New head of the Biodiversity and Conservation Biology unit

Anita Risch’s research revolves around the impacts of global change on biodiversity, ecosystem functions and processes. The focus is on human-induced global change drivers such as land use change, habitat fragmentation, and soil overexploitation and eutrophication. She conducts her experiments in a wide variety of world regions and ecosystems - from the Swiss National Park to Yellowstone National Park and the African Serengeti to the South American Pampas.

Risch published over 160 papers in scientific journals, but also repeatedly published for the general public. For example, she wrote both a technical article in the prestigious journal Nature Communications and a nonfiction book for everyone on the "fence experiment" in the Swiss National Park. In this experiment, researchers used fences of various mesh sizes to exclude herbivores of all sizes from experimental plots in subalpine grasslands to study the influences of deer, marmots, grasshoppers and the like on vegetation and soil. Risch conducted a similar experiment in Australia, where she compared the impact of sheep and cows on plant and soil properties with that of marsupials and insects. And in South America she is investigating the importance of cows in grasslands. She is particularly interested in how these grazers can help to maintain ecosystem functions, given that most naturally occurring large herbivores have been eradicated in South America.

For her interdisciplinary research, Risch often works in international networks, demonstrating her talent for bringing together and leading colleagues from diverse backgrounds. Risch holds a master's degree in biology from ETH Zurich and in forestry from Michigan Technological University, USA. She habilitated as a private lecturer at ETH Zurich. At WSL, she led a research group since 2006 and supervised numerous master's students, doctoral students, and PostDocs. Since 2023 she has been a member of the WSL directorate.