Charlotte Grossiord

Forest interactions Explore plant interactions in forest environments at all levels from micro- to macro-scales and across the whole spectrum of plant biology.

Save the date!

48th New Phytologist Symposium: Forest interactions

📅 13–16 October 2026
📍 Leysin, Switzerland

www.newphytologist.org/events/48-nps

#PlantScience

Just 3 days left to apply!! :D, come join us! Abstract submission closing Jan 15th #EGU26

PhD Position: Tree Physiological Responses to Atmospheric Drought We invite applications for a fully funded four-year PhD position at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, with a planned start date in June 2026. The selected candidate wil...

🌳PhD Opportunity in plant ecophysiology🌡️ Join EPFL (Switzerland) for fully-funded 4yr PhD on tree responses to air drought and heat. Climate chamber + long-term experiments to uncover physiological thresholds under climate change. www.epfl.ch/labs/perl/pe...

How do forests keep their cool? A 1.89 million Swiss Francs question. WSL forest ecologist Charlotte Grossiord receives an ERC Consolidator Grant to understand forest resilience to climate change.

🌲🌡️How do forests stay cool despite #heatwaves? Charlotte Grossiord (WSL/EPFL) receives an ERC #grant of just under 2 million Swiss francs to research how European #forests cope with “atmospheric drought” and which tree species are especially resistant to heat and #drought. www.wsl.ch/en/news/how-...

It's time to apply for the New Phytologist #TansleyMedal for excellence in #PlantScience.

Open to early career researchers with 3 to 5 years experience post-PhD.

Applications close on 1 November. Don't miss out!

www.newphytologist.org/grants-award...

#ecrchat #phdchat

🌿 Join us at #EGU26 for session BG3.37 – Impacts of climatic extremes on plants & ecosystems! 🔥
We welcome studies on heat, drought & variability from leaf to landscape 🌍
Submit your abstract 👉 meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU26/sessio... @kateplantphys.bsky.social @alyssakullberg.bsky.social

🌿Postdoc opening in Urban Ecophysiology at WSL Lausanne - start March 2026. Join Horizon Europe FRAIMwork on green walls: carbon sink, water use efficiency & air quality. Apply via WSL careers page: m.refline.ch/273855/1786/... @wslresearch.bsky.social

Sampling success at the @arnoldarboretum.bsky.social with @alyssakullberg.bsky.social and Thibaut. What an amazing place to work! If you have temperature thresholds data and want to join forces, let us know! You'll make us and @charlottegrossiord.bsky.social happy.

New PhD position in Plant Ecophysiology🌳 Study how atmospheric & soil drought shape tree carbon & water relations at the VPDrought experiment in Switzerland. Start Jan 2026. Apply here: m.refline.ch/273855/1759/... @wslresearch.bsky.social

Impact of emerging compound droughts on forests: A water supply and demand perspective This review examines the physiological and ecological responses of trees to emerging compound droughts from a water demand and supply perspective, as well as the role of acclimation and consequences ...

🌳🔥Out now: Our review on compound droughts and forest responses - from leaf to ecosystem. Featuring a stunning 20-yr map of canopy temperatures variation across European forests. @chriswernerlab.bsky.social @simonhaber.bsky.social @vallicrosah.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Can beech and oak saplings adjust to prolonged periods of warmer temperatures🌡and soil drought? 🏜
Come find it out at my presentation at @egu.eu!
Looking forward to this experience as a first attendee!

Cones and consequences: the false dichotomy of conifers vs broad‐leaves has critical implications for research and modelling In plant science research and modelling, particularly from the northern hemisphere, the terms ‘needle-leaved’ and ‘conifer’ along with ‘broad-leaved’ and ‘angiosperm’ are often used synonymously, cre...

Did you ever wonder when to use "conifer", "gymnosperm", "needleleaf", "angiosperms" and "broadleaves"? Us too so we transformed the discussion into this viewpoint. I hope you enjoy the reading as much as we enjoyed the writing! @kateplantphys.bsky.social nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

🌳Urban trees keep cooling - even during record-breaking heatwaves! We show that trees maintained high transpiration, defying model predictions. Tree cooling during heat may be underestimated 🌡️💦
Great study led by Christoph Bachofen @wslresearch.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.uf...

Of course that‘s just some initial thoughts, and it definitly requires further reflection 😊

Great question Rosie! We first need to understand how these limits vary broadly among species/PFTs. We then also need to integrate them into stress/mortality algorithms (heat-related thresholds, thermal damage functions related to cumulative exposure) and couple it of course with drought stress

💥What we found:
Tcrit is stable and reversible
T50 & Tmax drop with longer exposure & depend on method
Recovery mainly happens before T50 - beyond that damage is irreversible.
If you want to predict forest resilience, method and duration can’t be ignored 🌿

Leaf Excision and Exposure Duration Alter the Estimates of the Irreversible Photosynthetic Thermal Thresholds Our study highlights the importance of assessing thermal thresholds using consistent exposure duration and plant material type when comparing studies, as well as their relationship to functional re...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
🌿How you measure heat tolerance matters! We tested 3 species under different methods & durations to find their thermal limits.
@a-gthy.bsky.social @kateplantphys.bsky.social @philippschuler.bsky.social

Really great paper! It shows that while photosynthetic acclimation to warming can matter at the leaf level, it might become irrelevant at the canopy scale for total carbon uptake - simply because of reduced canopy size. Scale matters! 🌿🔥

Congrats Janisse!

My first paper is out! We investigated how #photosynthetic and #respiratory #thermal #acclimation 🌡️ and #canopy size 🌳 shape tree net #carbon uptake under prolonged warming and drought. Check it out: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author...

@charlottegrossiord.bsky.social
@wslresearch.bsky.social

Fantastic study using a combination of a long-term manipulative study, microCT and modelling (Sureau) led by Laura Mekarni, together with @hcochard.bsky.social

Acclimation to High Vapor Pressure Deficit in Warmer Air Can Reduce Tree Vulnerability to Drought‐Induced Mortality Trees of the European tree species Prunus mahaleb, Quercus robur, and Populus nigra demonstrated both favourable and unfavourable acclimation mechanisms to high vapour pressure deficit and temperatur...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Sorry, the doi is correct but it seems that has not been activated yet. It works when you go through the PCE website first

🌿🔥How heat and VPD shape tree survival? We tested how acclimation to high temperature & VPD impacts drought mortality. While heat speeds up death via leaf area expansion, VPD acclimation slows it down by enhancing stomatal control - balancing mortality timing. doi.org/10.1111/PCE....

Charlotte Grossiord, suspended from a tree in a woodland by a rope and climbing harness.

'What excites me is the chance to work with incredible scientists from all over the world, some of whom are just starting their scientific journey.'

In #Profile: Charlotte Grossiord 👇

📖 https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.20404

#LatestIssue #PlantScience

Had an amazing time with the PERL group on our first night-time sledding adventure in the Swiss mountains! Great fun, lots of laughs, and unforgettable moments, speeding down the slopes under the stars. ❄️🛷✨

🌿 Join us for a workshop at our unique VPDrought field site in Switzerland on Aug 21-22, 2025! The event will feature a field site tour & presentations from experts studying VPD impacts on forests worldwide. Don’t miss the chance to connect & collaborate! www.wsl.ch/en/events-an...

Interested in plants under climate extremes? 🍃🌡️💧❄️

Submit an abstract to our session at EGU in Vienna, 27th April- 2nd May 2025! meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU25/sessio...

Abstracts due Jan 15th
@kateplantphys.bsky.social

#Isotope Folks!! We are thrilled to invite you to our #EGU25 𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐬𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 across ecosystems, life forms, scales, & cutting-edge methods. Share your research & join this interdisciplinary discussion!

🔗 Learn more: tinyurl.com/IsotopeEcolo...
Abstract deadline: 15 Jan 2025

🎄✨Wrapping up the year with laughter, good food and great company! Our Christmas party was the perfect way to celebrate our journey together ❄️🎉