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Research facility · Birmensdorf · Switzerland

Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research

In research, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research stands highest in Environmental Science (#234 of 3,551 worldwide), Physical Sciences (#989 of 12,888 worldwide) and Earth and Planetary Sciences (#113 of 1,209 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Nature and Landscape Conservation, Atmospheric Science and Global and Planetary Change — Nature and Landscape Conservation is 37.8× its share of world research.

wsl.ch/index_ENROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#1,536
of 28,054 · #1,235 all time
Rank in Switzerland
#20
of 220
Research works
4k
▲ 44% vs 2013–17
Citations
190k
48.1 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
38.1%
record average 16.5%
Open access
63%
world 28%

What is Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022–2025, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Environmental ScienceField #234 of 3,551 41.2%309 #184
Physical SciencesDomain #989 of 12,888 38.7%442 #859
Earth and Planetary SciencesField #113 of 1,209 36.3%84 #93
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #632 of 3,409 38.2%131 #431
Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield #135 of 535 38.1%92 #107
Atmospheric ScienceSubfield #85 of 301 37.2%66 #88
EcologySubfield #179 of 578 44.9%65 #309
Life SciencesDomain #3,322 of 7,800 37.4%166 #2901

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022–2025. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Environmental Science#184 #234
  2. Physical Sciences#859 #989
  3. Earth and Planetary Sciences#93 #113
  4. Agricultural and Biological Sciences#431 #632
  5. Global and Planetary Change#107 #135
  6. Atmospheric Science#88 #85
  7. Ecology#309 #179
  8. Life Sciences#2,901 #3,322
all time2022–2025, better2022–2025, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

What does Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Nature and Landscape Conservation takes 37.8× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Nature and Landscape ConservationSubfield · 59.1 works38×
  2. Atmospheric ScienceSubfield · 66.2 works23×
  3. Global and Planetary ChangeSubfield · 91.6 works18×
  4. Insect ScienceSubfield · 23.5 works13×
  5. EcologySubfield · 64.6 works13×
  6. Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and SystematicsSubfield · 31.6 works10×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 4.21× its world share, 131 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.91× its world share, 32 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.23× its world share, 2 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.02× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.17× its world share, 0 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.09× its world share, 1 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.09× its world share, 4 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 8.13× its world share, 84 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.40× its world share, 2 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.37× its world share, 36 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 9.48× its world share, 309 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.10× its world share, 2 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.11× its world share, 2 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.12× its world share, 2 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.06× its world share, 8 worksMedicineNursing: 0.07× its world share, 0 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.53× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.04× its world share, 1 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.20× its world share, 4 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.34× its world share, 2 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.41× its world share, 6 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.18× its world share, 4 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.25× its world share, 21 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Environmental Science, 9.5×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research?

Ranked on the composite score, Niklaus E. Zimmermann, Peter Duelli and Marco Moretti lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research.

  1. 1 Niklaus E. Zimmermann Switzerland · #3,177 worldwide 1.7k citations · 88 works
  2. 2 Peter Duelli Switzerland · #31,648 worldwide 352 citations · 44 works
  3. 3 Marco Moretti Switzerland · #32,767 worldwide 430 citations · 61 works
  4. 4 Beat Frey Switzerland · #41,038 worldwide 424 citations · 39 works
  5. 5 Martin К. Obrist Switzerland · #56,116 worldwide 383 citations · 34 works
  6. 6 Yann Vitasse Switzerland · #71,146 worldwide 463 citations · 32 works
  7. 7 Janine Bolliger Switzerland · #82,559 worldwide 521 citations · 25 works
  8. 8 Christian Rixen Switzerland · #84,100 worldwide 450 citations · 29 works
  9. 9 Felix Kienast Switzerland · #93,898 worldwide 268 citations · 43 works
  10. 10 Loïc Pellissier Switzerland · #99,113 worldwide 470 citations · 47 works
All ranked researchers at Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research

Which keywords describe research at Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Climate Change, Biodiversity, Remote Sensing, Invasive Species, Biodiversity Conservation, Conservation, Global Change and Habitat Fragmentation.

▲ more of its work than of the world’s◆ about the world’s share▼ less than the world’s

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Climate Change224▲ 13×79 topics
  2. Biodiversity80▲ 16×23 topics
  3. Remote Sensing72▲ 8.9×26 topics
  4. Invasive Species68▲ 24×19 topics
  5. Biodiversity Conservation65▲ 27×13 topics
  6. Conservation53▲ 19×17 topics
  7. Global Change53▲ 31×7 topics
  8. Habitat Fragmentation48▲ 33×5 topics
  9. Ecosystem Resilience45▲ 47×5 topics
  10. Ecosystem Services41▲ 16×11 topics
  11. Biological Invasions39▲ 67×3 topics
  12. Global Warming39▲ 14×11 topics
  13. Ecosystem Functioning38▲ 31×7 topics
  14. Sustainability35▲ 2.2×43 topics
  15. Hydrology34▲ 41×4 topics
  16. Ecosystem34▲ 48×4 topics
  17. Biomass Estimation33▲ 33×3 topics
  18. Drought32▲ 51×3 topics
  19. Evapotranspiration32▲ 62×2 topics
  20. Species Richness31▲ 73×2 topics
  21. Carbon Balance31▲ 101×1 topic
  22. Tree Mortality31▲ 101×1 topic
  23. Community Ecology30▲ 55×2 topics
  24. Functional Diversity30▲ 84×1 topic
  25. Paleoclimatology30▲ 56×2 topics
  26. Land Use Change29▲ 15×7 topics
  27. Aboveground Biomass26▲ 45×2 topics
  28. Extreme Events26▲ 45×2 topics
  29. Model Evaluation25▲ 31×2 topics
  30. Forest Management24▲ 62×4 topics
  31. Temperature Variability21▲ 203×1 topic
  32. Tree Rings21▲ 203×1 topic
  33. Conservation Biology20▲ 30×4 topics
  34. Citizen Science20▲ 30×3 topics
  35. Sea Level Rise19▲ 23×3 topics
  36. Glacier19▲ 65×1 topic
  37. Water Availability19▲ 65×1 topic
  38. Ecological Niche18▲ 48×1 topic
  39. Species Distribution Modeling18▲ 48×1 topic
  40. Phylogenetic Analysis18▲ 9.0×14 topics

Which research topics does Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics, Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies, Tree-ring climate responses and Cryospheric studies and observations.

Plant Water Relations an…31Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics: 31 fractional worksEcology and Vegetation D…30Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies: 30 fractional worksTree-ring climate responses: 21 fractional worksCryospheric studies and observations: 19 fractional worksSpecies Distribution and Climate Change: 18 fractional worksForest Ecology and Biodiversity Studies: 17 fractional worksForest Management and Po…17Forest Management and Policy: 17 fractional worksForest ecology and management: 16 fractional worksLandslides and related hazards: 16 fractional worksPlant and animal studies14Plant and animal studies: 14 fractional works
Global and Planetary ChangeNature and Landscape ConservationAtmospheric ScienceEcological Modeling3 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics Global and Planetary Change 31 works
  2. 2 Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies Nature and Landscape Conservation 30 works
  3. 3 Tree-ring climate responses Atmospheric Science 21 works
  4. 4 Cryospheric studies and observations Atmospheric Science 19 works
  5. 5 Species Distribution and Climate Change Ecological Modeling 18 works
  6. 6 Forest Ecology and Biodiversity Studies Insect Science 17 works
  7. 7 Forest Management and Policy Global and Planetary Change 17 works
  8. 8 Forest ecology and management Nature and Landscape Conservation 16 works
  9. 9 Landslides and related hazards Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law 16 works
  10. 10 Plant and animal studies Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 14 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world’s own shares — the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available62.6%not open37.4%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors46.3%domestic only53.7%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 44% higher than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.