Control

The use of antibiotics is not permitted in Switzerland; moreover, no other medication exists to combat European foul brood. Hives with symptoms must therefore be destroyed in order to limit the outbreak, and the contaminated material must be sanitised. Since prevention is the best cure, early detection is desirable. Numerous studies have been undertaken and documents have been created at the Swiss Bee Research Centre and elsewhere to draw the attention of beekeepers to these problems and inform them about the causes and the control measures to be implemented.

Merkblatt zur erkennung von Bienenbrutkrankheiten (German (PDF, 357 kB, 18.10.2017) and French (PDF, 226 kB, 02.02.2017))
M. Tschumi (2011)

Optimising ecosystem services provided by grassland systems.

Institutional Repository Agroscope

Huguenin-Elie O., Delaby L., Le Clec'h S., Moreno G.M., Teixeira R.F.M., Schneider M. K.

Optimising ecosystem services provided by grassland systems.

Grassland Science in Europe, 23, 2018, 520-534.

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Link: Grassland Science in Europe Vol. 23

Abstract:

Grasslands are multifunctional, producing forage for livestock while providing a wide array of ecosystem services. The value of grasslands for society thus extends far beyond their direct economic value for livestock production. Nevertheless, some antagonisms exist between benefits that can potentially be provided by grasslands. Hence, optimising the delivery of multiple benefits requires consensual decisions. This paper gives an overview of the current state of knowledge about ecosystem services provided by grasslands, and discusses trade-offs at the field and the farm scales and how to evaluate them. Management options are available at the field scale to improve provisioning, regulating or maintenance services (biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation or the regulation of nutrient cycles). Multi-species swards with an optimal legume abundance stand out as facilitators of multiple ecosystem services. However, the different services are maximized at different levels of grassland intensification and none of the options available at the field scale alleviates the conflicts occurring along the intensification gradient. We conclude that multiple services can be optimised by combining specific improvement measures at the field scale with heterogeneity in management intensity, involving multiple grassland types, at the farm or landscape scale.

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