- Plant–animal interactions
- Wildlife biology
- Conservation biology

The influence of a high density of wild ungulates on subalpine forests in the Swiss National Park. Wild ungulates are an important part of the ecosystem in subalpine forests. They create open spaces, spread seeds, and give nutrients back to the soil trough their excrements. However, because of the lack of large predators in the Swiss National Park, the density of wild ungulates is high. This led to concerns whether the forest can sustain itself. To examine this question, the Swiss National Park started in 1991 to collect data on the browsing intensity of wild ungulates in Val Trupchun every ten years. I will be given the opportunity to collect the fourth of those datasets.

I am interested in the development of the browsing intensity and how many saplings survived since the start of data collection. Furthermore, I want to assess whether there are factors that influence the browsing activity of wild ungulates. With this study, I will help creating a baseline from which further studies can be made on the possible effects of the return of wolves on the subalpine forest.