**Background:** Despite decades of conservation efforts, biodiversity loss has continued worldwide. The concept of Nature's Contributions to People (NCPs), developed by IPBES, aims to highlight nature's value for human well-being. However, most NCP mapping has been performed at coarse landscape levels using land use classifications, rather than directly linking NCPs to individual species. This study addresses the critical gap in species-level NCP data by creating a comprehensive relationship table for the Swiss Alps.
**Methods:** The study area covers 946 km² in the Western Swiss Alps (elevation 372–3,206 m). Species selection included all tracheophyte and vertebrate species with at least 10 occurrences in Switzerland between 1970 and 2020, excluding alien species. The final list comprised 1,816 tracheophyte and 250 vertebrate species. Seventeen NCPs were selected from the CICES V.5.1 and Swiss classifications, with 16 NCPs for tracheophytes and 9 for vertebrates. Relationships were assigned values of +1 (positive), 0 (neutral), −1 (negative), or NA (no information) using three strategies: (1) scientific literature screening, (2) expert knowledge assessment, and (3) comparison with literature and Google search engine results. For "Scientific interest" and "Iconic species" NCPs, a third quartile threshold methodology was applied based on publication counts and web search results.
**Key Results:** A total of 31,098 individual relationships were reported out of 31,306 possible. For tracheophytes, the NCP with the highest number of positive relationships was "potential crop" with 1,139 species (62.7%). Non-material NCPs also showed strong positive associations: 458 species (25.2%) for "scientific research interest" and 454 (25%) for "iconic species." Only three tracheophyte species were linked to "endangered habitats." The "wild food" NCP had more negative than positive relationships (235 negative, 12.9%), reflecting the high proportion of toxic or non-edible species. Among angiosperms, 214 species were negative vs. 166 positive for wild food. For vertebrates, the highest positive relationship was with "iconic species" (69 species, 27.6%). The "reduction of species damage and disease vector species" NCP showed 34 positive (13.6%) and 29 negative (11.6%) relationships. The "reduce landslide" NCP had 2 positive and 10 negative relationships. Among vertebrate groups, relationships were roughly proportional to species richness: 130 for birds, 133 for mammals, 15 for amphibians, and 11 for reptiles. The top-scoring tracheophyte species were Salix alba (12 positive relationships out of 16 NCPs), Salix caprea (12), Populus tremula (11), Alnus glutinosa (10), and Betula pendula (10). For vertebrates, top species were Vulpes vulpes (5 positive out of 9), Lynx lynx (5), Lagopus muta (4), Lyrurus tetrix (4), and Canis lupus (3 positive, 1 negative).
**Clinical Implications:** This study provides the first comprehensive species-NCP relationship table that includes positive, neutral, and negative relationships, moving beyond purely economic valuations of ecosystem services. The table enables spatial prediction of NCPs from species distribution data, which can be integrated into conservation planning. The methodology is transferable to other regions, though new references would be needed. The authors note limitations including incomplete information for less-studied taxonomic groups (e.g., lycopodiophytes), the need to expand to other taxa (arthropods, fungi, lichens), and the simplification of using only three values (+1, 0, −1) which may not capture relationship intensity. Future developments could incorporate species traits, abundance data, and NCP bundles to improve conservation prioritization networks.