The lost world of Swiss Alpine biodiversity

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Glacier buttercups at the foot of the Corvatsch glacier in Graubünden. (Photographer unknown) Eth-bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv / Fotograf: Unbekannt / Dia_283-214 / Public Domain Mark

The botanist Volkmar Vareschi analyses the data of a microclimatic measuring station on the Oberberghorn in the Bernese Oberland. (Werner Lüdi, August 1932) Eth-bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv / Fotograf: Lüdi, Werner / Dia_282-1724 / Cc By-sa 4.0

Alpine snowbells (here on the Gornergrat above Zermatt, at an altitude of 2,800 metres) bloom even before the snow disappears. (Wilhelm Heller, 1924) Eth-bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv / Fotograf: Heller, Wilhelm / Dia_283-136 / Cc By-sa 4.0

Topped trees in Ticino. Tree topping is an old pruning technique practised to obtain fodder for cattle. (1890-1910) Eth-bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv / Fotograf: Unbekannt / Hs_1360-0234-002 / Public Domain Mark

Left: A spruce in the Surselva district of Graubünden. (Karl Hager, 1900-1918); Right: The trunk of a larch at high altitude in the Swiss National Park, Graubünden. (Herman Langen, 1914) ETH-Archiv

Peat bog in a mountain pine forest near Lucerne, at 1,750 metres above sea level. (J. Aregger, 1944) Eth-bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv / Fotograf: Aregger, J. / Dia_282-6203 / Cc By-sa 4.0

A landslide destroyed a village in the Maggia Valley and killed ten people. In Ticino, frequent landslides were a consequence of the extensive deforestation of the trees used as protection in the 19th century. (Anton Krenn, 1924) Eth-bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv / Fotograf: Krenn, Anton / Hs_1360-0173-002 / Cc By-sa 4.0

Seeds going back thousands of years have been stored in the peat bog layers near Lucerne. The collection of soil samples and laboratory analysis allow the reconstruction of the history of the vegetation. Eth-bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv / Fotograf: Lüdi, Werner / Dia_282-8576 / Cc By-sa 4.0

Cereal fields at an altitude of 1,200 metres in Valais. (Werner Lüdi, 1954) Eth-bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv / Fotograf: Lüdi, Werner / Dia_282-8133 / Cc By-sa 4.0

Peat bog near Einsiedeln, canton Schwyz, five years before the area was submerged by the Sihl reservoir. (W. Marthaler, 1934) Eth-bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv / Fotograf: Marthaler, W. / Dia_282-0967 / Cc By-sa 4.0

Carl Schröter (third from left) with a group of botanists among the dried peat samples, near Einsiedeln, canton Schwyz. (Photographer unknown, 1901-1908) Eth-bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv / Fotograf: Unbekannt / Hs_1360-0583-f / Public Domain Mark

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Human settlements and agriculture have profoundly changed the Alpine landscape. An illustrated volume containing some of the first colour images of Swiss landscapes traces the beginnings of research into ecosystems and makes the reader think about the loss of biodiversity in Switzerland, a problem that is more topical than ever. 

Around 1880, Carl Schröter (1855-1939), professor of botany at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, began to photograph plants in their environment. Together with Eduard Rübel (1876-1960), one of his students, this pioneer of landscape and species protection wanted to study all the factors affecting biodiversity. 

In addition to Alpine flora, he also began to document landscapes and the influence of humans, from settlements to agriculture, in almost all regions of Switzerland. This wide-ranging approach is still followed today. 

Combining botany and geography, geobotany focuses on ecosystems and their dynamics, studying how plant species assemble in communities and adapt to different conditions. Thanks to the work of geobotanists, the foundations have been laid for biodiversity protection and nature conservation in Switzerland, including the creation of the Swiss National ParkExternal link. 

Drastic decline 

Pictures from the collections of Carl Schröter and the Rübel Geobotanical Research InstituteExternal link, both kept in the archives of the ETH Zurich library, also illustrate life in the Alps before the mechanisation of agriculture and how the Swiss landscape has changed since the end of the 19th century. 

One problem, that of the drastic decline in biological and topological diversity, is now a burning issue. The state of biodiversity in Switzerland is “unsatisfactory”, according to the Federal Office for the EnvironmentExternal link, which says half of habitats and one third of species are threatened. 

A selection of photographs, including some of the first colour images of Swiss landscapes, is presented in the volume Dokumentierte LandschaftExternal link (Documented Landscape) from Swiss publisher Scheidegger & Spiess. Its aim is to spread documents of historical significance and stimulate further research into biodiversity.

(Images copyright the ETH Zurich library)