Project number: 18.00.19.06.01

The Monitoring of Biodiversity in the Agricultural Landscape

The Swiss federal government currently spends almost CHF 400 million a year to slow down the decline in biodiversity in the agricultural landscape. Nevertheless, it is often claimed that these measures are not beneficial enough. Launched in 2015, the ALL-EMA programme systematically records agricultural habitats and species, and calculates indicators for present-day diversity (for habitats and plant species, and also – thanks to the synergy with Biodiversity Monitoring Switzerland –  for butterflies and nesting bird species).

With this data, the contribution of the government-subsidised Ecological Focus Areas can be assessed. The change in diversity will be measured through a repetition of the surveys five years later. Together with findings from other projects on genetic diversity, alternative plant-protection measures and pollination, this will allow regular reconsideration of the concept for biodiversity payments.

Buholzer S., Indermaur A., Riedel S.
Handbuch für die Felddatenerhebung ALL-EMA: Version 3.1.
Agroscope Science, 118, 2021.
other Languages: french

Biurrun, I., usw., Meier E., Denger, J.
Benchmarking plant diversity of Palaearctic grasslands and other open habitats.
Journal of Vegetation Science, 32, (4), 2021.

Meier E., Lüscher G., Buholzer S., Herzog F., Indermaur A., Riedel S., Winizki J., Hofer G., Knop E.
Zustand der Biodiversität in der Schweizer Agrarlandschaft: Zustandsbericht ALL-EMA 2015−2019.
Agroscope Science, 111, 2021.

Buholzer S., Indermaur A., Riedel S., Frei M., Bühler C.
Bestimmungsschlüssel für Lebensräume der offenen Kulturlandschaft: Version 3.0 / Februar 2021.
Agroscope Science, 109, 2021.
other Languages: french

Meier E., Indermaur A., Ginzler C., Psomas A.
An effective way to map land-use intensity with a high spatial resolution based on habitat type and environmental data.
Remote Sensing, 12, (6), 2020, 1-21.

Biurrun I., Burrascano S., Dembicz I., Guarino R., Kapfer J., Pielech R., Garcia-Mijangos I., Wagner V., Palpurina S., Mimet A., Pellissier V., Marcenò C., Nowak A., Bergamini A., Boch S. and others
GrassPlot v. 2.00 – first update on the database of multi-scale plant diversity in Palaearctic grasslands.
Palaearctic Grasslands, 44, 2019, 26-47.

Riedel S., Lüscher G., Meier E., Herzog F., Hofer G.
Ökologische Qualität von Wiesen, die mit Biodiversitätsbeiträgen gefördert werden.
Agrarforschung Schweiz, 10, (2), 2019, 80-87.
other Languages: french

Fontana M.-C., Haering B., Koch P., Meier B., Weiss B., Zurbrügg C., Lugon A., Herzog F., Mack G.
Evaluation der Biodiversitätsbeiträge: Schlussbericht.
Bundesamt für Landwirtschaft, Bern. 8. Oktober, 2019, 203 pp.

Senn L., Grünig A., Richner N., Jelen J., Suter D., Hebeisen T., Ballmer T., Jacot-Ammann K., Buholzer S.
Versuchsstation Maran: Gesteinsbeete, Lebensräume und Pflanzen.
Agroscope, Reckenholz. November, 2018, 38 pp.

Riedel S., Meier E., Buholzer S., Herzog F., Indermaur A., Lüscher G., Walter T., Winizki J., Hofer G., Ecker K., Ginzler C.
ALL-EMA Methodology Report Agricultural Species and Habitats.
Agroscope Science, 57, 2018.
other Languages: german