Project "Ecosystem services"

This project investigated the projected changes in selected ecosystem services and functions caused by climate change across the forestry, agriculture and aquatic ecosystems sectors. The results are available in the form of practice-oriented factsheets and web applications.

Background

Ecosystem services in Switzerland are diverse: forests protect against natural hazards, agricultural land produces food, and water bodies are of central importance for drinking water supply. Climate change is altering these services to varying degrees depending on the region and duration. The project team investigated the climate-related impacts on selected ecosystem services and functions (e.g. carbon sequestration, fodder yields and pollination services) and developed a cross-sectoral understanding of potential changes. Interactive apps for the forestry, agriculture, and water sectors visualize these changes across space and time under different climate scenarios. A cross-sector dashboard highlights which regions of Switzerland are particularly affected by climate change.

Results and outputs

The project has produced the following results and key outputs:

Forest

Due to rising temperatures and increasing drought, certain tree species will no longer be suitable for their current locations in the future. With the ForClim and FORTE apps, one can check how severely the different areas and regions of Switzerland are affected.
The FORTE app can be used to retrieve data on the current state of Swiss forests as well as climate-related changes for the period 2045–2074 in a map-based overview. This data can be combined with other indicators.
The ForClim app simulates the future development of forest stands, enabling more informed planning of silvicultural measures.

Agriculture

Climate change is reducing yield stability and carbon in the soil. In addition, pollination potential decreases in spring, but increases in summer. The CLIMAGS app shows which areas and regions of Switzerland are particularly affected.
The CLIMAGS app visualizes climate-related changes in agriculture for the period 2045-2074, e.g., in terms of yields, pollination by bees, and carbon stocks in soils.

Aquatic ecology

Climate change is altering both seasonal water availability and the nutrient and sediment loads released, to varying degrees depending on the area. With the AquaREL app, one can check how severely the various areas and regions of Switzerland are affected.
The AquaREL app shows how annual run-off, and nutrient and sediment loads in Swiss rivers will change until 2045-2074 under different climate scenarios.

Cross-sectoral dashboard

Climate change will have a significant impact on the ecosystem services provided by forests, water, and agriculture in Switzerland across all sectors, both temporally and spatially. An interactive dashboard visualizes hotspots of these changes under two climate scenarios (RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5) and supports the development of targeted adaptation strategies. This approach thus provides an initial geographical assessment of climate change vulnerability. The dashboard is based on the models of the CLIMAGS, FORTE, and AquaREL apps and was developed by the University of Geneva in collaboration with EBP.

As part of the project, three factsheets and a comprehensive technical report were produced. Further information on the findings and the reports themselves can be found on the project website: nccs-impacts.ch/ecosystems

Project partners

Agroscope (Pier-Luigi Calanca)
EBP Schweiz AG (Andreas Zysset)
ETHZ, Dept. Environmental Systems Science, Professorship of Forest Ecology, ETHZ (Harald Bugmann)
Universität Genf, Institute for Environmental Science (Anthony Lehmann, Sibylle Stöckli)
WSL, Research Unit Forest Dynamics, Group Ecosystem Ecology (Arthur Gessler)