Research Interests

Public concerns, evidence from research, and increasing scientific knowledge are driving widespread discussions on air pollution, climate change, and forest health interactions. My research focuses on single and combined effects of air pollutants and environmental stressors on trees and forest ecosystems. I combine the sciences from plant physiology, environmental and experimental long-term monitoring, and applied modeling. I draw conclusions and develop quantitative scenarios for national and international stakeholders and policy makers.

Infrastructure

WSL Model Ecosystem Facility

The Model Ecosystem Facility (MODOEK) became operational in 1992. Many long-term interdisciplinary projects have been successfully carried out since its completion. The unit consists of 16 glass-walled open-top chambers each fitted with a sliding roof, whereby each chamber is divided into two semicircular lysimeters.

Long-term Irrigation Experiment Pfynwald

The Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) launched a long-term irrigation experiment in summer 2003 in the Nature Park.

LWF Demonstration plot

In order to show and explain its research projects and over 30 measuring instruments to interested persons.

Projekte

Integrating different datasets will allow us to disentangle and better understand the relationship between leaf level chlorophyll fluorescence, remotely sensed sun induced fluorescence and photosynthetic CO2 uptake in response to drought.

Using advanced dendrometer technology, we aim to unravel drought stress and growth patterns in European forests. By developing new analysis methods and leveraging a network of research sites, it seeks to pinpoint areas most vulnerable to drought across Central Europe.

This project investigates different ways of visualizing the complex data collected at the Pfynwald research site.

Our project, which proposes a novel approach (i.e., the use of virus-like particles), is key for the fundamental biological understanding of the transport and fate of nanoparticles in forest trees. Possible immediate applications include the development of new solutions for the nano-enabled foliar-a

The VPDrought Experiment aims to disentangle the effects of air and soil drought on forests. This is the first time worldwide that such an experiment is being conducted in this combination and quality. It is being carried out in the Pfynwald forest on an existing WSL research site.

The current and long-term conditions of the atmosphere impact the physiological functioning of trees. Therefore, many atmospheric variables are measured in Pfynwald to better understand processes and interactions with the forest.

Die Forschungsstation Seehornwald Davos wurde in den 80er-Jahren von der WSL initiiert und ist damit eine der ältesten permanent betriebenen Wald-Vegetations-Forschungsstationen in der Schweiz.

TreeNet ist ein internationales Beobachtungs- und Forschungsnetzwerk, in dem Punktdendrometer automatisch die täglichen Stammradiusschwankungen von Bäumen erfassen. Der kontinuierliche Fluss von Daten liefert Echtzeitinformationen über die Wasserverhältnisse im Baum und das radial Stammwachstum

The Long-Term Ecologiocal Research in Europe (LTER-Europe) capitalizes on research infrastructures such as the in-situ network of sites and information technology. Thousands of research projects have been carried out taking advantage of this infrastructure.

In this project we will assess the physiological processes by which trees adjust and interact among each other under a changing climate, determine the consequences of these processes on forest responses to climatic stresses and improve our understanding of these effects on forests functioning at a large comprehensive scale.

We use a long-term precipitation manipulation experiment in mature Pinus sylvestris forests and a natural precipitation gradient from 840 mm to 290 mm/year with Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica, to study the "Drought effects on reproductive phenology and the physiological mechanisms of pine trees".

Forest-RESIST explores how forests respond to changes in water availability and vapour pressure deficit (VPD). We map underground processes using 4D electrical resistivity imaging, capturing water flow and root uptake. Together with ETHZ, this research is conducted at the Pfynwald research platform.

During periods of low water availability, trees differently modulate C and H2O fluxes to balance photosynthesis, growth, and other metabolic activities. However, we still do not know how increased vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and reduced soil water availability periods affect whole-tree hydraulics.

Publikationen

Chin A.R.O., Gessler A., Laín O., Østerlund I., Schaub M., Théroux-Rancourt G., … Lambers J.H.R. (2025) The memory of past water abundance shapes trees 7 years later. Am. J. Bot. 112(1), e16452 (10 pp.). doi:10.1002/ajb2.16452 Institutional Repository DORA

Chin A., Hille Ris Lambers J., Schaub M. (2025) Trees 'remember' wetter times − never having known abundant rain could buffer today’s young forests against climate change. The Conversation. Institutional Repository DORA

Shakas A., Hediger R., Gessler A., Singha K., de Pasquale G., D'Odorico P., … Meusburger K. (2025) Does optimality partitioning theory fail for belowground traits? Insights from geophysical imaging of a drought‐release experiment in a Scots Pine forest. New Phytol. 245(2), 546-558. doi:10.1111/nph.20245 Institutional Repository DORA

Alvarez N., Bruggmann R., Buchmann N., Dessimoz C., Faso C., Hofmann S., … Scheidegger C. (2024) Biology community roadmap 2024. Update of Swiss community needs for research infrastructures 2029-2032. (Swiss Academies reports, Report No.: 19/6). Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT). 32 p. doi:10.5281/zenodo.14264965 Institutional Repository DORA

Anthony M.A., Tedersoo L., De Vos B., Croisé L., Meesenburg H., Wagner M., … Averill C. (2024) Fungal community composition predicts forest carbon storage at a continental scale. Nat. Commun. 15, 2385 (13 pp.). doi:10.1038/s41467-024-46792-w Institutional Repository DORA

Bachmann O., Foubert A., Dèzes P., Hetényi G., Jäggi G., Müntener O., … Schaub M. (2024) Geosciences community roadmap 2024. Update of Swiss community needs for research infrastructures 2029–2032. (Swiss Academies reports, Report No.: 19/8). Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT). 36 p. doi:10.5281/zenodo.14264991 Institutional Repository DORA

Didion‐Gency M., Deluigi J., Gisler J., Juillard T., Schaub M., Tuñas‐Corzon A., Grossiord C. (2024) Reduced soil moisture drives leaf anatomical shifts more than chronically elevated temperatures in European temperate trees. Plant Biol. doi:10.1111/plb.13745 Institutional Repository DORA

Ferretti M., Vesterdal L., Schaub M., Schwärzel K., Canullo R., Cools N., … Zimmermann L. (2024) Forest condition and environmental drivers in Europe - Recent evidence from selected studies. In A. Michel, K. Haggenmüller, T. Kirchner, A. K. Prescher, K. Schwärzel, & L. Wohlgemuth (Eds.), ICP Forests. Forest condition in Europe. The 2024 assessment. ICP Forests technical report under the UNECE convention on long-range transboundary air pollution (air convention). Eberswalde: Thünen Institute of Forest Ecosystems. 12-17. Institutional Repository DORA

Ferretti M., Gessler A., Cools N., Fleck S., Guerrieri R., Jakovljević T., … Sanders T.G.M. (2024) Resilient forests need joint forces for better inventorying and monitoring. For. Ecol. Manag. 561, 121875 (6 pp.). doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2024.121875 Institutional Repository DORA

Ferretti M., Cailleret M., Haeni M., Trotsiuk V., Apuhtin V., Araminiene V., … Schaub M. (2024) The fingerprint of tropospheric ozone on broadleaved forest vegetation in Europe. Ecol. Indic. 158, 111486 (16 pp.). doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.111486 Institutional Repository DORA

Gao D., Luster J., Zürcher A., Arend M., Bai E., Gessler A., … Hagedorn F. (2024) Drought resistance and resilience of rhizosphere communities in forest soils from the cellular to ecosystem scale – insights from 13C pulse labeling. New Phytol. 242(3), 960-974. doi:10.1111/nph.19612 Institutional Repository DORA

Gauthey A., Bachofen C., Chin A., Cochard H., Gisler J., Mas E., … Grossiord C. (2024) Twenty years of irrigation acclimation is driven by denser canopies and not by plasticity in twig- and needle-level hydraulics in a Pinus sylvestris forest. J. Exp. Bot. 75(10), 3141-3152. doi:10.1093/jxb/erae066 Institutional Repository DORA

Gessler A., Schaub M., Bose A., Trotsiuk V., Valbuena R., Chirici G., Buchmann N. (2024) Finding the balance between open access to forest data while safeguarding the integrity of National Forest Inventory-derived information. New Phytol. 242(2), 344-346. doi:10.1111/nph.19466 Institutional Repository DORA

Hunziker S., Nazarova T., Kather M., Hartmann M., Brunner I., Schaub M., … Gessler A. (2024) The metabolic fingerprint of Scots pine – root and needle metabolites show different patterns in dying trees. Tree Physiol. 44(4), tpae036 (10 pp.). doi:10.1093/treephys/tpae036 Institutional Repository DORA

Lechler L., Rixen C., Bebi P., Bavay M., Marty M., Barbeito I., … Frei E.R. (2024) Five decades of ecological and meteorological data enhance the mechanistic understanding of global change impacts on the treeline ecotone in the European Alps. Agric. For. Meteorol. 355, 110126 (15 pp.). doi:10.1016/j.agrformet.2024.110126 Institutional Repository DORA

Vitali V., Schuler P., Holloway‐Phillips M., D'Odorico P., Guidi C., Klesse S., … Saurer M. (2024) Finding balance: tree‐ring isotopes differentiate between acclimation and stress‐induced imbalance in a long‐term irrigation experiment. Glob. Chang. Biol. 30(3), e17237 (20 pp.). doi:10.1111/gcb.17237 Institutional Repository DORA

Yu Q., He C., Anthony M.A., Schmid B., Gessler A., Yang C., … Fang J. (2024) Decoupled responses of plants and soil biota to global change across the world's land ecosystems. Nat. Commun. 15, 10369 (12 pp.). doi:10.1038/s41467-024-54304-z Institutional Repository DORA

Ballikaya P., Brunner I., Cocozza C., Grolimund D., Kaegi R., Murazzi M.E., … Cherubini P. (2023) First evidence of nanoparticle uptake through leaves and roots in beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). Tree Physiol. 43(2), 262-276. doi:10.1093/treephys/tpac117 Institutional Repository DORA

Ballikaya P., Brunner I., Cocozza C., Grolimund D., Kaegi R., Murazzi M.E., … Cherubini P. (2023) Nanoparticles are everywhere, even inside trees. Chimia. 77(4), 256. doi:10.2533/chimia.2023.256 Institutional Repository DORA

Batkhuyag E.U., Lehmann M.M., Cherubini P., Ulziibat B., Soyol-Erdene T.O., Schaub M., Saurer M. (2023) Combination of multiple stable isotope and elemental analyses in urban trees reveals air pollution and climate change effects in Central Mongolia. Ecol. Indic. 154, 110719 (11 pp.). doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.110719 Institutional Repository DORA

Alle anzeigen
×