Dr. Marco Ferretti

Function

Head of Research Unit

Forest Resources and Management

Contact

marco.ferretti(at)wslto make life hard for spam bots.ch

+41 44 739 22 51+41 44 739 22 51

Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL
Zürcherstrasse 111
8903 Birmensdorf

Site

Birmensdorf Bi HP D 69

Mission statement: “Connect - integrate - go further.”

I am a forest scientist and ecologist. I consider inventorying and monitoring of forests and natural resource as an essential tool for sustainable forest and environmental management. My research focus is on detecting changes in forest ecosystems, with emphasis on the influence of environmental drivers on forest health, productivity, and diversity. My primary interest is to ensure high quality data and information, connect different fields of the monitoring science, and promote integration across disciplines. This will help advancing our understanding of forest resources, their management and dynamics, and to better answer societal needs.

Researcher ID N-9057-2017

Google Scholar https://scholar.google.ch/citations?user=W4U_K_UAAAAJ&hl=de

Research Gate https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marco_Ferretti

Full Publication List

FURTHER INFORMATION

Biosketch

I have got my degree in Forest Sciences at the University of Firenze (1986) and obtained my PhD from the University of Siena (2006). I obtained the Italian National Scientific Habilitation (ASN process) as Chair professor in Ecology (Sector 05/C1) and Chair professor in Science and Technology of Forest and Arboricultural Systems (Sector 07/B2) (2013).

Since 2017 I am the Head of Unit Forest Resources and Management at the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL. Since 2017 I also serve as Chairman of the ICP Forests, a program established in 1985 under the UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (www.icp-forests.org).

Formerly, I served as co-ordinator of the IUFRO Working Group 7.04.01 “Detection, Monitoring and Evaluation) (2000-2006). I was Technical Director at TerraData environmetrics, Siena, Italy (2006-2016), Contract Professor at the University of Siena (2002-2010), Contract Researcher at the University of Firenze (1988-2007) and Project Manager at Linnaea ambiente, Firenze, Italy (1990-2005).

Most of my past work has been based on terrestrial measurements and data analysis of forest health, growth, diversity, and atmospheric chemistry on local (Italy, several regional programs, 1987-ongoing), national (Switzerland, 2017, ongoing; Italy, 1997-ongoing; France: 2009-2012), European (1988-ongoing) forest monitoring networks, with co-operation and contacts with North-America (Canada, USA: 2003 - ongoing) and east Asia (2009 - ongoing).

Publications WSL

Scientific publication article peer reviewed

Gottardini, E.; Cristofolini, F.; Cristofori, A.; Ferretti, M., 2023: Forests attenuate temperature and air pollution discomfort in montane tourist areas. Forests, 14, 3: 545 (12 pp.). doi: 10.3390/f14030545

Gessler, A.; Ferretti, M.; Schaub, M., 2022: Editorial: forest monitoring to assess forest functioning under air pollution and climate change. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 5: 952232 (4 pp.). doi: 10.3389/ffgc.2022.952232

Jaime, L.; Batllori, E.; Ferretti, M.; Lloret, F., 2022: Climatic and stand drivers of forest resistance to recent bark beetle disturbance in European coniferous forests. Global Change Biology, 28, 8: 2830-2841. doi: 10.1111/gcb.16106

Faralli, M.; Cristofolini, F.; Cristofori, A.; Ferretti, M.; Gottardini, E., 2022: Leaf trait plasticity and site-specific environmental variability modulate the severity of visible foliar ozone symptoms in Viburnum lantana. PLoS One, 17, 7: e0270520 (14 pp.). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0270520

Weldon, J.; Merder, J.; Ferretti, M.; Grandin, U., 2022: Nitrogen deposition causes eutrophication in bryophyte communities in central and northern European forests. Annals of Forest Science, 79: 24 (14 pp.). doi: 10.1186/s13595-022-01148-6

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Further scientific publications

Dreyer, E.; Bolte, A.; Ferretti, M.; Leban, J.; Lhotka, J.M.; Liu, S.; Lesage, V., 2023: Annals of Forest Science promotes multidisciplinary research devoted to forests and wood in a changing world. Annals of Forest Science, 80, 1: 8 (2 pp.). doi: 10.1186/s13595-023-01177-9

Schaub, M.; Vesterdal, L.; De Vos, B.; Ferretti, M.; Fleck, S.; Merilä, P.; Prescher, A.; Schwärzel, K.; Ukonmaanaho, L., 2022: FORECOMON 2021 - review of the 9th ICP Forests scientific conference on forest ecosystem monitoring. In: Michel, A.; Kirchner, T.; Prescher, A.; Schwärzel, K. (eds), 2022: Forest condition in Europe. The 2022 assessment. ICP forests technical report under the UNECE convention on long-range transboundary air pollution (air convention). Eberswalde, Thünen Institute. 25-28. doi: 10.3220/ICPTR1656330928000

Dreyer, E.; Leban, J.M.; Liu, S.L.; Bolte, A.; Lhotka, J.; Ferretti, M.; Lesage, V., 2022: Annals of Forest Science promotes multidisciplinary research on forests and wood in a changing world and is now a full Open Access journal. Annals of Forest Science, 79: 1 (2 pp.). doi: 10.1186/s13595-022-01119-x

Schaub, M.; Vesterdal, L.; De Vos, B.; Ukonmaanaho, L.; Fleck, S.; Schwärzel, K.; Ferretti, M. (eds), 2021: Forest monitoring to assess forest functioning under air pollution and climate change. Proceedings. FORECOMON 2021 - the 9th forest ecosystem monitoring conference, Birmensdorf. 108 p. doi: 10.16904/envidat.225

Conedera, M.; Risch, A.; Grossiord, C.; Bebi, P., 2021: Research Unit Community Ecology. In: Ferretti, M.; Fischer, C.; Gessler, A. (eds), 2021: Towards an advanced inventorying and monitoring system for the Swiss forest. Towards an advanced inventorying and monitoring system for the Swiss forest, Birmensdorf. 43-44.

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Magazine article and brochures

Potočić, N.; Timmermann, V.; Ognjenović, M.; Kirchner, T.; Prescher, A.; Ferretti, M., 2021: Tree health is deteriorating in the European forests. ICP forests brief, 5. 6 p. doi: 10.3220/ICP1638780772000

Schaub, M.; Haeni, M.; Calatayud, V.; Ferretti, M.; Gottardini, E., 2018: Ozone concentrations are decreasing but exposure remains high in European forests. ICP forests brief, 3. 6 p. doi: 10.3220/ICP1525258743000

Michel, A.K.; Prescher, A.; Seidling, W.; Ferretti, M., 2018: A policy-relevant infrastructure for long-term, large-scale assessment and monitoring of forest ecosystems. ICP forests brief, 1. 6 p. doi: 10.3220/ICP1520841254000

Ferretti, M.; Cherubini, P.; Dobbertin, M.; Nimis, P.L.; Parr, T.W., 2001: La questione del campionamento nelle reti di monitoraggio degli effetti dell'inquinamento ambientale e dei cambiamenti climatici sulle risorse naturali in Europa – tra vecchi problemi e nuove necessità. Comunicazioni di ricerca dell'Istituto Sperimentale per l'Assestamento Forestale e per l'Alpicoltura, 51-72.

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Full Publication List

Editorial Activity

Editor for Scientific journals
Annals of Forest Science (two special issues); Elsevier Development in Environmental Sciences (one book); Environmental Pollution (one special section); Forest Ecology and Management (one special issue).

Editorial boards
Annals of Forest Science; iForests; Annals of Silvicultural Research.

Referee for scientific journals
Annals of Forest Science; Canadian Journal of Forest Research; Dendrochronologia; Ecosystem Management & Restoration; Environmental and Experimental Botany; Environmental Modelling and Software; Environmental Monitoring and Assessment; Environmental Pollution; Forest Ecology and Management; Global Change Biology; Journal of Vegetation Science; Methods in Ecology and Evolution; The Journal of Engineering Research; Tree Physiology; Water Air and Soil Pollution.

Projects

PathFinder

PathFinder will develop an innovative integrated forest monitoring and pathway assessment system by the most efficient use of field, remotely sensed data, and advanced ground measurement devices. NFIs and ICP Forests networks and data will be complemented by innovative field monitoring sites.

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.

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

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.

Impacts of climate change induced extreme windthrow events on forest management and economy of European forest enterprises (ExWiFE)

An increase of extreme environmental disturbances is expected, which is for different reasons a big challenge for forest stakeholders on the operating-, strategic-, financial- and environmental level. Using diverse methods, we aim to describe the complexity of the current problem.

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Further Projects