Biodiversity in Switzerland: The Garden of Eden?

This lecture explores the biodiversity in Switzerland, highlighting the high proportions of threatened species among OECD countries. It delves into the assessment of environmental quality, genetic engineering, and the biomass of various living organisms. The presentation covers biodiversity measurements, ecological niches, community stability, and the conservation focus evolution. It also discusses the intrinsic and instrumental values of biodiversity, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a balanced and adaptable community. The lecture concludes by examining the compromise between single large habitats and several small ones, as well as the impact of habitat fragmentation on metapopulation dynamics.

About this result

This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.

Related concepts (72)

HUM-476: Ecological transition: from theory to practice I

Ce cours permet aux étudiant·e·s d'acquérir des connaissances théoriques et pratiques sur les enjeux liés à la transition écologique. Il comprend des enseignements interdisciplinaires, ainsi qu'un tra

Threatened species

Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to extinction in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of critical depensation, a mathematical measure of biomass related to population growth rate. This quantitative metric is one method of evaluating the degree of endangerment.

Conservation movement

The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental, and social movement that seeks to manage and protect natural resources, including animal, fungus, and plant species as well as their habitat for the future. Conservationists are concerned with leaving the environment in a better state than the condition they found it in. Evidence-based conservation seeks to use high quality scientific evidence to make conservation efforts more effective.

Conservation biology

Redirect2|Biological conservation|ConservationBiology (journal)|and|Biological Conservation (journal)Biological Conservation (journal)|and|Conservation Ecology (journal)Conservation Ecology (journal)|the popular movement|Conservationism Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions.

Nature conservation

Nature conservation is the moral philosophy and conservation movement focused on protecting species from extinction, maintaining and restoring habitats, enhancing ecosystem services, and protecting biological diversity. A range of values underlie conservation, which can be guided by biocentrism, anthropocentrism, ecocentrism, and sentientism, environmental ideologies that inform ecocultural practices and identities. There has recently been a movement towards evidence-based conservation which calls for greater use of scientific evidence to improve the effectiveness of conservation efforts.

International Union for Conservation of Nature

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in data gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, and education. IUCN's mission is to "influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable".