We have used a species distribution model (SDM) to predict how species ranges may shift in the Alps as a result of projected climate change. Here we focus on the potential future range shift for two species Fagus sylvatica L. (European beech) and Picea abies (L.) Karst. (Norway spruce).

Temperatures in the Alps are anticipated to increase between 1.8 and 3.8 °C by 2080, with the highest degree of warming in summer. The Alps will face higher warming than the surrounding mainland with consequences for forestry management.

A conference at the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL showed that the efficiency of timber usage and marketing could be improved. In the long term technical innovations are needed for raw timber processing.

Research carried out in the Swiss National Park showed that the carbon content in plants and soil temporarily increases during the reforestation of open spaces. However, the long term total carbon content remains relatively constant.

Forests might lose their critical role as massive sinks for absorbing greenhouse gases. Climate change-induced environmental stresses threaten to damage forests and even decimate them worldwide.

For the first time a 1000 year old oxygen isotope data series has been produced from tree-rings. Using this method precipitation development in the Karakorum Mountains in Northern Pakistan was reconstructed for the last thousand years.

Extreme weather conditions, always a stress factor for trees, can lead to vitality loss and to the development of visual injury symptoms. Due to exceptional weather conditions the record summer of 2003 affected the forests in many ways.

Ozone has become one of the most pervasive and harmful pollutants in the lower atmosphere. Understanding the long-term impact of ozone on the health of forest ecosystems is an area of active and ongoing international research collaboration at the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL.

Scientists determine the soil contamination with heavy metals in 95 selected forest sites in Switzerland. The results show that heavy metal concentrations often exceed government guide levels.

In the Telwald near Stalden (Wallis) – a forest which was dominated by Scots pine, at least when it received its name – the long established Scots pine trees have sickened and are being replaced by pubescent oak and other broad leaf tree species. Why does this happen?