Forest Dynamics

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:

  1. 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;
  2. 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;
  3. 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.
 

Topics

Projects

Master thesis

 

Open Master thesis in the group Mycorrhiza, Research Unit Forest Dynamics

 

Seasonal and spatial genetic patterns of a natural population of Burgundy truffles (Tuber aestivum)

Further information (PDF)

Population dynamics in 16 natural Burgundy truffle sites

Further information (PDF)

Development of mycorrhiza colonization of inoculated trees in a Burgundy truffle plantation (Tuber aestivum)

Further information (PDF)

Small-scale distribution of individuals and mating types of the widespread mycorrhizal fungus Cenococcum geophilum

Further information (PDF)

Where are the fathers? Small-scale distribution of individuals and mating types of Burgundy truffles (Tuber aestivum) in natural truffle locations

Further information (PDF)

Is the population structure of the widespread mycorrhizal fungus Cenococcum geophilum influenced by the water availability in the soil and the genetics of the host plant?

Further information (PDF)

Research Groups and Staff

Forest Dynamics

Thomas Wohlgemuth

Member of Directors Board; Senior Scientist, interim Head of Research Unit

Ulf Büntgen

Senior Scientist

Elisabet Martinez Sancho

Visiting scientist

Andreas Rigling

Visiting scientist

Ulrich Wasem

Temporary employee

Ecosystem Ecology

Arthur Gessler

Groupleader

Mark Anthony

Scientific staff member

Marçal Argelich Ninot

Temporary employee

Frederik Baumgarten

Visiting scientist

Julia Born

Project Manager

Arun Bose

Visiting scientist

Olga Churakova

Visiting scientist

Valentin Comte

PhD student guest

Maaike De Boer

Visiting scientist

Nicolas De Girardi

Temporary employee

Haoyu Diao

Postdoc

Sylvain Eichhorn

Temporary employee

Elham Freund

Visiting scientist

Alligin Ramez Liston Ghazoul

Visiting scientist

Holger Griess

Scientific staff member

Matthias Haeni

IT specialist

Meisha Holloway-Phillips

Scientific staff member

Zhaoyong HU

Visiting scientist

Christian Hug

Technical staff member

Stefan Hunziker

Scientific staff member

Christine Köchli

Temporary employee

Frank Krumm

Scientific staff member

Jelle Lever

Postdoc

Martin Ley

Administrative specialist

Mirko Lukovic

Scientific staff member

Yunpeng Luo

Postdoc

Francesca Sofia Manca di Villahermosa

Visiting scientist

Bruno Mörgeli

Temporary employee

Christoph Mullis

Technical staff member

Tatiana Nazarova

PhD student

Eugénie Paul-Limoges

Scientific staff member

Simone Maria Pieber

Visiting scientist

Alfred Potzinger

Fieldworker / Deputy Project Manager

Martine Rebetez

Senior Scientist

Matthias Saurer

Scientific staff member

Léonard Schneider

Visiting scientist

Raphael Siegrist

Temporary employee

Rolf Siegwolf

Visiting scientist

Lynsay Spafford

Guest

Pierdomenico Spina

PhD student guest

Flurin Sutter

GIS specialist

Volodymyr Trotsiuk

Software engineer

Maria del Carmen Urena Lara

PhD student guest

Valentina Vitali

Scientific staff member

Yann Vitasse

Scientific staff member

Manuel Walde

PhD student

Micah Wilhelm

Scientific assistant

Artin Zarsav

PhD student

Ecophysiology

Marcus Schaub

Groupleader

Isabelle Arnold

Visiting scientist

David Jonas Basler

Postdoc

Magalie Chavanne

Master student

Carlo di Bello

PhD student

Sophia Etzold

Scientific staff member

Jonas Gisler

Technical staff member

Madeleine S. Goerg-Günthardt

Visiting scientist

Rudolf Häsler

Visiting scientist

Marie Horvath

Trainee

Dominik Andrin Hummel

Technical staff member

Maihe Li

Senior Scientist

Marcus Maeder

Visiting scientist

Francesco Niccoli

Visiting scientist

Richard Peters

Visiting scientist

Xi Qi

PhD student guest

Max Tornow

Civil service employee

Pierre Vollenweider

Scientific staff member

Yanli Zhang

PhD student

Yi Zhu

PhD student guest

Roman Zweifel

Scientific staff member

Samuel Zweifel

Master student

Dendrosciences

Georg von Arx

Groupleader

Wenling An

Visiting scientist

Paula Ballikaya

Visiting scientist

Mattias Barigazzi

Temporary employee

Tamara Bibbo

Visiting scientist

Jesper Björklund

Visiting scientist

Seraina Brandes

Master student

Antoine Cabon

Scientific staff member

Paolo Cherubini

Senior Scientist

Ariane Dieth

Master student

Marina Fonti

Visiting scientist

Patrick Fonti

Senior Scientist

Holger Gärtner

Scientific staff member

Marc Katzenmaier

PhD student guest

Stefan Klesse

Scientific staff member

Lucia Mondanelli

PhD student guest

Daniel Nievergelt

Technical staff member

Mathias Perolini

Civil service employee

Philipp Rüegg

Temporary employee

Loïc Schneider

Technical staff member

Kristina Seftigen

Visiting scientist

Lenka Slámová-Matéju

Visiting scientist

Nadja-Tamara Studer

Assistant scientifique

Raphael Studer

Temporary employee

Kerstin Treydte

Senior Scientist

Anne Verstege

Technical staff member

Danyang Yuan

PhD student guest

Liangjun Zhu

PhD student guest