Daniel Christen

Function

Technical staff member

Forest Soils and Biogeochemistry

Soil Functions and Soil Protection

Contact

daniel.christen(at)wslto make life hard for spam bots.ch

+41 44 739 22 97+41 44 739 22 97

Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL
Zürcherstrasse 111
8903 Birmensdorf

Site

Birmensdorf Bi MG C 37

FURTHER INFORMATION

Projects

Soil as a site factor

This project delivers soil and site related information for Swiss forests which are based mainly on measured values: (i) response of tree species relating to direct and indirect environmental variables, (ii) quantitative characterisation of species' ecological niche and (iii) soil ecological indicator values for forest plant species.

BigLink-SoilSolution

This project is part of the multidisciplinary CCES project BigLink (“Biosphere-Geosphere interactions: Linking climate change, weathering, soil formation and ecosystem evolution”). It studies the plant-soil-microbe interactions at early succession stages in the Damma glacier forefield occurring in response to limited nutrient availability.

Soil solution in LWF plots

The chemistry of soil solution and the soil water availability for plants have been monitored since 1997 in seven forest plots in Switzerland. This project, linked to the Swiss Long-term Forest Ecosystem Research project (LWF), aims to assess the soil response to atmospheric pollution (acidifying substances and nitrogen) and to climate change.

Biogeochemical cycling and ground vegetation

The better understanding of the processes driving the dynamics of forest ecosystems requires the documentation of the constantly interacting compartments and fluxes of the biogeochemical cycle. Scientists study two fluxes (deposition of nutrients through precipitation and litterfall) and two compartments (foliage and ground vegetation).