January, 5th 2023

Trees as witnesses to environmental pollution

Trees absorb tiny metal particles from the air and soil and deposit them in their tissues. This has been shown by an experiment conducted by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL. These findings open up possibilities for detecting environmental pollution or even remedying it in the future.






March, 11th 2021

Biochemical techniques could aid our understanding of tree health.

The health of Swiss forests has been monitored closely since the 'forest dieback' in the 1980s. However, the characteristics used as an indicator for tree health have some drawbacks. It is time for biochemical analyses of tree rings to be incorporated into the relevant monitoring programmes, says a research team headed by WSL.