Publications by Christoph Bachofen

Non-native Douglas fir seedlings outcompete native Norway spruce, silver fir and Scots pine under dry and nutrient-poor conditions

Climate change is expected to significantly alter forest ecosystems, reducing the suitability of the key economic tree species Norway spruce (Picea abies) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica) in low- and mid-elevation forests of Central Europe. As these sp ...

2025

Beyond land surface temperature: Identifying areas of daytime thermal discomfort in cities by combining remote sensing and field measurements

Christoph Bachofen

Satellite images of land surface temperatures (LST) are commonly used to identify areas within cities most prone to diurnal thermal discomfort, but they may not reflect the experiences of pedestrians. Here, we developed predictive statistical models for Ph ...

2025

High transpirational cooling by urban trees despite extreme summer heatwaves

Charlotte Grossiord, Christoph Bachofen

Urban trees cool their environment by shading and transpiration (latent heat, LE), thereby alleviating urban heat. LE may be critically reduced during heatwaves, when trees reduce stomatal conductance (gS) to prevent hydraulic dysfunctions. Recent observat ...

2025

Prolonged warming and drought reduce canopy‐level net carbon uptake in beech and oak saplings despite photosynthetic and respiratory acclimation

Charlotte Grossiord, Christoph Bachofen, Eugénie Isabelle Mas, Laura Mekarni, Janisse Deluigi, Margaux Clara Lou Didion-Gency

Tree net carbon (C) uptake may decrease under global warming, as higher temperatures constrain photosynthesis while simultaneously increasing respiration. Thermal acclimation might mitigate this negative effect, but its capacity to do so under concurrent s ...

Wiley2025

Wachstum und Trockenstress: physiologische Charakterisierung von Schweizer Waldbäumen

Christoph Bachofen

Das Monitoring-Netzwerk TreeNet untersucht mit automatischen Sensoren an Baumstämmen (Punktdendro- metern) den Wasserhaushalt und das Wachstum von Waldbäumen an rund 70 Standorten in der Schweiz (inkl. 13 LWF-Standorten). Alle zehn Minuten werden an über 5 ...

Swiss Forestry Society2025

Twenty years of irrigation acclimation is driven by denser canopies and not by plasticity in twig- and needle-level hydraulics in a Pinus sylvestris forest

Charlotte Grossiord, Christoph Bachofen, Eugénie Isabelle Mas, Hervé Cochard, Alice Jacqueline Frédérique Gauthey, Alex Tunas Corzon

Climate change is predicted to increase atmospheric vapor pressure deficit, exacerbating soil drought, and thus enhancing tree evaporative demand and mortality. Yet, few studies have addressed the longer-term drought acclimation strategy of trees, particul ...

Oxford Univ Press2024

Tree water uptake patterns across the globe

Charlotte Grossiord, Christoph Bachofen

Plant water uptake from the soil is a crucial element of the global hydrological cycle and essential for vegetation drought resilience. Yet, knowledge of how the distribution of water uptake depth (WUD) varies across species, climates, and seasons is scarc ...

Wiley2024

Invasive palms have more efficient and prolonged CO2 assimilation compared to native sub-Mediterranean vegetation

Charlotte Grossiord, Christoph Bachofen, Thibaut Michel Georges Juillard, Janisse Deluigi, Marco Conedera

In sub-Mediterranean ecosystems, shade-tolerant broadleaf evergreens, especially the invasive Trachycarpus fortunei, are spreading uncontrollably in the forest understorey, impeding the regeneration of the native deciduous woody vegetation. Most invasive s ...

Elsevier2024

Soil warming alters tree water use and canopy stomatal conductance in a mixed subtropical forest

Charlotte Grossiord, Christoph Bachofen

As air temperature and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) increase continuously, forests are losing more water through evapotranspiration, with large consequences for local and global hydrological cycles. In regions with high vegetation cover, soil warming can b ...

Elsevier2024

Extracting flowering phenology from grassland species mixtures using time-lapse cameras

Christoph Bachofen

Understanding the impacts of climate change on plant phenology is crucial for predicting ecosystem responses. However, accurately tracking the flowering phenology of individual plant species in grassland species mixtures is challenging, hindering our abili ...

Elsevier Science Inc2023