Alpine cryptogam flora

As part of the implementation of the "Swiss Biodiversity Strategy", the Action Plan for phase 2 (2025-2030) provides for a total of 22 measures to strengthen biodiversity. The project described here is a pilot project for measure 8 "Species promotion" and also touches on measures 6 "Ecologically valuable areas and connectivity" and 7 "Biodiversity in climate change". The main aim of the project is to record the cryptogamic communities (mosses, lichens, fungi) of various mountain grassland habitats using environmental DNA from air and soil samples and to determine which national priority lichens, fungi and mosses occur in these habitats and should be protected.

While the flora in the Alpine region is relatively well known and mapped, there are still considerable gaps in the data on cryptogams (mosses, lichens, fungi) with regard to their species occurrence, distribution and frequency. Reasons for the inadequate data basis include the great diversity of species (especially lichens and fungi), the difficulty of accessing identification literature and the small number of species specialists. This makes the monitoring of these species groups a fundamental challenge.

While human pressure on alpine habitats was rather low in the past, it has increased noticeably in recent years. The main reason for this is the energy crisis, which has led to the planning of new wind and hydroelectric power plants in the Alps. Furthermore, global warming is not only leading to changed environmental conditions at higher altitudes, but is also forcing ski resorts to increasingly move to higher altitudes. The pressure of tourism at these altitudes is increasing. This requires better knowledge of the species associated with alpine habitats and their prioritization in order to optimize nature conservation planning.

Biodiversity monitoring via environmental DNA (eDNA) from air and soil samples is a promising method to effectively record cryptogams. In this pilot project, air and soil samples will be collected from six regions of the Swiss Alps in order to compare the species communities in the different types of mountain grasslands and samples. To validate the method, all species present will be collected simultaneously from some of the sample areas and identified morphologically and genetically using barcoding.

The data will provide us with important information about the cryptogamic flora in the areas studied. If the pilot project is successful, it could be extended to other alpine habitats and thus provide an important supplementary basis for decisions on the selection of sites for possible future protected areas or construction projects in the alpine region.