Biodiversity Biodiversity research at WSL Assessing biodiversity Conserving biodiversity Investigating biodiversity Projects Dienstleistungen Dossiers Expertise Lehre und Weiterbildung Publications Landscape Development Management of Natural Hazards Sustainable Use of Natural Resources Forest Ecosystems

Biodiversity: a diversity of research at WSL

PDF-Download

Much more than just species diversity 

Species diversity is the number of species (animals, plants, fungi, lichens and micro-organisms) found in a given area. Biodiversity encompasses species diversity as well as genetic diversity (i.e. the variability of genes within a given species or a given population) and the diversity of ecosystems and of their natural dynamics. Biodiversity can therefore be defined as the variety of life forms and the ecological processes of which they are part.

By ratifying the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1994, Switzerland committed itself to monitor, protect and promote biodiversity. The Swiss federal research institute WSL contributes to this objective by conducting a wide range of research projects. Some of these projects aim at developing methods for assessing or modeling biodiversity. Others focus on interactions between species and their habitats. Socio-economic issues related to biodiversity conservation are also being investigated at WSL.

A large number of these projects are cross-linked to national or international research programs. Conserving biodiversity does indeed require networked resources and transboundary efforts.

Download

• The texts of this information package about biodiversity are available as a PDF file (250 KB).