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The Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL is participating in a pan-European project to monitor and evaluate the impact of climate change on forests. The aim is to create a basis for decision-making in practical forest management on a European and regional level. The first calls for grants are now being launched, enabling researchers outside the FORWARDS consortium to contribute to the project's goal.

In addition to heat and drought, various invasive beetles and other harmful organisms caused problems in the forest in 2022. Many of the observed insects and fungi are new to Switzerland, as the Swiss Forest Protection Competence Center of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research reports in its forest protection overview .

SLF biologists are retracing two expeditions undertaken 20 and 90 years ago. Like their predecessors, they will be recording the plant populations they come across, and analysing how these have changed over recent decades. They expect this to provide new insights into the effects of climate change. Biologists Christian Rixen and Andreas Gygax from the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) set off for Greenland on 25 July, following in the footsteps of two earlier scientists.

Spring keeps getting earlier, but the timing of leaf fall in autumn has been more of a mystery. For the first time, a study helps solve this mystery by revealing the pivotal role of the summer solstice. The research shows that warming before the solstice triggers an earlier onset of leaf senescence, while warming after the solstice slows down the discoloration process.

When Microorganisms decompose organic material in the soil, they actively release CO2 into the atmosphere. This process is called heterotrophic respiration. A novel model shows that these emissions could surge by up to 40 percent by the end of the century - most significantly in the polar regions. In brief It is projected that by the end of the century, CO2 emissions from soil microbes will escalate.

Scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL have discovered microbes that degrade plastic at cool temperatures. This opens up new perspectives for recycling certain types of plastic. Most known microbes require at least 30°C for their decomposition work. Microorganisms are great hope for the development of a circular economy for plastics.

SLF-scientists Joel Caduff and Yves Bühler trained scientists and practitioners in drone-based snow depth mapping in the Kyrgyz mountains. After packing a lot of equipment including ski touring sets and an eBee-X drone, we boarded the plane to Istanbul on March 29 and then to Biskek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.

Wood is a trump card for the energy transition because it is very versatile and easy to store. Compared to today, up to a third more energy could be obtained from wood, not only in the form of heat, but also in the form of electricity and fuels. However, current use is not efficient enough, Swiss bioenergy researchers have shown in a new report.

Forest soils store large amounts of organic carbon. When storms devastate the forest, this carbon is lost and a large part enters the atmosphere as CO2. Mountain forests are particularly vulnerable to such carbon losses, shows a study by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL.

The world could lose over 40 percent of its total glacier mass and 80 percent of all individual glaciers this century. Depending on how successful efforts to curb the climate crisis are, it could be "only" a quarter. This is reported today in the journal Science by an international research team with participation from the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL.

Trees absorb tiny metal particles from the air and soil and deposit them in their tissues. This has been shown by an experiment conducted by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL. These findings open up possibilities for detecting environmental pollution or even remedying it in the future.

Daring Swiss pioneers took exciting photos and observations of glaciers in the Indian Himalayas in the 1930s. Glaciologists from WSL and the ETH Zurich now repeated their trip to collect up-to-date data. 14.09.2022 -Swiss explorers in Indian Himalaya Six Swiss pioneers explored the hidden valleys of the Garhwal range of the Indian Himalaya more than eight decades ago.

Climate change, environmental and animal welfare policies, ageing farmers: Europe's agriculture is facing enormous challenges, which vary diametrically depending on the region. Where will farming soon become unprofitable? Where are laws forcing them to change their practices? A study co-led by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL has now investigated this for all of Europe.

Millions of people depend on water from the glaciers of High-Mountain Asia. South-eastern Tibet, however, has some of the most rapidly melting glaciers in Asia. This is due to less summer snowfall, as a study led by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL shows. Unlike in the Alps, glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau receive most of their snowfall during the summer months, which are the wettest but also the warmest.

Flowers are sexual structures of plants that are normally assumed to have evolved in harmony with their mutualistic pollinators such as bees, butterflies and honeybirds. However, a new study involving the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL shows that herbivorous insects play a central role.

Beetles, millipedes or ants are hugely important for the functioning of soils. This is especially true in mountain forests, which are being particularly affected by climate change. The Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL and the University of Basel have now jointly investigated how soil fauna diversity has evolved and been distributed across the altitudinal zones.