LWF Seehornwald Davos long-term research site

Beschreibung

This research site is located on the Seehorn mountain near Davos within a managed subalpine coniferous forest in the Swiss Alps. Seehronwald Davos site is dedicated to forest ecosystem research with current projects focusing on topics of climate change, ecosystem carbon balance, ecophysiology, vegetation and soil sciences. The site belongs to one of the best equipped long-term forest ecology research sites of the world. Time series of climate variables, ecosystem gas exchange (eddy covariance), tree physiology records (sap flow, stem radius changes), and air pollution data cover the history of this site over more than 20 years. Records of local climate variables started in 1876. Since 2013 the site is part of ICOS, which awarded the infrastructure the CLASS 1 label on 21 November 2019. The site is part of the following national and international networks and encourages further synergistic collaborations with scientists from all over the world:

• National Air Pollution Monitoring Network (NABEL)
• ICOS Switzerland (ICOS-CH)
• TreeNet: The biological drought and growth indicator network
• Long-term Forest Ecosystem Research (LWF)
• Swiss FluxNet
• Ecosystem Research (ExpeER)
• Long Term Ecological Research (LTER)
• ICP Forests: the International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests

The site measurements are jointly run by the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA), the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ), and the Swiss Federal Research Institute (WSL) in Birmensdorf and Davos. The infrastructure is provided by the Federal Office of Environment (FOEN). All partners are grateful to forest owners and to the forestry service of the community of Davos for their continuous support.

LWF Plot Davos

• Community: Davos / canton GR
• Date of installation: 15.06.2006
• Size of the plot: 0.6 ha
• Altitude: : 1635-1665
• Geology (in German): Untergrund: - Oberfläche:
• Provisional soil type (WSL):
• Woodland association after EK72: 58: Larici-Piceetum
• Main tree species: Picea abies
• Management system: high forest
• Silvicultural system: group selection
• Top-height diameter (quadratic average diameter of the 100 thickest trees per ha): 47.0 cm
• Number of trees BHD >= 12 cm (2006): 498
• Maximum tree age: Picea abies: 200 - 390 yr