Dr. Patrick Fonti
Function
Senior Scientist
Contact
Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL
Zürcherstrasse 111
8903 Birmensdorf
Site
Birmensdorf Bi HL C 32
ResearcherID B-7400-2011
Scopus AuthorID 6602360450
Research Interests
- Dendrochronology
- Dendroecology, tree response to changing environment, tree competition dynamic and forest succession
- Wood anatomy, wood formation
- Plant hydraulic, water transport in xylem
- Ecophysiology, environmental signal in tree rings
FURTHER INFORMATION
Short CV
Employement history
from 2020: Senior Scientist, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf
2006-2019: Research Scientist, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf
2003-2006: Research Scientist, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Bellinzona
2003: Post-doctoral fellow, University Berkeley (Prof. G. Biging)
2003: Collaborator at the environmental consulting Dionea SA, Locarno
2002-2003: Post-doctoral fellow, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Bellinzona
2000-2002: Teaching assistant, ETH Zurich
1997-1999: Research associate, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Bellinzo
Education
2000-2002: PhD in Natural Sciences at the ETH Zürich, Faculty of Forest Sciences.
Title of the Thesis: Investigations into ring shake of chestnut
1997-1999: Postgraduate course in applied statistic at the ETH Zürich, Department of Mathematic and Physic
1991-1997: Diploma as Forest Engineer at the ETH Zürich, Faculty of Forest Sciences
Publications WSL
Scientific publication article peer reviewed
Zweifel, R.; Pappas, C.; Peters, R.L.; Babst, F.; Balanzategui, D.; Basler, D.; Bastos, A.; Beloiu, M.; Buchmann, N.; Bose, A.K.; Braun, S.; Damm, A.; D'Odorico, P.; Eitel, J.U.H.; Etzold, S.; Fonti, P.; Freund, E.R.; Gessler, A.; Haeni, M.; ... Sterck, F., 2023: Networking the forest infrastructure towards near real-time monitoring - a white paper. Science of the Total Environment, 872: 162167 (11 pp.). doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162167
Puchi, P.F.; Khomik, M.; Frigo, D.; Arain, M.A.; Fonti, P.; Von Arx, G.; Castagneri, D., 2023: Revealing how intra- and inter-annual variability of carbon uptake (GPP) affects wood cell biomass in an eastern white pine forest. Environmental Research Letters, 18, 2: 024027 (11 pp.). doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/acb2df
Lopez-Saez, J.; Corona, C.; Von Arx, G.; Fonti, P.; Slamova, L.; Stoffel, M., 2023: Tree-ring anatomy of Pinus cembra trees opens new avenues for climate reconstructions in the European Alps. Science of the Total Environment, 855: 158605 (12 pp.). doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158605
Miller, E.W.; Rademacher, T.; Fonti, P.; Seyednasrollah, B.; Richardson, A.D., 2022: Assessing intra-annual density fluctuations across and along white pine stems. Botany, 100, 7: 583-591. doi: 10.1139/cjb-2021-0218
Chen, Y.; Rademacher, T.; Fonti, P.; Eckes-Shephard, A.H.; LeMoine, J.M.; Fonti, M.V.; Richardson, A.D.; Friend, A.D., 2022: Inter-annual and inter-species tree growth explained by phenology of xylogenesis. New Phytologist, 235, 3: 939-952. doi: 10.1111/nph.18195
Further scientific publications
Zweifel, R.; Basler, D.; Braun, S.; Buchmann, N.; Conedera, M.; Etzold, S.; Eugster, W.; Floriancic, M.; Fonti, P.; Gessler, A.; Haeni, M.; Hoch, G.; Hummel, D.; Kahmen, A.; Koechli, R.; Maeder, M.; Nievergelt, D.; Peter, M.; Peters, R.; ... Wilhelm, M., 2022: TreeNet. Technischer Bericht 2022. 76 p.
Rathgeber, C.B.K.; Fonti, P., 2022: The early arrival of spring doesn’t boost annual tree growth. Nature, 608: 473-474. doi: 10.1038/d41586-022-02107-x
Rathgeber, C.B.K.; Pérez-de-Lis, G.; Fernández-de-Uña, L.; Fonti, P.; Rossi, S.; Treydte, K.; Gessler, A.; Deslauriers, A.; Fonti, M.V.; Ponton, S., 2022: Anatomical, developmental and physiological bases of tree-ring formation in relation to environmental factors. In: Siegwolf, R.T.W.; Brooks, R.J.; Roden, J.; Saurer, M. (eds), 2022: Stable isotopes in tree rings. Inferring physiological, climatic and environmental responses. Cham, Springer. 61-99. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-92698-4_3
Frank, D.; Fang, K.; Fonti, P., 2022: Dendrochronology: fundamentals and innovations. In: Siegwolf, R.T.W.; Brooks, R.J.; Roden, J.; Saurer, M. (eds), 2022: Stable isotopes in tree rings. Inferring physiological, climatic and environmental responses. Cham, Springer. 21-59. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-92698-4_2
Huang, J.G.; Campelo, F.; Ma, Q.; Zhang, Y.; Bergeron, Y.; Deslauriers, A.; Fonti, P.; Liang, E.; Mäkinen, H.; Oberhuber, W.; Rathgeber, C.B.K.; Tognetti, R.; Treml, V.; Yang, B.; Zhai, L.; Zhang, J.L.; Antonucci, S.; Camarero, J.J.; Čufar, K.; ... Rossi, S., 2020: Photoperiod plays a dominant and irreplaceable role in triggering secondary growth resumption. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America PNAS, 117, 52: 32865-32867. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2019931117
Magazine article and brochures
Bonfils, P.P.; Arend, M.; Kuster, T.M.; Fonti, P.; Vollenweider, P.; Junod, P.; Günthardt-Goerg, M.S., 2013: Le chêne, une essence de grande plasticité. La Forêt, 66, 10: 13-17.
Bonfils, P.; Kuster, T.; Fonti, P.; Arend, M.; Vollenweider, P.; Junod, P.; Günthardt-Goerg, M.S., 2013: Die Eiche reagiert plastisch. Wald und Holz, 45-49.
Conedera, M.; Moretti, M.; Fonti, P.; Krebs, P., 2006: Attività nel 2005. WSL Sottostazione Sud delle Alpi. Forestaviva, 14-15.
Conedera, M.; Moretti, M.; Giudici, F.; Fonti, P.; Krebs, P., 2005: WSL Sottostazione Sud delle Alpi: Le nostre attività di anno in anno. Agricoltore ticinese, 10, 34: 19-20.
Fonti, P., 2005: Dendrocronologia e dendropirocronologia. Dati statistiche e società: trimestrale dell'Ufficio di statistica del Cantone Ticino, 20.
Monitoring
The Lötschental monitoring transect is an ensemble of 9 tree-growth monitoring sites distributed along an elevational gradient from 800 to 2200 m. a.s.l. The setting (Figure 2) was installed in fall 2006 and includes infrastructure to investigate continuous stem growth of mature Picea abies and Larix decidua trees grown under natural conditions.
Xcell DB
XCELL is an initiative promoting the creation and maintenance of a central repository of wood cell anatomy and intra-annual density profile data.
Aims of the initiative to preserve and promote individual efforts in quantifying cell anatomical and intra-annual density profile measurements performed along dated series of tree-rings to define standards and good praxis for the measurement and analyses of cell anatomical data to assemble, harmonize and facilitate the distribution/exchange of worldwide measured and dated datasets of xylem cell anatomical and intra-annual density data to make use of the data to complement or infer novel insights in the mechanism of xylem formation and functioning, as well as for assessing their impact on the plant-environment interaction and related biogeochemical cycles.
Cell anatomy or density profile data submitted to the XCELL must meet certain requirements before assimilation into the holdings. The collection is structured in order to only include cell anatomical or wood density profile data that are spatial-, chrono-, and geo-referenced, i.e.; only localized intra-ring measurements that have been obtained from dated annual rings (possibly along series of tree-rings), and from plants material collected from known locations.