Forest Resources and Management

Our mission is: "Building knowledge on Swiss forests for science, sustainable management, and people". Our ultimate goal is to promote sustainable use and climate-smart forest management of the Swiss forests in the 21st Century.

Our activity is directed to:

  • Advance our understanding on condition, response and feedbacks of Swiss forests to global change drivers, by long-term, large-scale monitoring and experiments, analysis, modeling and predictions.
  • Develop science-driven solutions for sustainable management and forestry options in a changing climate, to ensure regeneration and sustainable provision of forests products and services, and protect biodiversity.

  • Connect the science and the applied forest management, by novel methods, approaches, Decision Support Systems and transfer to managers, administrations and people.

 

Our strengths stay into:

  • Long-term data: tradition and innovation. Look at our growth and yield network on managed forests (since 1885), at the network on forest reserves, (since 1948), or at our role within the Swiss National Forest Inventory LFI. Look also at our recent initiative SwissAIM to advance the monitoring of Swiss forest.
  • A balanced blend of expertise, methods, information science and technology. Our expertise goes from inventorying and monitoring to statistics and modeling, from sylviculture to forestry and bioenergy, from data management to geo-spatial information systems and science, and from field methods to close range remote sensing, data visualization and computer vision.
  • Swiss focus, international perspective. While our focus is on the Swiss national scale, we are active from local to international scale. Our collaborators have important roles in international activities and programs, like the UNECE ICP Forests, the ENFIN, the FAO ToS.

News

Publications

Allgaier Leuch B., Abegg M., Jenni R., Kunnala M. (2025) Altersaufbau und Bestandesstruktur. In A. Strauss & C. Fischer (Eds.), Waldbericht 2025. Entwicklung, Zustand und Nutzung des Schweizer Waldes. Bern; Birmensdorf: Bundesamt für Umwelt BAFU; Eidg. Forschungsanstalt für Wald Schnee und Landschaft WSL. 34-36. Institutional Repository DORA

Allgaier Leuch B., Braun S., Meusburger K., Tresch S., Reinhardt M., Waldner P., Wolf O. (2025) Eau potable. In A. Strauss & C. Fischer (Eds.), Rapport forestier 2025. Évolution, état et utilisation de la forêt suisse. Berne; Birmensdorf: Office fédéral de l'environnement OFEV; Institut fédéral de recherches sur la forêt, la neige et le paysage WSL. 102-103. Institutional Repository DORA

Allgaier Leuch B., Abegg M., Jenni R., Kunnala M. (2025) Structure d'âge et structure des peuplements. In A. Strauss & C. Fischer (Eds.), Rapport forestier 2025. Évolution, état et utilisation de la forêt suisse. Berne; Birmensdorf: Office fédéral de l'environnement OFEV; Institut fédéral de recherches sur la forêt, la neige et le paysage WSL. 34-36. Institutional Repository DORA

Allgaier Leuch B., Braun S., Meusburger K., Tresch S., Reinhardt M., Waldner P., Wolf O. (2025) Trinkwasser. In A. Strauss & C. Fischer (Eds.), Waldbericht 2025. Entwicklung, Zustand und Nutzung des Schweizer Waldes. Bern; Birmensdorf: Bundesamt für Umwelt BAFU; Eidg. Forschungsanstalt für Wald Schnee und Landschaft WSL. 102-103. Institutional Repository DORA

Bebi P., Lange B., Allgaier Leuch B., Losey S. (2025) Protection contre les dangers naturels. In A. Strauss & C. Fischer (Eds.), Rapport forestier 2025. Évolution, état et utilisation de la forêt suisse. Berne; Birmensdorf: Office fédéral de l'environnement OFEV; Institut fédéral de recherches sur la forêt, la neige et le paysage WSL. 98-101. Institutional Repository DORA

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Projects

The main aim of SingleTree is to develop optimized single-tree value chains for improved climate change adaptation, multifunctionality and cascading use of woody biomass. The value chains will be enabled by AI and remote sensing forest monitoring, adaptive precision forestry for single tree management, intelligent machines for implementing single tree operations, and improved traceability and ability to predict wood quality.

Wie können langfristige Entwicklungen von Waldbeständen und deren Verjüngungszustände systematisch erfasst werden? Das Projekt entwickelt eine standardisierte Methodik und eine spezialisierte Softwarelösung, die Forstpraktikern eine effiziente Datenerhebung ermöglicht.

Das Ziel dieses Initiierungsprojketes ist es das Studendesign und Flächen für Folgeprojekte auszwählen zum Potenzial & den Grenzen von waldbaulichen Anpassungsstrategien zur Reduktion der trockenstressbedingten Mortalität in Buchenbeständen.

Durch den Waldbrand von Bitsch (17. Juli 2023) wurden rund 100 ha Wald in einem Gebiet mit sehr hohem Wilddruck zerstört. Angesichts der stark eingeschränkten natürlichen Verjüngung infolge von Wildverbiss ist die Frage, ob bzw. wo und wie rasch sich im Waldgebiet wieder junge Bäume etablieren.

Der Kanton Freiburg erhebt seit 2003 die Baumverjüngung mittels Stichproben. Im 2024/2025 werden Verjüngungsaufnahmen gemacht, welche exakt denjenigen von 2003 entsprechen. Damit sollen Auswertung zum Einfluss des Verbisses auf die Verjüngungsdichte je Baumart und Höhenklasse erfolgen.

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Research Groups and Staff

Forest Resources and Management

Marco Ferretti

Head of Research Unit

Rita Ghosh

Visiting scientist

Stand Dynamics and Silviculture

Martina Hobi

Group leader

Carl-Michael Heimo Andersson

Technical staff member

Harald Bugmann

Visiting scientist

Jonas Glatthorn

Scientific staff member

Andreas Huser

Civilian service employees

Jokin Idoate Lacasia

PhD student guest

Tobias Kalt

Technical staff member

Tobias Kühnhanss

Master student

Andrea D. Kupferschmid

Scientific staff member

Iza Murzynowska

Technical staff member

Petia Simeonova Nikolova

Scientific staff member

Jens Nitzsche

Technical staff member

Reto Pfund

Bachelor student

Gilbert Projer

Technical staff member

Hubert Schmid

Technical staff member

Julia Schwarz

Scientific staff member

Jonas Stillhard

Technical staff member

Kathrin Streit

Technical staff member

Christoph Tellenbach

Technical staff member

Elliot Vaudaux

Civilian service employees

Chiara Wülser

Temporary employee

Matthias Wüthrich

Technical staff member

Samuel Zweifel

PhD student guest

GIS

Martin Hägeli

Group leader

Andri Baltensweiler

Technical staff member

Sandro Bischof

Technical staff member

Colin Kretz Bloom

Postdoc

Angela Leonie Braun

Master student

Enikö Fey

IT specialist

Marielle Fraefel

Technical staff member

Rolf Grütter

Visiting scientist

Dominik Sebastian Haas-Artho

Software engineer

Ionut Iosifescu Enescu

Software engineer

Rebecca Kurup

Software engineer

Rolf Meile

IT specialist

Ranita Pal

Software engineer

Enrico Peruselli

Software engineer

Christian Schmid

Software engineer

Sandro Silva

Software engineer

Yasmin Waldeck

Software engineer

Lukas Wotruba

IT specialist

Florian Zellweger

Scientific staff member

Zhiqing Zhang

Temporary employee

Sustainable Forestry

Janine Schweier

Group leader

Clemens Blattert

Scientific staff member

Leo Bont

Technical staff member

Shayani Fernando

Postdoc

Fabian Gemperle

Scientific assistant

Stefan Holm

Software engineer

Hristina Hristova

Scientific staff member

Moritz Kalinka

Master student

Sunni K.P. Kushwaha

Postdoc

Flavia Luz

Master student

Simon Emil Mutterer

PhD student

Justus Elija Nögel

Visiting scientist

Nial Thomas Perry

PhD student

Julien Pierre Pittet

Master student

Laura Ramstein

Temporary employee / Scientific staff member

Samuel Ugo Ringier

PhD student

Oliver Thees

Temporary employee

Resource Analysis

Esther Thürig

Group leader

Markus Didion

Scientific staff member

Roman Flury

Scientific staff member

Claudia Guidi

Scientific staff member

Anne Herold-Bonardi

Technical staff member

Jeanne Portier

Scientific staff member

Brigitte Rohner

Scientific staff member

Erik Rösler

Technical staff member

Golo Stadelmann

Technical staff member

Plant regeneration ecology

Barbara Moser

interim Group leader

Julia Bernet

Master student

David Böhm

Visiting scientist

Giulia Burini

PhD student

Sereina Hinder

Bachelor student

Andrea Martac

Technical staff member

Ugo Molteni

Scientific staff member

Anouchka Perret-Gentil

Lab technician

Daniel Scherrer

Scientific staff member

Scientific Service NFI

Christoph Fischer

Group leader

Meinrad Abegg

Technical staff member

Philippe Ahles

Software engineer

Barbara Allgaier Leuch

Technical staff member

Marc Baume

Temporary employee

Fadri Beeli

Temporary employee

Aline Bornand

Visiting scientist

Urs Beat Brändli

Visiting scientist

Fabrizio Cioldi

Technical staff member

Björn Wolfgang Dreier

Temporary employee

Christoph Düggelin

Technical staff member

Ella Raymonde Hartmann

Fieldworker

Hans Rudolf Hochuli

Temporary employee

Bruno Holderegger

Temporary employee

Paul Koller

Temporary employee

Larissa Katharina Peter

Fieldworker

Nataliia Rehush

Technical staff member

Ross Taylor Shackleton

Scientific staff member

François Sottas

Temporary employee

Simon Speich

IT specialist

Peter Stoll

Scientific staff member

Christian Walter Temperli

Scientific staff member

Berthold Traub

IT specialist

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