Genetic diversity is essential for conserving biodiversity. It does not take an entire species going extinct for diversity to be diminished: subspecies, breeds or varieties disappearing have the same effect. The risk for this to happen has increased in recent decades, as agriculture has been focusing on breeding and cultivating only a few breeds and varieties for the sake of maximum yield. Breeds and varieties that—measured by liters or kilograms produced per year—proved to be less profitable or more susceptible to diseases have been ousted from productive livestock keeping and commercial growing. For this reason, special efforts are being made to preserve heirloom breeds and varieties and their specific genetic properties.

The Z1 indicator provides a synopsis of both herdbook-registered livestock breeds bred in Switzerland and crop plant varieties of select species earmarked for preservation.

Comments

• While only a small proportion of the breeds kept in this country originate here, Switzerland bears particular responsibility for these few breeds. The federal government has set up dedicated conservation programs to promote livestock breeds that have been bred in Switzerland for at least 50 years and are considered to be endangered by international criteria. Likewise, the state has set up support programs for breeds that, even though not acutely endangered at this time, have steadily been dwindling in numbers for several years. In certain cases, Switzerland’s particular responsibility is restricted to just one section of a breed. True to its name, the Original Swiss Brown, for example, originates in Switzerland, but nowadays, it only accounts for a minor proportion of Brown Cattle. For this reason, only the Original Swiss Brown section is subsidized by federal funds.
• Until 1999, Switzerland’s federal government only supported the breeding of official Swiss breeds (4 cattle breeds, 2 pig breeds, 4 sheep breeds, 8 goat breeds). When the Swiss Ordinance on Livestock Breeding came into force on January 1, 1999, this limitation was abandoned, allowing the breeding of non-Swiss breeds to be subsidized as well. Replaced by an updated version on November 14, 2007, the new Ordinance also assigns responsibility for livestock breeding to federally recognized breeders’ organizations, with the state setting the guide rails by reserving the right to recognize such organizations and by regulating artificial insemination. Due to the far-reaching effects of the new Ordinance on Livestock Breeding, the Z1 indicator only considers data collected as of 1999.
• As a result of the new Swiss Ordinance on Livestock Breeding coming into force in 1999 and import restrictions being lifted in 1995, the number of breeds registered in herdbooks has been increasing since 1999. Switzerland’s federal government subsidizes breeders’ services offered by recognized breeders’ organizations regardless of breed. Contrarily to past practice, the state no longer stipulates breeding objectives, either. Nowadays, such objectives are determined by each individual breeders’ organization. These activities are complemented by the efforts of the Swiss NPO Pro Specie Rara which focuses on the recognition and preservation of heirloom breeds.
•  All sheep breeds are closely related by genotype, mainly differing by phenotype. Since the 1960s, many breeds have been merged into one due to their very high genetic similarity. The same can be said for goats, particularly the Chamois-Colored goat.
• The increase in the number of cattle breeds from 19 to 33 must mainly be attributed to beef breeds.

Comments

• The significance of these figures must be assessed in relation to each variety’s crop area (cf. Z2 indicator). Out of more than 800 listed apple varieties, a mere eight are of any consequence in commercial fruit growing, with each variety having a share of at least 4%. Lowering that threshold would not bring about a fundamental change in the overall picture, either. While the diversity of crop plant varieties is immense, cultivation is confined to a select few.
• The situation is basically similar, albeit even more extreme, as regards pears (four major varieties) and vines (with four red vines and three white vines claiming a share of at least 4% each).
• Compared to the overall number of varieties, relative diversity of cultivated varieties is greatest among potatoes: Out of 75 varieties, 7 reach a crop area share of at least 4%.
• The number of varieties of a species present in Switzerland (i.e. varieties that are being cultivated or have been included in a plant collection) is likely to be higher than the number indicated in Table 2. On the one hand, not all varieties of a species are entered in the corresponding positive list of the Swiss National Database, even if they are of great significance in cultivation. For example, the FOAG’s report on wine production in 2009 (“Weinjahr 2010 ”) lists 217 different vine varieties, while the vine positive list holds only 135. On the other hand, it cannot be excluded—as a matter of fact, it must be assumed—that positive lists comprise several genetically identical varieties under different names, which will eventually be eliminated after verification. The potato positive list, for one, included 97 varieties in 2009. After verification and adjustment, that number dropped to 75 in 2011.