Biodiversity & Ecosystem Functioning (BD-EF)

Contact: Andrea Pfisterer (Switzerland)

The aim of the synthesis project launched in 2002 under the auspices of the Swiss SCOPE Committee is to provide a concise overview and meta-analysis of the available data on how changes of species composition due to removal and addition of species affect the functioning of ecosystems and to derive possible consequences for human land use. The applied framework in which the synthesis subject is formulated is specifically designed to encompass all research that contributes to the practical (agricultural and other ecosystem use) implications of biodiversity change. The synthesis will therefore promote efficient transfer of the available knowledge from ecology to land management. Additionally the database of the compiled research results, which will also serve as the basis for meta-analysis, is made available internationally to all interested researchers and practitioners.

The project database on biodiversity-ecosystem functioning studies www.divbase-uwinst.unizh.ch includes concise information about the purpose of the database and the possibility to send data via a mail form. Research groups have been contacted and have viewed and verified their own projects, contributing missing or additional information and have submitted information about ongoing studies to be included in the database. New publications will be included regularly. In the present form, searching the database and viewing and copying the search results is possible. The database will be made available on CD in the format of a Filemaker database as well as simple Excel sheets.

A joint workshop with a small number of scientists took place in April 2004. The workshop aims at addressing the most pressing questions on the basis of the accumulated data (e.g. "Is the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationship dependent on 1) the system studied, 2) the ecosystem function measured, 3) the experimental design?"; "What experimental approaches can best be used to answer which questions?"; "What is the link to management issues, global change scenarios?").

Results of the workshop will be formulated primarily as a short article in a scientific journal. It will provide a well-balanced appraisal of the present state of knowledge and will target a large scientific community of researchers. To also reach the practitioners the article will be accompanied by commentaries pointing out the main findings and conclusions. As biodiversity is affected by land use, and many aspects of ecosystem functioning vice versa affect human land use, the target audience includes, besides ecologists, also agronomists and agricultural and natural resource economists

Up-dated 29 June 2005