Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL

Avalanche bulletin and snow situation
Edition: Thu 27.3., 08:00
Avalanche Bulletin

Long-term Forest Ecosystem Research

Air pollution and climate change have an effect on the forest. We examine these effects as part of the Long-Term Forest Ecosystem Research (LWF) programme.

Assess forest condition

Microsite lwf.wsl.ch
Microsite lwf.wsl.ch

We need reliable information in order to assess the condition of forests on an ongoing basis and to understand precisely what happens in forests when the environment changes. An important source of data here is the Long-Term Forest Ecosystem Research (LWF) programme. It consists of 19 permanent monitoring sites on which we have regularly carried out numerous measurements since 1994. We have also been recording the health of trees on the monitoring sites of the Sanasilva Inventory, which is part of the LWF programme (see Sites), since 1985. LWF is also a partner with several of its sites in TreeNet, the biological drought and growth indicator network.

Link

Projects

SwissSPOT - Measuring the soil water situation on LWF sites

SwissSPOT is a network to monitor soil water down to 2m soil depth at Swiss Long-term Forest Ecosystem Research (LWF) sites.

Soil solution chemistry and soil water availability in long-term monitoring forest plots (LWF)

The chemistry of soil solution and the soil water availability for plants have been monitored since 1997 in seven forest plots in Switzerland. This project, linked to the Swiss Long-term Forest Ecosystem Research project (LWF), aims to assess the soil response to atmospheric pollution (acidifying substances and nitrogen) and to climate change.

Mapping, sampling and analyses of soils on LTER sites

Since 1996, the long-term forest ecosystem monitoring program LTER observes the development of 16 selected forest ecosystems in Switzerland. Considering their pivotal role the investigations of soils is of central importance for the program.

Crown condition assessment in the LWF plots

It is important to have good information on the condition of the trees in the plots. Therefore scientists determine the relationships between crown condition and a number of environmental parameters.

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