Prof. Dr. Paolo Cherubini

My mission statement
"To do good science, with friends."

 
Please, feel free to browse through my CV and all my available papers >>

Education
1989: Degree in Forestry. Università di Firenze, Italy
1996: Dr. Phil. Nat. (Ph.D). Institute of Botany, Universität Basel, Switzerland
Scientific activities
I am working as a Senior Scientist with the Swiss federal institute for forest, snow and landscape research WSL based at Birmensdorf, in the surroundings of Zurich, Switzerland.
Senior scientist at the research unit Forest dynamics in the group Dendroecology.
I am Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia, Dept. of Forest and Conservation Sciences, Vancouver BC, Canada
I am Adjunct Research Scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of the Columbia University in the city of New York, U.S.A.
I am Adjunct Faculty at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, U.S.A.
Guest Professor, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)  Xian, China.
I am lecturing at the Universität Zürich. I am teaching the class "Ecological Tree-Ring Research" within the Master course at the Department of Geography. 
I am currently serving as Honorary Editor of the journal Dendrochronologia,
Editor of Forest@ and iForest,
Member Editorial Board of Journal of Vegetation Science,
Associate Editor, Tree-Ring Research (2002-2011).

I like little projects

Currently, I work with students on several different topics, for example:

Stable isotopes, wood anatomy and tree-ring growth analyses to identify drought-adaptation traits in Pinus sylvestris trees after a severe drought in Südtirol (Bozen, Italy) (Nicole Stary and Magdalena Nötzli, undergraduate students Universität Zürich)

Volcanic explosive eruptions of the Vesuvio decrease tree-ring growth but not photosynthesis rates in the surrounding forests (with Giovanna Battipaglia, Francesca Cotrufo, Sandro Strumia, Seconda Università di Napoli, Caserta, and Matthias Saurer, Rolf Siegwolf, WSL, formerly Paul Scherrer Institute)

Reconstructing stand history using tree rings at Level II plots in Italy (with Giada Bertini and Gianfranco Fabbio, Istituto Sperimentale per la Selvicoltura ISSA, Arezzo) Are increasing CO2 concentrations affecting drought resistance of Pinus nigra in the Vienna basin, Eastern Alps (Austria) (with Sofia Leal, Michael Grabner, Rupert Wimmer, BOKU Vienna)

Detecting tree rings and cambial seasonal activity to assess carbon sequestration rates in Acacia seyal at Keyta, Niger (Western Africa) (with Federico De Nardo, Antonio Raschi,Vieri Tarchiani, and Giancarlo Pini, IBIMET/CNR, Firenze)

Reconstructions (A.D.1801-2000) of precipitation and temperature for northwestern Turkey (with Ünal Akkemik, Nebise Köse, Istanbul University, and Rosanne D'Arrigo, LDEO, Columbia University, Palisades NY)

Tree-ring response of Pinus eldreichii to climate and anthropogenic activity in the National Park of Pollino (Basilicata, Southern Italy). (with Gino Todaro, Antonio Saracino, Carmen D'Alessandro, Università della Basilicata, Potenza)

d15N natural abundance in tree rings and needles nearby a motorway in Switzerland as an indicator of the impact of air pollution on forests (with Rossella Guerrieri), Università della Basilicata, Potenza, and Matthias Saurer and Rolf Siegwolf, WSL, formerly Paul Scherrer Institute)

Tree-ring growth under elevated CO2 concentrations at natural springs in Toscana (with Roberto Tognetti, Università del Molise, Campobasso, and Matthias Saurer, WSL (formerly Paul Scherrer Institute)

Comparing eddy-covariance measurements, forest biogeochemical modeling, and remote sensing techniques with tree-ring stable isotopes to assess past stomatal activities and carbon uptake in Pinus pinaster coastal ecosystems in Toscana (Enrica Arlotta, undergraduate student Università di Firenze, with Marco Bindi, DISAT, Università di Firenze, and Fabio Maselli and Marta Chiesi, IBIMET/CNR, Firenze, Matthias Saurer, WSL, Giorgio Matteucci, JRC, Ispra, Rosanne D'Arrigo, LDEO, Columbia University, Palisades NY)

Wood-anatomical identification and 14C dating of soil charcoals for reconstructing the role of fire on soil development and carbon sequestration in Southern Switzerland (Nadia Schlumpf and Nicole Stary, undergraduate students Universität Zürich, with Frank Hagedorn and Werner Schoch, both WSL, Irka Hajdas, Georges Bonani, both ETH Zurich, and Michael Schmidt, Universität Zürich)

Ecophysiological significance of intra-annual density fluctuations in Pinus pinaster tree rings from coastal forests in Tuscany (Italy) (with Veronica De Micco and Giovanna Aronne, Università di Napoli "Federico II")

Detecting the effect of elevated tropospheric ozone exposure on tree-ring growth and wood structure in broadleaf species grown in Open-Top Chambers in Canton Ticino (Kristopher Novak, PhD student Universität Bern and WSL, with Marcus Schaub, WSL)

Sap-flow rates and wood anatomical characteristics of oaks in central Toscana (Silvia Baronti, with Antonio Raschi, IBIMET/CNR, Firenze, Jan Cermak, Mendel University, Brno, and Roberto Tognetti, Università del Molise, Campobasso)

Mediterranean tree rings (with Barb Lachenbruch, Oregon State University, Corvallis OR, Roberto Tognetti, Università del Molise, Campobasso, Otto Ueli Bräker and Werner Schoch, both WSL, and John Innes, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC)

Tree-ring patterns induced by larch bud moth (Zeiraphera diniana Gn) outbreaks in Celerina, Engadina (with Werner Baltensweiler† and Matthias Dobbertin†, WSL)

Studies of the effect of different fungal pathogens on tree-ring growth at the Swiss National Park in Engadina (Giovanni Fontana, Università di Padova, Daniel Rigling, Matthias Dobbertin†, Peter Brang†, all WSL, and John Innes, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC)

Tree-ring growth prior to death of Pinus mugo trees infected by Armillaria sp. and Heterobasidion annosum (Muriel Bendel, PhD student, ETH Zürich, with Daniel Rigling, Felix Kienast, both WSL, and Harald Bugmann, ETH Zürich)

Triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) reduction as a test to assess cambial activity and tree vitality (with Ivano Brunner and Andreas Rigling, WSL) Using tree rings as indicators of whole tree biomass in studies of the effect of soil and air pollution on trees in controlled environment (with Madeleine Günthardt-Goerg, WSL)

Climatological significance of tree-ring stable isotopes (with Martine Rebetez, WSL, Lausanne, and Matthias Saurer, WSL)

Post-fire regeneration and stand development in Mediterranean macchia ecosystems (Emilia Allevato, Università di Napoli "Federico II", with Stefano Mazzoleni, Sandro Strumia, and Gaetano Di Pasquale) Detecting past snow avalanche dynamics using tree rings (Marco Bezzi, Università di Trento, with Maria Giulia Cantiani and Marco Ciolli, and with Rosanne D'Arrigo, LDEO, Columbia University, Palisades NY)

Tree rings from a European beech forest chronosequence for detecting growth trends and carbon sequestration (Marco Bascietto, PhD student Università della Tuscia, Viterbo, with Giuseppe Scarascia-Mugnozza)

Reading tree rings to assess the life history of trees in urban environment: a case study from Prato, Italy (Daniele Leporatti, Università di Firenze, with Fabio Salbitano) Impact of coastal erosion on pine forests in Toscana reconstructed by tree rings (with Sabrina Raddi, Università di Firenze, and Federico Magnani, Università di Bologna)

Stand dynamics and competition processes in abandoned chestnut coppices in Southern Switzerland (Patrick Fonti, Post-Doc, with Gregory Biging, University of California, Berkeley, and Marco Conedera, Matthias Dobbertin†, and Andreas Rigling, WSL)

Nitrogen stable isotopes in tree rings as tools for understanding the impact of NOx on forest ecosystems (Bruno De Cinti, PhD student Università della Tuscia, Viterbo, with Matthias Saurer, WSL, and Giuseppe Scarascia-Mugnozza, Università della Tuscia)

Using stable isotopes in assessing the effect of silvicultural treatments of coppice oak stands in Southern Toscana (Giovanni Di Matteo, PhD student Università della Tuscia, Viterbo, with Paolo De Angelis)