Dr. Patrick Fonti

ResearcherID B-7400-2011

Scopus AuthorID 6602360450

Research Interests

• Dendrochronology
• Dendroecology, tree response to changing environment, tree competition dynamic and forest succession
• Wood anatomy, wood formation
• Plant hydraulic, water transport in xylem
• Ecophysiology, environmental signal in tree rings

Employement history

from 2020:  Senior Scientist, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf

2006-2019: Research Scientist, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf

2003-2006: Research Scientist, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Bellinzona

2003:           Post-doctoral fellow, University Berkeley (Prof. G. Biging)

2003:           Collaborator at the environmental consulting Dionea SA, Locarno

2002-2003: Post-doctoral fellow, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Bellinzona

2000-2002: Teaching assistant, ETH Zurich

1997-1999: Research associate, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Bellinzo

Education

2000-2002: PhD in Natural Sciences at the ETH Zürich, Faculty of Forest Sciences.

                   Title of the Thesis: Investigations into ring shake of chestnut

1997-1999: Postgraduate course in applied statistic at the ETH Zürich, Department of Mathematic and Physic

1991-1997: Diploma as Forest Engineer at the ETH Zürich, Faculty of Forest Sciences

The Lötschental monitoring transect is an ensemble of 9 tree-growth monitoring sites distributed along an elevational gradient from 800 to 2200 m. a.s.l. The setting (Figure 2) was installed in fall 2006 and includes infrastructure to investigate continuous stem growth of mature Picea abies and Larix decidua trees grown under natural conditions.

XCELL is an initiative promoting the creation and maintenance of a central repository of wood cell anatomy and intra-annual density profile data.

Aims of the initiative to preserve and promote individual efforts in quantifying cell anatomical and intra-annual density profile measurements performed along dated series of tree-rings to define standards and good praxis for the measurement and analyses of cell anatomical data  to assemble, harmonize and facilitate the distribution/exchange of worldwide measured and dated datasets of xylem cell anatomical and intra-annual density data to make use of the data to complement or infer novel insights in the mechanism of xylem formation and functioning, as well as for assessing their impact on the plant-environment interaction and related biogeochemical cycles.

Cell anatomy or density profile data submitted to the XCELL must meet certain requirements before assimilation into the holdings. The collection is structured in order to only include cell anatomical or wood density profile data that are spatial-, chrono-, and geo-referenced, i.e.; only localized intra-ring measurements that have been obtained from dated annual rings (possibly along series of tree-rings), and from plants material collected from known locations.