Dendrochronology and Phenology

We investigate ecological processes at the scale of individual trees, tree populations and forest stands using tree rings, forest inventories and phenological data. A major focus is on improving our understanding, how climate variability affects forest dynamics including tree regeneration, radial growth and tree mortality. We are further interested in quantifying the effects of extreme climate events such as drought and frost on forest ecosystems. Combining tree-ring data and phenological data such as leaf unfolding and leaf coloring allows us to assess climate effects on changes in the growing period and in tree growth.

We conduct empirical studies in a large range of ecosystems such as mountain forests, treeline ecotones, dry inneralpine forests, lowland forests and temperate rain forests. On the one hand, we collect field data such as increment cores that we measure and crossdate in the Tree-Ring Laboratory. On the other hand, we use existing data such as phenological observations or monitoring data from the external page Swiss forest reserve network. We use a wide range of statistical methods to analyze the data. We are further engaged in teaching at the Bachelor, Master and PhD level (courses in dendrochronology, dendroecology, and applied statistics).