88 FOREST REPORT 2005
4.7 Pattern of forests in the landscape
The forest in Switzerland has been spreading for years. This development has also changed forest patterns with small plots amalgamating and light, structure-rich habitats and recreation areas disap- pearing.
Reducing the overall length of the forest edge is restricting the habitat of many animals and plants, including numerous threatened species.
Forest patterns
Nearly one thirdofSwitzerland’s land surface is today covered with forest. This has a certain pattern formed by itslarge-scale distribution in the landscape and its small-scalearrangement.
This forest pattern has always beengreatly affected by humans building roads and settlements and even more by theiragricul- turalandforestry practices.Pre- viousand current uses of forests have influenced the regionaldif- ferences in forest patterns, re- flecting the culturalandhistori- calheritage of each region.
The forest isbeingused com- mercially lessandless.It has ex- panded at thecost of opencoun- try fordecades so that the forest pattern has changed in many places. Aerialphotos show that, between 1985 and 1997, many forest fragments amalgamated, with gaps and clearings being filled in. Thus the overall forest areais increasing,but the number ofdiscrete forest “islands”isde- creasing, and many ecologically valuable forest edges are disap- pearing.
The decrease in the overall length of forest edges is reduc- ing the habitat of many animals andplants,including that of nu- merous threatened species. The expansion of the forest is also changing the look of the land- scape and is viewed with con- cern,especially in regionswhere tourism and recreation are im- portant. A survey of locals and tourists in Unterengadin, for example, found that most peo- ple prefer half-open forest land- scapes with a medium level of forest regrowth toclosedforest.
In contrast, other regions welcome the expansion and densification of the forest. In the Central Plateau some ani- mal and plant species benefit from thelarger habitats resulting from the amalgamation of for- est lots. Dense forests also pro-
89 4BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
videbetter protectionagainst av- alanches,rockfallandlandslides.
Moreover,alargeand dense for- est ensures good quality drink- ingwateras the forest soilis full of humusandroots, thusacting asan optimal water filter(> 5.1 Drinkingwater).
Deciding what forest pat- terns are ecologically, social- ly and economically desirable is thereforecomplex.Forest devel- opment plansandlandscapede- velopment policiesare important instruments in coordinating the variousdemands on the forest.
Wooded pastures
Woodedpastures exemplify how forest patterns can be culturally and historically influenced and areconsidered,according to the Swiss Law on Forests, to be for- est.Such pastures providea var- ied habitat for many species where pastureland, single trees, tree groups and small areas of woodland alternate to form an attractive pattern. Traditionally
FURTHERINFORMATION Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL 8903 Birmensdorf
Research Dept. LANDSCAPE Section Landscape dynamics and spatial development
(0) 44/ 739 23 66
Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape SAEFL 3003 Bern
Forest Agency
Section Forest utilization and timber industry
(0) 31/ 324 77 78
4.7.1
Forest patterns
Development between1985and1997.
wooded pastures were common in many mountain regions, but today they arelargely confined to CantonValaisand theJura.
Wooded pastures develop through cattlegrazing.The ani- mals feed both in the open pas- tureandin thewoodland,where they eat the seedlings of young treesand thus prevent the expan- sion of the forest. This leads to thedevelopment ofan open for- est landscape,which is important for natureconservation,produc- tive for huntingand attractive for tourism.Despite their highly di- versified use, wooded pastures today are becoming increasing- ly rare.Inmany places the forest hasgrown over the pastureagain ascows tend tograzemostly on productive pastures. Harvesting timber from wooded pastures isalso becoming less profitable.
Moreover,Swiss forest andland- scape policies andguidelinesdo not favourwoodedpasturesand up to now have not taken into account such special,diversified use. The Jura cantons have rec- ognised this problemandwant to promotewoodedpastures in fu- turewith integratedplanning.
Landscape
element Changes in area 1985-1997 in
%of total land area 1995
Changes in no.
of areas 1985- 1997, in% of no. of areas 1995
Trend in forest pattern development
-1.1%
+5.5%
+1.4%
0%
-1.1%
-1.1%
Larger areas, fewer edge effects
1985 1997
The expansion of the forest is changing the look of the landscape and is viewed with concern, especially in regions where tourism and recrea- tion are important. A survey of locals and tourists in Unterengadin, for example, found that most people prefer half-open forest landscapes with a medium level of forest regrowth to closed forest.
4.7.2
Wooded pastures on the Chasseral
A formof use combiningmany overlapping interests.
Copse Shrub forest Fores
