Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL

Research Units

Forest Resources and Management

Hauptinhalt

Forest Resources and Management ¶

Head: Dr. Marco Ferretti

Contents ¶

News
Publications
Projects
Research Groups and Staff

Our mission is: "Building knowledge on Swiss forests for science, sustainable management, and people". Our ultimate goal is to promote sustainable use and climate-smart forest management of the Swiss forests in the 21^st Century.

Our activity is directed to:

Advance our understanding on condition, response and feedbacks of Swiss forests to global change drivers, by long-term, large-scale monitoring and experiments, analysis, modeling and predictions.
Develop science-driven solutions for sustainable management and forestry options in a changing climate, to ensure regeneration and sustainable provision of forests products and services, and protect biodiversity.
Connect the science and the applied forest management, by novel methods, approaches, Decision Support Systems and transfer to managers, administrations and people.

Our strengths stay into:

Long-term data: tradition and innovation. Look at our growth and yield network on managed forests (since 1885), at the network on forest reserves, (since 1948), or at our role within the Swiss National Forest Inventory LFI. Look also at our recent initiative SwissAIM to advance the monitoring of Swiss forest.
A balanced blend of expertise, methods, information science and technology. Our expertise goes from inventorying and monitoring to statistics and modeling, from sylviculture to forestry and bioenergy, from data management to geo-spatial information systems and science, and from field methods to close range remote sensing, data visualization and computer vision.
Swiss focus, international perspective. While our focus is on the Swiss national scale, we are active from local to international scale. Our collaborators have important roles in international activities and programs, like the UNECE ICP Forests, the ENFIN, the FAO ToS.

News ¶

Katrin Meusburgn sits on the ground in a forest, next to a freshly planted tree. The surroundings indicate reforestation activity.

04.12.2025

Katrin Meusburger researches how soils store and transfer water. The ETH Board has now appointed her as titular professor.

A woman with long dark hair smiles warmly at the camera. She is wearing a dark shirt and has a friendly demeanor, set against a plain, light-colored background.

27.11.2025

Earth scientist Franziska Lechleitner is researching underground carbon cycles with an SNF Starting Grant worth 1.8 mio CHF.

A panoramic view of majestic snow-covered mountains under a clear blue sky. The landscape features glaciers and rugged terrain, showcasing the beauty of a winter alpine environment. Snow blankets the ground, creating a serene and untouched atmosphere.

26.11.2025

An international research team shows that avalanches contribute significantly to the health of many glaciers.

Three-toed woodpecker perched on dead tree trunk against clear blue sky.

05.11.2025

In a study based on long-term data, WSL researchers show that woodpecker populations grow when there is more deadwood.

Publications ¶

Projects ¶

Research Groups and Staff ¶

Forest Resources and Management

Marco Ferretti	Head of Research Unit
Rita Ghosh	Visiting scientist

Stand Dynamics and Silviculture

Martina Hobi	Group leader
Carl-Michael Heimo Andersson	Technical staff member
Harald Bugmann	Visiting scientist
Jonas Glatthorn	Scientific staff member
Johanna Gnägi	Master student
Jokin Idoate Lacasia	PhD student guest
Emmi Kaislasalmi	PhD student guest
Tobias Kalt	Technical staff member
Tobias Kühnhanss	Scientific assistant
Andrea D. Kupferschmid	Scientific staff member
Danielle Iris Maij	Master student
Andras Marosi	Temporary employee
Marcelo Martinez Valenzuela	Scientific assistant
Iza Murzynowska	Technical staff member
Petia Simeonova Nikolova	Scientific staff member
Jens Nitzsche	Technical staff member
Gilbert Projer	Technical staff member
Hubert Schmid	Technical staff member
Julia Schwarz	Scientific staff member
Georgios Skiadaresis	Scientific staff member
Jonas Stillhard	Technical staff member
Kathrin Streit	Technical staff member
Christoph Tellenbach	Technical staff member
Arno Thöni	Scientific assistant
Mattea Wild	Temporary employee
Matthias Wüthrich	Technical staff member
Samuel Zweifel	PhD student guest

GIS

Andri Baltensweiler	Group leader
Sandro Bischof	Technical staff member
Colin Kretz Bloom	Postdoc
Rebecca Buchholz	Software engineer
Enikö Fey	IT specialist
Marielle Fraefel	Technical staff member
Dominik Sebastian Haas-Artho	Software engineer
Ionut Iosifescu Enescu	Software engineer
Rolf Meile	IT specialist
Enrico Peruselli	Software engineer
Christian Schmid	Software engineer
Sandro Silva	Software engineer
Yasmin Waldeck	Software engineer
Lukas Wotruba	IT specialist
Florian Zellweger	Scientific staff member

Sustainable Forestry

Janine Schweier	Group leader
Clemens Blattert	Scientific staff member
Leo Bont	Technical staff member
Shayani Fernando	Postdoc
Fabian Gemperle	Scientific assistant
Stefan Holm	Software engineer
Hristina Hristova	Scientific staff member
Sunni K.P. Kushwaha	Postdoc
Simon Emil Mutterer	PhD student
Justus Elija Nögel	Scientific assistant
Nial Thomas Perry	PhD student
Laura Ramstein	Temporary employee / Scientific staff member
Samuel Ugo Ringier	PhD student
Oliver Thees	Temporary employee

Resource Analysis

Esther Thürig	Group leader
Markus Didion	Scientific staff member
Roman Flury	Scientific staff member
Anne Herold-Bonardi	Technical staff member
Gina Marano	PostDoc
Jeanne Portier	Scientific staff member
Brigitte Rohner	Scientific staff member
Erik Rösler	Technical staff member
Golo Stadelmann	Technical staff member

Plant regeneration ecology

Barbara Moser	Group leader
David Böhm	Visiting scientist
Giulia Burini	PhD student
Anton Burkart	Visiting scientist
Edith Burkart	Visiting scientist
Esther Frei	Visiting scientist
Andrea Martac	Technical staff member
Andrea Martac	Technical staff member
David Maurus Meier	Master student
Anouchka Perret-Gentil	Lab technician
Daniel Scherrer	Scientific staff member

Scientific Service NFI

Christoph Fischer	Progam leader and group leader
Meinrad Abegg	Technical staff member
Philippe Ahles	Software engineer
Barbara Allgaier Leuch	Technical staff member
Aline Bornand	Visiting scientist
Fabrizio Cioldi	Technical staff member
Christoph Düggelin	Technical staff member
Fulvio Giudici	Temporary employee
Hans Rudolf Hochuli	Temporary employee
Nataliia Rehush	Technical staff member
Ross Taylor Shackleton	Scientific staff member
Simon Speich	IT specialist
Peter Stoll	Scientific staff member
Christian Temperli	Scientific staff member
Berthold Traub	IT specialist