Alois Zürcher

Function

Technical staff member

Forest Soils and Biogeochemistry

Biogeochemistry

Contact

alois.zuercher(at)wslto make life hard for spam bots.ch

+41 44 739 25 01+41 44 739 25 01

Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL
Zürcherstrasse 111
8903 Birmensdorf

Site

Birmensdorf Bi MG C 36

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.

Control on soil organic matter in Swiss forests

The cycling of carbon and nitrogen are closely linked and thus, the increasing deposition of nitrogen very likely affects soil organic matter dynamics. We are adding 13C and 15N labeled litter from beech to soils and investigate how experimentally increased N inputs influence the fate of litter-derived C and N.

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).

Publications WSL

Scientific publication article peer reviewed

Gao, D.; Joseph, J.; Werner, R.A.; Brunner, I.; Zürcher, A.; Hug, C.; Wang, A.; Zhao, C.; Bai, E.; Meusburger, K.; Gessler, A.; Hagedorn, F., 2021: Drought alters the carbon footprint of trees in soils—tracking the spatio-temporal fate of ¹³C-labelled assimilates in the soil of an old-growth pine forest. Global Change Biology, 27: 2491-2506. doi: 10.1111/gcb.15557

Hagedorn, F.; Martin, M.; Rixen, C.; Rusch, S.; Bebi, P.; Zürcher, A.; Siegwolf, R.T.W.; Wipf, S.; Escape, C.; Roy, J.; Hättenschwiler, S., 2010: Short-term responses of ecosystem carbon fluxes to experimental soil warming at the Swiss alpine treeline. Biogeochemistry, 97, 1: 7-19. doi: 10.1007/s10533-009-9297-9

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Further scientific publications

Waldner, P.; Hobi, M.; Stillhard, J.; Brang, P.; Hug, C.; Thimonier, A.; Schmitt, M.; Walser, M.; Köchli, R.; Zürcher, A.; Christen, D.; Hajjar, N.; Schaub, M.; Sutter, F.; Häni, M.; Meusburger, K.; Gessler, A.; Nussbaumer, A.; Hirsiger, T.; Zhu, J., 2023: Forschung im Waldreservat am Bettlachstock. Mitteilungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft des Kantons Solothurn, 161-179. doi: 10.5169/seals-1007786

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