fonti	Senior Scientist
Pierre-Antoine Gaertner	PhD student guest
Finn Gappisch	Civil service employee
Dr. Holger Gärtner	Scientific staff member
Marc Katzenmaier	PhD student guest
Dr. Stefan Klesse	Scientific staff member
Dr. Elisabet Martinez Sancho	Visiting scientist
Anna Neycken	PhD student guest
Daniel Nievergelt	Technical staff member
Evrim Ayse Sahan	Visiting scientist
Judith Scherrer	Visiting scientist
Loïc Schneider	Technical staff member
Dr. Kristina Seftigen	Scientific staff member
Lenka Slámová-Matéju	Visiting scientist
Simona Staub	Bachelor student
Dr. Annemiek Stegehuis	Visiting scientist
Dr. Kerstin Treydte	Senior Scientist
Isa van Lidth de Jeude	Master student
Anne Verstege	Technical staff member
Fang Wang	Visiting scientist
Danyang Yuan	PhD student guest
Liangjun Zhu	PhD student guest

LWF I

Prog. SwissForestLab

Dr. Yann Vitasse

Scientific staff member

Ecosystem Ecology

Prof. Dr. Arthur Gessler	Groupleader
Mark Anthony	Scientific staff member
Frederik Baumgarten	Visiting scientist
Dr. Julia Born	Project Manager
Dr. Arun Bose	Visiting scientist
Dr. Alessandra Bottero	Scientific staff member
Valentin Comte	PhD student guest
Nicolas De Girardi	temporary employee
Haoyu Diao	Postdoc
Dr. Petra D`Odorico	Scientific staff member
Sylvain Eichhorn	temporary employee
Dr. Marina Fonti	Technical staff member
Elham Freund	Visiting scientist
Holger Griess	Scientific staff member
Dr. Matthias Haeni	Data Scientist / System Engineer
Meisha Holloway-Philips	Temporary employee / Scientific staff member
Dr. Zhaoyong HU	Visiting scientist
Christian Hug	Technical staff member
Dr. Stefan Hunziker	scientific staff member
Andreas Kohler	temporary employee
Dr. Frank Krumm	Scientific staff member
Dr. Marco Lehmann	Scientific staff member
Dr. Jelle Lever	Postdoc
Dr. Martin Ley	Administrativer Fachspezialist
Na Luo	PhD student guest
Dr. Yunpeng Luo	Postdoc
Ugo Molteni	Visiting scientist
Christoph Mullis	Technical staff member
Maria Elvira Murazzi	Visiting scientist
Tatiana Nazarova	PhD student
Elsa Östlund	Aushilfe SNF
Alfred Potzinger	Temporary employee
Prof. Dr. Martine Rebetez	Senior Scientist
Shilong Ren	Visiting scientist
Joel Sames	temporary employee
Dr. Matthias Saurer	Scientific staff member, Senior Scientist
Moritz Schlatter	Technical staff member
Léonard Schneider	PhD student guest
Philipp Schuler	PhD student
Raphael Siegrist	Temporary employee
Dr. Rolf Siegwolf	Visiting scientist
Philipp Spiegel	Aushilfe SNF
Kristina Stange	Mitarbeiterin Feldaufnahmen
Tanja Stutz	Technical staff member
Flurin Sutter	GIS specialist
Dr. Volodymyr Trotsiuk	Software engineer
Dr. Valentina Vitali	Scientific staff member
Dr. Yann Vitasse	Scientific staff member
Manuel Walde	PhD student
Tim Wasem	temporary employee
Micah Wilhelm	Scientific assistant
Jan Ziegler	Technical staff member