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Dendrosciences

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We use tree rings to investigate environmental impacts on tree growth and reconstruct past environmental changes. Our aim is to understand the underlying tree-physiological processes, particularly in relation to the water and carbon cycles. The spatio-temporal scale ranges from minutes to millennia and from cells to ecosystems around the globe. Our toolbox includes time series analysis of ring width, x-ray density, stable isotopes and wood cell anatomy. We aim to advance these tools through development of hardware, software and statistical methods.

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Projects

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

GenTree

GenTree aims at providing the European forestry sector with better knowledge, methods and tools for optimizing the management and sustainable use of forest genetic resources in Europe in the context of climate change and continuously evolving demands for forest products and services.

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.

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.

Bulgarische Bergwälder

In large uncultivated forests in Bulgaria, the SLF is investigating the potential reaction of mountain woodland to climate change.

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.

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?

Lötschental

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

Quality wood production

The WSL initiated together with other institutions a research program aiming at high quality chestnut timber by minimizing the costs and improving the functional features and the stability of the coppice stands.

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Publications

Lopez-Saez, J.; Corona, C.; Von Arx, G.; Fonti, P.; Slamova, L.; Stoffel, M., 2023: Tree-ring anatomy of Pinus cembra trees opens new avenues for climate reconstructions in the European Alps. Science of the Total Environment, 855: 158605 (12 pp.). doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158605

Gennaretti, F.; Carrer, M.; García-González, I.; Rossi, S.; Von Arx, G., 2022: Editorial: quantitative wood anatomy to explore tree responses to global change. Frontiers in Plant Science, 13. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.998895

Bast, A.; Graf, F.; Gärtner, H., 2022: Das Arieschtobel: ein Freiluftlabor für den ingenieurbiologischen Hangverbau. Ingenieurbiologie: Mitteilungsblatt, 29-38.

Yang, B.; Qin, C.; Bräuning, A.; Osborn, T.J.; Trouet, V.; Ljungqvist, F.C.; Esper, J.; Schneider, L.; Grießinger, J.; Büntgen, U.; Rossi, S.; Dong, G.; Yan, M.; Ning, L.; Wang, J.; Wang, X.; Fan, B.; Wang, S.; Luterbacher, J.; ... Stenseth, N.C., 2022: Reply to weiss: tree-ring stable oxygen isotopes suggest an increase in Asian monsoon rainfall at 4.2 ka BP. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America PNAS, 119, 20: e2204067119 (3 pp.). doi: 10.1073/pnas.2204067119

Chen, Y.; Rademacher, T.; Fonti, P.; Eckes-Shephard, A.H.; LeMoine, J.M.; Fonti, M.V.; Richardson, A.D.; Friend, A.D., 2022: Inter-annual and inter-species tree growth explained by phenology of xylogenesis. New Phytologist, 235, 3: 939-952. doi: 10.1111/nph.18195

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