Dr. Pierre Vollenweider

Function

Scientific staff member

Forest Dynamics

Ecophysiology

Contact

pierre.vollenweider(at)wslto make life hard for spam bots.ch

+41 44 739 24 35+41 44 739 24 35

Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL
Zürcherstrasse 111
8903 Birmensdorf

Site

Birmensdorf Bi LG C 26

ResearcherID: L-9315-2013

Interests

Macro- and micromorphological changes in response to environmental stress
Functional plant anatomy
Autoecology of woody species
Bioindication of airborne and soilborne stress factors
Histology, Cytology and Cell physiology

FURTHER INFORMATION

Projects

Functional ecology of alpine meadows

The ongoing climate change has caused changes in the species composition of alpine meadows. Complementing the vegetation surveys realized in the GLORIA initiative, this project investigates the functional responses above- and belowground to abiotic drivers in alpine forb and grass species.

Soil and tree resilience after forest wildfire in Southern Italy

Pine tree stand and forest site resilience after the severe 2017 wildfire on the slopes of Vesuvius, Italy

The dynamic of ozone injury and responses within tree foliage

Relating the stress and detoxification responses at cell level to the phytotoxic ozone dose in foliage of trees

Metalink

Soil contamination with heavy metals is a widespread problem affecting natural, cultivated, urban and industrial sites throughout Europe. The main objective in this Swiss/Polish collaboration project is to characterize the links between environmental, genotypic, and phenotypic features in the metal-tolerant plant model Arabidopsis halleri.

Tea bag decomposition study

Decomposition of plant litter is a key process for the transfer of carbon and nutrients in ecosystems. Carbon contained in the decaying biomass is released to the atmosphere as respired CO2, and may contribute to global warming. Litterbag studies have been used to improve our knowledge of the drivers of litter decomposition, but they lack comparability because litter quality is plant species-specific. The use of commercial tea bags as a standard substrate was suggested in order to harmonize studies, where green tea and rooibos represent more labile and more recalcitrant C compounds as surrogates of local litter.

CaNuPine/MICRO

In this project, adaptive and stress responses to drought stress and varying nutrient availability are being analyzed at tissue, cell and subcellular level in foliage of Scots pine and downy oak.

Compartmentation of de-icing salts and structural reactions to salt accumulation in foliage of ornamental lime trees

Street greenery has recently emerged as a major research and urbanization issue. The main objectives in this project are to study the accumulation and effects of de-icing salts in foliage of lime trees (Tilia x vulgaris) and to apply this knowledge for selecting more tolerant lime species and cultivars, with a view to street plantation.

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.

Antimony uptake as a function of waterlogging in the rhizosphere

Antimony (Sb) is a rather rare but toxic element increasingly contaminating ecosystems. Principal objectives in this project are to investigate the role of changes in the soil conditions and root structure on the uptake of Sb. The results will provide understanding of the soil and root processes governing Sb availability and plant uptake.

Evolutionary traits

Elevated heavy metal concentrations in the soil are a frequent consequence of past or ongoing industrial activities. The principal objective in this project is to characterize mechanistic aspects of metal accumulation and tolerance and relate it to the genetic structure of populations of Biscutella laevigata. The expected results should provide innovative insights on evolutionary processes of metal tolerance.

Foliar symptoms specific for ozone stress in rain forest trees of southern Brazil

The toxic effects of tropospheric ozone concentrations on plants have been reported primarily for ecosystems from the northern hemisphere with a mediterranean, temperate or boreal climate. In the southern hemisphere with its tropical climate, the impact of ozone on natural ecosystems is still mostly unknown.

MICRO

Microscopical changes in cells and tissues in response to various environmental stress factors are investigated in trees to develop diagnosis tools and understand the mechanistic link between stress and injury.

Boron & salt allocation

With a quickly growing world population and raising demand for agricultural products, the productivity of irrigated agricultural soils is threatened as a consequence of soil salinization in many places with arid climates. Main objectives of this research project are to investigate the compartmentation-based mechanisms contributing to tolerance in foliage of poplar trees grown on soils contaminated with elevated levels of Boron and salts in the San Joaquin Valley in Central California.

Understory removal experiment Salgesch

Long-term research on the interactions between changes in land use and climate and their consequences regarding forest health and dynamic in the pine forests at low elevation of Central Alps

Macro- and micro morphological reactions to low soil water availability in the foliage of Scots pine from Wallis

In this project, the structural changes in foliage of Scots pine are used as sensitive bioindications of environmental constraints to study the reactions of dry pine forests in Wallis to low soil water availability and changes in land use.

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Publications

Scientific publication article peer reviewed

Vollenweider, P.; Hildbrand, G.; De Masi, D.; Gavazov, K.; Zufferey, V.; Buttler, A.; Von Arx, G., 2022: Above‐ and belowground responses to experimental climate forcing in two forb species from montane wooded pastures in Switzerland. Functional Ecology, doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.14212

Günthardt-Goerg, M.S.; Vollenweider, P.; Schulin, R., 2022: Metal accumulation and biomass production in young afforestations established on soil contaminated by heavy metals. Plants, 11, 4: 523 (17 pp.). doi: 10.3390/plants11040523

Bachofen, C.; Perret‐Gentil, A.; Wohlgemuth, T.; Vollenweider, P.; Moser, B., 2021: Phenotypic plasticity versus ecotypic differentiation under recurrent summer drought in two drought‐tolerant pine species. Journal of Ecology, 109, 11: 3861-3876. doi: 10.1111/1365-2745.13762

Didion‐Gency, M.; Bachofen, C.; Buchmann, N.; Gessler, A.; Morin, X.; Vicente, E.; Vollenweider, P.; Grossiord, C., 2021: Interactive effects of tree species mixture and climate on foliar and woody trait variation in a widely distributed deciduous tree. Functional Ecology, 35, 11: 2397-2408. doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.13898

Turc, B.; Vollenweider, P.; Le Thiec, D.; Gandin, A.; Schaub, M.; Cabané, M.; Jolivet, Y., 2021: Dynamics of foliar responses to O₃ stress as a function of phytotoxic O₃ dose in hybrid poplar. Frontiers in Plant Science, 12: 679852 (14 pp.). doi: 10.3389/fpls.2021.679852

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Further scientific publications

Gottardini, E.; Calatayud, V.; Corradini, S.; Pitar, D.; Vollenweider, P.; Ferretti, M.; Schaub, M., 2019: Activities to improve data quality in ozone symptom assessment within the expert panel on ambient air quality. In: Michel, A.; Prescher, A.; Schwärzel, K. (eds), 2019: Forest condition in Europe 2019 technical report of ICP Forests. Report under the UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). Vienna, BFW Austrian Research Centre for Forests. 36-40.

Ulrich, E.; Dalstein, L.; Günthardt-Goerg, M.S.; Vollenweider, P.; Cecchini, S.; Vas, N.; Sjöberg, K.; Skarman, T.; Karlsson, G.P., 2006: RENECOFOR. Effets de l'ozone sur la végétation, concentrations d'ozone (2000-2002) et symptomes d'ozone sur la végétation forestière (2001-2003). Fontainebleau, Office National des Forêts. 126 p.

Günthardt-Goerg, M.S.; Vollenweider, P., 2003: Cellular injury, heavy metal uptake and growth of poplar, willow and spruce influenced by heavy metals and soil acidity. In: Mench, M.; Mocquot, B. (eds), 2003: COST Action 837. Risk assessment and sustainable land management using plants in trace element-contaminated soils. 4th WG2 Workshop, Bordeaux. 165-171.

Dalstein, L.; Vollenweider, P.; Vas, N.; Günthardt-Goerg, M.S., 2002: L'ozone et les conifères du Sud-Est de la France. Forêt Méditerranéenne, XXIII, 2: 105-116.

Günthardt-Goerg, M.S.; Landolt, W.; Vollenweider, P.; Wonisch, A.; McQuattie, C.J.; Monseglio, U.; Prati, D.; Hauff, K.; Steinbrecher, R.; Grill, D., 2001: Qualitätsveränderungen in Organen und Geweben. In: Brunold, C.; Balsiger, P.W.; Bucher, J.B.; Körner, C.; Eidg. Forschungsanstalt WSL (eds), 2001: Wald und CO2. Ergebnisse eines ökologischen Modellversuchs. Bern, Paul Haupt. 131-144.

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Magazine article and brochures

Günthardt-Goerg, M.S.; Vollenweider, P.; Rigling, A., 2020: Les chênes, ces grands résistants. La Forêt, 73, 4: 16-19.

Günthardt-Goerg, M.S.; Vollenweider, P.; Rigling, A., 2020: Die Eiche wehrt sich. Bündnerwald, 73, 3: 32-38.

Bonfils, P.P.; Arend, M.; Kuster, T.M.; Fonti, P.; Vollenweider, P.; Junod, P.; Günthardt-Goerg, M.S., 2013: Le chêne, une essence de grande plasticité. La Forêt, 66, 10: 13-17.

Bonfils, P.; Kuster, T.; Fonti, P.; Arend, M.; Vollenweider, P.; Junod, P.; Günthardt-Goerg, M.S., 2013: Die Eiche reagiert plastisch. Wald und Holz, 45-49.

Schneider, P.; Vollenweider, P., 2008: Le chêne dans tous ses états. proQuercus. La Forêt, 61, 7-8: 14-16.

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CV

Since 2001 Research scientist and senior researcher, WSL, Switzerland

1998 - 2001 Post-doc, WSL, Switzerland

1997 - 1999 1^st Research and teaching assistant, University of Lausanne, Switzerland

1996 - 1997 Post-doc, University of Massachusetts, USA.

1991 - 1995 Research and teaching assistant, University of Lausanne, Switzerland

1988 - 1995 Environmental consultant (different firms), Switzerland

1986 - 1995 PhD. University of Lausanne, Switzerland

1982 - 1986 Studies in Biology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland

Organizations

Pro Quercus

Other activities

Since 1997 Forest manager (private owner, 10 ha), western Switzerland

Teaching

Lecture with Practical Exercises: Functional plant anatomy and ecology

Teaching includes class hours, laboratory training and an excursion during the spring semester.Lecture chapters : 1. Introduction. 2. Plant cells and environmental constraints.3. Plant tissues and their contribution to environmental adaptation.4. Plant roots: from the cell to plant-soil interactions. 5. Ecology and structure: 5.1. Plant structure and the ecological niche. 5.2. Structural changes in response to environmental constraints. 6. Structural responses to stress: 6.1. Visible symptoms and microscopic changes. 6.2. Bioindication on the basis of microscopic markers. 7. Conclusions. Documents discussed in the lecture, training protocols, research articles and many microscopy micrographs are provided online and in the form of downloadable files during the semester.

Organizer: Université de Lausanne

Person in charge: Pierre Vollenweider

WSL websites

waldwissen.net

Knowhow for forestry experts and all others interested in the forest

lfi.ch

Swiss National Forest Inventory NFI - a forest information service

envidat.ch

Access to environmental monitoring and research data

natural-hazards.ch

Warnings on natural hazards by Swiss federal authorities

slf.ch

WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF in Davos

Main menu

Main menu

Dr. Pierre Vollenweider

Interests

FURTHER INFORMATION

Projects

Functional ecology of alpine meadows

Soil and tree resilience after forest wildfire in Southern Italy

The dynamic of ozone injury and responses within tree foliage

Metalink

Tea bag decomposition study

CaNuPine/MICRO

Compartmentation of de-icing salts and structural reactions to salt accumulation in foliage of ornamental lime trees

MOUNTROOT

Antimony uptake as a function of waterlogging in the rhizosphere

Evolutionary traits

Foliar symptoms specific for ozone stress in rain forest trees of southern Brazil

MICRO

Boron & salt allocation

Understory removal experiment Salgesch

Macro- and micro morphological reactions to low soil water availability in the foliage of Scots pine from Wallis

Publications

Scientific publication article peer reviewed

Further scientific publications

Magazine article and brochures

CV

Organizations

Other activities

Teaching

Lecture with Practical Exercises: Functional plant anatomy and ecology

Navigation mit Access Keys

Main menu

Main menu

Dr. Pierre Vollenweider

Interests

Organizations

Other activities