SwissForestLab

Human pressure and biodiversity modify forest resilience after extreme multi-year droughts - Nature Ecology & Evolution This study reported widespread declines in resilience after multi-year droughts and showed that biodiversity and climate strongly shape forest resilience after multi-year droughts, but human footprint...

Biodiversity and climate strongly shape forest resilience after multi-year droughts, but after accounting for the human footprint, biodiversity’s contribution is consistently and strongly negative 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Human pressure and biodiversity modify forest resilience after extreme multi-year droughts - Nature Ecology & Evolution This study reported widespread declines in resilience after multi-year droughts and showed that biodiversity and climate strongly shape forest resilience after multi-year droughts, but human footprint...

Our new research shows that megadroughts negatively impact #forest #resilience. Managed forests had lower resilience than undisturbed forests, especially in boreal regions. This underscores the importance of mitigating human pressure for maintaining forest resilience. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Paper out!🌳🐾Vital role of human footprint in altering forest resilience after disturbances.
Forest resilience anomalies after extreme droughts relate to species richness positively or negatively, but when human pressure is included, its interaction with species richness diminishes forest resilience.

Summer School - Forests for the Future

Summer School "Forests for the Future: Strategies for Carbon Sequestration"
16–21 August 2026; Congressi Stefano Franscini at Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland
Deadline: 30 April 2026
Applications can be submitted to: swissforestlab_summerschool@wsl.ch
swissforestlab.wsl.ch/en/veranstal...

This makes science not really credible. I see nevertheless that approaches such as the ones of Zhu et al are important - as micro- and nanoplastics are likely a global threat. But we - the scientists- need to put our results into a realistic context - this is our core responsibility.

This paper is a perfect example how trying to get newspapers-citable into the focus of a paper invalidates the really important findings (microplastics can reduce photosynthesis but we do not know how this might scale to our ecosystems - just because we have no data at all.

Just imagine you go with machine learning from scarce lab data with almost no information on plastic pollution under real world conditions to crop and fishery yield losses as a result of that given pollution. I acknowledge that this is a first step - but you need to name the shortcomings.

They (1) extrapolate plastic impact measurements on photosynthesis under controlled and highly artificial conditions to the real world (2) without valid data on global plastic pollution and (3) without any baseline for their model.

We still feel that this later statement in their response letter is not congruent with the alarming statements in the original text: „These findings underscore the urgency of integrating plastic mitigation into global hunger and sustainability initiatives“ which seem to be targeted to press coverage

In their response (www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...) some authors of the original paper state that „[they] believe it is scientifically sound and responsible to use currently available—albeit limited evidence—for preliminary assessments and to stimulate broader scientific and policy dialog“

A global estimate of multiecosystem photosynthesis losses under microplastic pollution | PNAS Understanding how ecosystems respond to ubiquitous microplastic (MP) pollution is crucial for ensuring global food security. Here, we conduct a mul...

This is our critical assessment of www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... These authors claimed that they can calculate quite exact MP-induced real world global photosynthesis losses translating in a reduction of 22.15 to 115.73 MT·y−1 in main crop production and 0.32 to 7.39 MT·y−1 in seafood production.

Scaling laboratory results with machine learning is no silver bullet to strengthen global (micro)plastic mitigation policy | PNAS Scaling laboratory results with machine learning is no silver bullet to strengthen global (micro)plastic mitigation policy

Scaling laboratory results with machine learning is no silver bullet to strengthen global (micro)plastic mitigation policy | PNAS

Integrate Workshop - Increasing biodiversity to promote adaptation and resilience of European forests by using close-to-nature forestry
📅 June 02-04, 2025
📍 ETH Hönggerberg, Zurich
💰 CHF 200

Register here: https://lnkd.in/eBV4997C

More info: https://lnkd.in/e7nQZgm8

Rainwater uptake in conifer twigs: Five experiments tell a story of absorption, storage, and transport Abstract. While evidence supports the idea that a portion of the many raindrops that fall onto a forest canopy may be directly absorbed by the twigs they l

Our new work tells a detailed story of aboveground rain absorption in trees and lays a foundation for future trait-based research into among-species differences in absorption capacity. academic.oup.com/jxb/advance-...

@wslresearch.bsky.social , @ethzurich.bsky.social, @inrae-france.bsky.social , @www.helmholtz.de, @dfg.de , @snsf-ch.bsky.social, @maxplanck.de and others - let's organize a science-directed #diamondopenaccess system instead of funding the obscene profits of commercial publishers! Go Diamond!

No-deal with #Wiley. The publisher has blocked access to 2025 journal issues to #SwissUniversities, and researchers in Switzerland can no longer publish Open Access within the read & publish agreement. Hey, #Wiley, researchers provide the content, and we review and edit for free.

Dealing With Two Stresses: Impact of a Damaging Spring Frost Followed by a Summer Drought on Saplings of Four Temperate Tree Species Artificially induced late-spring frost (LSF) and drought showed that temperate tree saplings prioritize canopy recovery shortly after LSF, while preferring reserve restoration before growth until the...

Late spring #frost and #drought in the same year could push #tree species beyond their physiological limits. We need to assess multiple stressors' interactions to better understand threshold effects that could profoundly alter #forest #ecosystems. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Climate change will increase the risk of such double-stress situations with late frost events followed by drought.

Eine Gruppe Personen sitzt an zwei Holztischen im Wald. Mehrere Personen stehen. Sie alle hören WSL-Direktor Rolf Holderegger zu, der eine Rede hält.

WSL-Direktor Rolf Holderegger bei der Präsentation des #Waldbericht2025 vor Medienschaffenden im Galmwald, Kanton Freiburg. Mehr zu den Inhalten in Kürze! Rolf Holderegger, directeur du WSL, présente le #Rapportforestier2025 aux médias dans la forêt domaniale du Galm, canton de Fribourg. À suivre !

Swiss Forest Report 2025 by @wslresearch.bsky.social and #BAFU provides an overview of the condition and development of Swiss forests over the past ten years. It assesses the outlook for all relevant areas against the backdrop of advancing climate change. www.bafu.admin.ch/bafu/en/home...

Der Schweizer Waldbericht 2025 von @wslresearch.bsky.social und #BAFU zeigt den Zustand und die Entwicklungen des Schweizer Waldes in den letzten zehn Jahren. Er gibt einen Ausblick für alle Themenbereiche im Hinblick auf den fortschreitenden Klimawandel: www.bafu.admin.ch/bafu/de/home...

A global estimate of multiecosystem photosynthesis losses under microplastic pollution | PNAS Understanding how ecosystems respond to ubiquitous microplastic (MP) pollution is crucial for ensuring global food security. Here, we conduct a mul...

#microplastic pollution can reduce photosynthesis and might be a thread for global #food production | PNAS

30 Jahre Langfristige Waldökosystemforschung #LWF an der @wslresearch.bsky.social: Zusammenfassung der wichtigsten Ergebnisse zum Zustand des Schweizer Waldes in der #SZF: www.szf-jfs.ch/de/archiv/02...

Time‐integrated δ2H in n‐alkanes and carbohydrates from boreal needles reveal intra‐annual physiological and environmental signals Reliable insights from key δ2H bioindicators, n-alkanes and carbohydrates, are hindered by our limited understanding of isotope fractionation processes related to leaf water and primary assimilates....

Time‐integrated δ2H in n‐alkanes and carbohydrates from boreal needles reveal intra‐annual physiological and environmental signals

Towards a global understanding of tree mortality Rates of tree mortality are increasing globally, with implications for forests and climate. Yet, how and why these trends vary globally remain unknown. Developing a comprehensive assessment of global...

"Towards a global understanding of tree mortality" in @newphyt.bsky.social

It was fun and productive participating in this review by the International Tree Mortality Network nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Towards a global understanding of tree mortality - @newphyt.bsky.social ; @treemortality.bsky.social : https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.20407

Summary of the spatial and temporal coverage of forest plots according to our survey of global mortality monitoring plots: (a) percent of the total forest area surveyed per country, (b) plot area surveyed over time for different continents and globally (black line), and (c) the distribution of size and number of plots. For countries coloured dark grey in (a), we did not receive any responses in our survey. Countries coloured light grey are countries with < 10% of their terrestrial land area covered by forests.

Integrating forest inventories with remote sensing and modelling is needed to better understand tree mortality. A global effort should promote equitable collaborations, empowering scientists from less wealthy regions. @treemortality.bsky.social nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Declining precipitation frequency may drive earlier leaf senescence by intensifying drought stress and enhancing drought acclimation - Nature Communications Precipitation impacts leaf senescence. Here, the authors use carbon flux and satellite data to demonstrate that reduced precipitation frequency is associated with a faster drought response in trees an...

🌳 🧪New research suggests less frequent rainfall may lead to earlier leaf senescence through increased drought stress and acclimation mechanisms. Important implications for understanding climate change impacts on vegetation cycles! #ClimateScience #Ecology: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

There are so many signs that #climate change is severely affecting #ecosystems and consequently human societies - @liangzhi-chen.bsky.social et al. showed a global increase in the occurrence and impact of multiyear #droughts. We need to act now!
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado4245

Global increase in the occurrence and impact of multiyear droughts Persistent multiyear drought (MYD) events pose a growing threat to nature and humans in a changing climate. We identified and inventoried global MYDs by detecting spatiotemporally contiguous climatic ...

The earth gets drier and warmer, and #megadroughts have been increasing for 40 years and will do so in the future. Substantial negative impacts on #water supply, #agriculture and all #ecosystem services are to be expected. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...