Dr. Florian Zellweger

Function

Scientific staff member

Land Change Science

Dynamic macroecology

Contact

florian.zellweger(at)wslto make life hard for spam bots.ch

+41 44 739 26 77+41 44 739 26 77

Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL
Zürcherstrasse 111
8903 Birmensdorf

Site

Birmensdorf Bi

Research

My research is centred on using high-resolution remote sensing data and large field databases to understand how forest resources and biodiversity are responding to climate change and land management. We are currently focusing on the effects of microclimatic variation on species and ecosystem responses to global change. To this end we are maintaining a microclimate measurement network in Switzerland, and combine these measurements with 3D radiation transfer models and interpolation techniques to arrive at maps of the past, present and future microclimatic conditions. One application of our tools is analysing the effects of different forest management practises on the site suitability for the natural regeneration of different target tree species.

I am also collaborating with industry partners to develop solutions for biodiversity and natural capital monitoring. I am particularly involved in the development of globally applicable approaches to quantify carbon stocks and sequestration rates at management relevant scales. This information is then linked with other natural capital tools to arrive at a holistic approach to environmental resource management. My work builds upon strengthening the link between ecology and the digitalisation of natural resources, to help manage ecosystems sustainably and safeguard the provisioning of ecosystem services to future generations.

Education & Employment

11/2019 – present	SNF Ambizione Fellow & Scientific staff member WSL, Land Change Science, Birmensdorf
02/2019 – present	Scientific Modeller, Natural Capital Research Ltd., Oxford, UK
09/2017 – 11/2019	SNF Postdoc Mobility Fellow, University of Cambridge, Department of Plant Sciences, Cambridge, UK, advisor: Prof. David Coomes
05/2016 – 08/2017	Postdoc, WSL, Land Change Science, Birmensdorf
07/2013 - 03/2016	Ph.D., Ecology (Biodiversity and Remote Sensing), ETH Zurich
2012 – 2013	Scientific assistant, WSL, Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, Birmensdorf
2006 – 2012	B.S. and M.S., Geography (GIScience, Biogeography, Forest and Landscape Management), University of Zurich
2002 – 2006	Claims Manager, SwissRe, Division Property and Casualty, Zurich
1999 – 2010	Several projects in mountain forest management and in the Swiss National Park (civil service)

Selected publications

Zellweger, F., De Frenne, P., Lenoir, J., Vangansbeke, P, Verheyen, K., Bernhardt-Römermann, M., ... Coomes, D. (2020). Forest microclimate dynamics drive plant responses to warming. Science, 368, 772–775. (link to pdf).

Zellweger, F., De Frenne, P., Lenoir, J., Rocchini, D., & Coomes, D. (2019). Advances in microclimate ecology arising from remote sensing. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 34(4), 327–341.

De Frenne, P., Zellweger, F., Rodríguez-Sánchez, F., Scheffers, B., Hylander, K., Luoto, M., … Lenoir, J. (2019). Global buffering of temperatures under forest canopies. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 3, 744–749.

Zellweger, F., Roth, T., Bugmann, H., & Bollmann, K. (2017). Beta diversity of plants, birds and butterflies is closely associated with climate and habitat structure. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 26(8), 898–906.

Zellweger, F., Baltensweiler, A., Ginzler, C., Roth, T., Braunisch, V., Bugmann, H., & Bollmann, K. (2016). Environmental predictors of species richness in forest landscapes: abiotic factors versus vegetation structure. Journal of Biogeography, 43(6), 1080–1090.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Projects

Mikroklimatische Veränderungen beeinflussen Artenvielfalt

Wie wirkt sich die Klimaerwärmung auf die Artenvielfalt in der Schweiz aus? Die Veränderungen des bodennahen Mikroklimas liefern neue Einsichten.

DivScaling

The main objective of this project is to elaborate how different diversity components in Swiss forest change with increasing area and how they depend on changing heterogeneity.

Structural Diversity and Biodiversity

Is structural heterogeneity an important prerequisite for a rich biodiversity in forest ecosystems? This is the focal question of this study.

Climate change and forest birds

In this study, we assess the direct and indirect effects of climate change on the realised ecological niches of habitat specialists of mountain forests by assessing key structural and vegetational habitat components along a climatic gradient.

Publications WSL

Scientific publication article peer reviewed

Lembrechts, J.J.; Van den Hoogen, J.; Aalto, J.; Ashcroft, M.B.; De Frenne, P.; Kemppinen, J.; Kopecký, M.; Luoto, M.; Maclean, I.M.D.; Crowther, T.W.; Descombes, P.; Frei, E.R.; Meusburger, K.; Pellissier, L.; Pitteloud, C.; Risch, A.C.; Rixen, C.; Wipf, S.; Zellweger, F.; Lenoir, J., 2022: Global maps of soil temperature. Global Change Biology, 28, 9: 3110-3144. doi: 10.1111/gcb.16060

De Lombaerde, E.; Vangansbeke, P.; Lenoir, J.; Van Meerbeek, K.; Lembrechts, J.; Rodríguez-Sánchez, F.; Luoto, M.; Scheffers, B.; Haesen, S.; Aalto, J.; Christiansen, D.M.; De Pauw, K.; Depauw, L.; Govaert, S.; Greiser, C.; Hampe, A.; Hylander, K.; Klinges, D.; Koelemeijer, I.; ... De Frenne, P., 2022: Maintaining forest cover to enhance temperature buffering under future climate change. Science of the Total Environment, 810: 151338 (9 pp.). doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151338

Lenoir, J.; Gril, E.; Durrieu, S.; Horen, H.; Laslier, M.; Lembrechts, J.J.; Zellweger, F.; Alleaume, S.; Brasseur, B.; Buridant, J.; Dayal, K.; De Frenne, P.; Gallet-Moron, E.; Marrec, R.; Meeussen, C.; Rocchini, D.; Van Meerbeek, K.; Decocq, G., 2022: Unveil the unseen: using LiDAR to capture time-lag dynamics in the herbaceous layer of European temperate forests. Journal of Ecology, 110, 2: 282-300. doi: 10.1111/1365-2745.13837

Villarroya-Villalba, L.; Casanelles-Abella, J.; Moretti, M.; Pinho, P.; Samson, R.; Van Mensel, A.; Chiron, F.; Zellweger, F.; Obrist, M.K., 2021: Response of bats and nocturnal insects to urban green areas in Europe. Basic and Applied Ecology, 51: 59-70. doi: 10.1016/j.baae.2021.01.006

Haesen, S.; Lembrechts, J.J.; De Frenne, P.; Lenoir, J.; Aalto, J.; Ashcroft, M.B.; Kopecký, M.; Luoto, M.; Maclean, I.; Nijs, I.; Zellweger, F.; Van Meerbeek, K., 2021: ForestTemp – sub‐canopy microclimate temperatures of European forests. Global Change Biology, 27, 23: 6307-6319. doi: 10.1111/gcb.15892

Show all

Further scientific publications

Zellweger, F.; De Frenne, P.; Lenoir, J.; Vangansbeke, P.; Verheyen, K.; Bernhardt-Römermann, M.; Baeten, L.; Hédl, R.; Berki, I.; Brunet, J.; Van Calster, H.; Chudomelová, M.; Decocq, G.; Dirnböck, T.; Durak, T.; Heinken, T.; Jaroszewicz, B.; Kopecký, M.; Máliš, F.; ... Coomes, D., 2020: Response to comment on "forest microclimate dynamics drive plant responses to warming". Science, 370, 6520: eabd6193 (3 pp.). doi: 10.1126/science.abd6193

Zellweger, F.; De Frenne, P.; Lenoir, J.; Vangansbeke, P.; Verheyen, K.; Bernhardt-Römermann, M.; Baeten, L.; Hédl, R.; Berki, I.; Brunet, J.; Van Calster, H.; Chudomelová, M.; Decocq, G.; Dirnböck, T.; Durak, T.; Heinken, T.; Jaroszewicz, B.; Kopecký, M.; Máliš, F.; ... Coomes, D., 2020: Response to Comment on "Forest microclimate dynamics drive plant responses to warming". Science, 370, 6522: eabf2939 (4 pp.). doi: 10.1126/science.abf2939

Bramer, I.; Anderson, B.J.; Bennie, J.; Bladon, A.J.; De Frenne, P.; Hemming, D.; Hill, R.A.; Kearney, M.R.; Körner, C.; Korstjens, A.H.; Lenoir, J.; Maclean, I.M.D.; Marsh, C.D.; Morecroft, M.D.; Ohlemüller, R.; Slater, H.D.; Suggitt, A.J.; Zellweger, F.; ... Gillingham, P.K., 2018: Advances in monitoring and modelling climate at ecologically relevant scales. In: Jackson, M. (eds), 2018: Next generation biomonitoring: part 1. San Diego, Elsevier. 101-161. doi: 10.1016/bs.aecr.2017.12.005

Froidevaux, J.S.P.; Zellweger, F.; Bollmann, K.; Obrist, M.K., 2015: Élaborer un plan d'échantillonnage acoustique fiable avec les logiciels "PRESENCE" et "GENPRES". Vespère, 5: 333-347.