Valais - Valais

Legal status

ICP-Forests, ILTER, SENSOR-IP, BDM, ALTERNET

Long Term Perspective

The area of central Valais has been subject of research of WSL for long. In the early 80s, investigations have focused on the impact of local fluor emission on forest health. The LTER sites have been established 1996 and are currently integrated in SENSOR, an Integrated Project in FP6. During the past few years, a large-scale, interdisciplinary project on the die-back in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) has investigated a suite of aspects such as insects, fungi, parasites, and many abiotic factors possibly involved in this process. The sites are easily accesible via private and public transport.

Scientific Value

The area comprises various extended ecological gradients such as elevation (colline to submontane forest ecosystems), precipitation (dry valley bottom to moist subalpine forests), exposition, geology, etc.
Population genetic research included the following taxa and subjects:
- Quercus petraea/robur/pubescens (postglacial migration, taxon assignment)
- Pinus sylvestris (ecotypic differentiation)
- Pinus cembra (population sampling)
- Picea abies (population sampling)