Ecophysiology

Head: Dr. Marcus Schaub

Research focus

We study the responses of trees to climatic and edaphic environmental changes, from the cellular to the ecosystem level. We diagnose individual stressors, analyze their systems biological effects, and use these findings to develop mechanistic models of the interrelationships between trees and the abiotic environment.

Main research questions

  • What are the physiological and morphological responses to environmental constraints/fluctuations at cell, tree, and ecosystem level?
  • What is the strength/risk of various stressors for forest ecosystems?
  • How can we differentiate the various stressors and their effects?

Methods

We use long-term observations in natural ecosystems in combination with (long-term) experimental studies under (semi)controlled environmental conditions for the development of quantitative scenarios of global change effects on trees and forest ecosystems.

Contributing to various scientific networks allows us to achieve a high degree of interdisciplinary collaboration. These include the European network ICP-Forests and the national Long-Term Forest Ecosystem Research Program LWF, both based on the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution LRTAP. These collaborations are complemented by our own research platforms, such as Pfynwald (with VPDrought to disentangle atmospheric from soil drought), TreeNet, the WSL Model Ecosystem Facility MODOEK, and our microscopy lab MICRO.

National and international position

The research group fosters close collaboration with universities and stake holders such as the Federal Office for the Environment FOEN, the Swiss National Science Foundation SNF, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne EPFL, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich ETHZ, the University of Basel UNIBAS, the Chinese Academy of Sciences CAS, the Integrated Carbon Observation System ICOS Switzerland, the International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests ICP-Forests, the Integrated European Long-Term Ecosystem, critical zone and socio-ecological Research platform eLTER, and the International Union of Forest Research Organizations IUFRO.

With our large scale and long-term research infrastructure, we are part of the SCNAT National Geosciences Roadmap 2025-2028 and the International Roadmap of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures ESFRI.

Projects

Nowcast and predict forest condition from TreeNet data with the help of machine learning.

The goal of this project is to contribute to the evaluation of non-native tree species that could potentially mitigate mortality in our forests, through scalable drone-based phenotyping approaches and the assessment of mechanistic traits, such as phenological plasticity and drought stress-resistance

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.

Klimaangepasste Baumarten im Schutzwald der BLS Südrampe.

The microC-flux project aims at elucidating the diel dynamics of carbon within foliage of conifer trees, assessing the C-enrichment within transient starch pools of needle tissues by means of nanoSIMS imaging and modelling the opposite radial transport of water and assimilates inside of needles

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Staff

Ecophysiology

Marcus Schaub

Group leader

William Aeberhard

Visiting scientist

Dennis Agbanyim

Civilian service employees

Isabelle Arnold

Visiting scientist

David Jonas Basler

Postdoc

Carlo di Bello

PhD student

Sophia Etzold

Scientific staff member

Jonas Gisler

Technical staff member

Madeleine S. Goerg-Günthardt

Visiting scientist

Rudolf Häsler

Visiting scientist

Dominik Andrin Hummel

Technical specialist

Maihe Li

Senior Scientist

Marcus Maeder

Visiting scientist

Capucine Agathe Marion

PhD student guest

Eliot Perrin

Master student

Richard Peters

Visiting scientist

Volodymyr Trotsiuk

Data Scientist

Pierre Vollenweider

Scientific staff member

Yanli Zhang

PhD student

Roman Zweifel

Scientific staff member

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