A global observatory to monitor Earth's biodiversity
GBiOS combines global collaboration, technology and data to monitor biodiversity change and target action. (Picture: GEO BON)
A new interconnected system to monitor biodiversity around the world is urgently needed to direct and focus conservation action.
Based on a media release of GEO BON
The Global Biodiversity Observing System (GBiOS) is a proposal developed by scientists from the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON), and its partners, including the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv). It will combine technology, data, and knowledge from around the world to foster collaboration and data sharing among countries and to provide the data urgently needed to monitor biodiversity change and target action. The proposal for this novel system was published in Nature Ecology & Evolution.
At a time of nature crisis driven by unparalleled rates of biodiversity loss, a new interconnected system to monitor biodiversity around the world is urgently needed to direct and focus conservation action.
"The lethal combination of habitat loss, the exploitation of natural populations, pollution, and climate change is causing species extinction rates not seen since the last mass extinction 65 million years ago," said Prof. Andrew Gonzalez, Liber Ero Chair in Conservation Biology at McGill University, and co-Chair of GEO BON. "We lack the means to monitor these impacts fast enough across most areas of the planet."
Operating much like the existing global network of weather stations that monitor climate change and its impacts, the Global Biodiversity Observing System (GBiOS), is a proposal developed by scientists from the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON), and its partners, that will combine technology, data, and knowledge from around the world to foster collaboration and data sharing among countries and to provide the data urgently needed to monitor biodiversity change and target action.
GBiOS can galvanize collaboration on the critical issue of biodiversity data access, sharing, and equitable use. "It can provide the information we need at the pace we need it to support countries as they make progress towards their biodiversity goals", said Prof. Alice Hughes, Associate Professor at The University of Hong Kong, and one of the dozens of scientists who collaborated to develop the proposal for GBiOS. GBiOS is a missing piece of the science-policy puzzle needed to support the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreed upon at the COP-15 conference in Montreal last year, contributing to a representative and inclusive understanding of biodiversity change and supporting effective implementation of policies that are designed to reverse biodiversity loss and achieve the global goals for nature in the coming decades.
“It is now clear that in order to effectively implement the Kumming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework, a Global Biodiversity Observing System needs to be created. iDiv has been taking a leadership role in these efforts both globally in GEO BON and by coordinating the development of the European Biodiversity Observation Network (EuropaBON)”, said co-author Professor Henrique Pereira from iDiv and Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg.
Original publication
(Researchers with iDiv affiliation and alumni are in bold)
Andrew Gonzalez, Petteri Vihervaara, Patricia Balvanera, Amanda E. Bates, Elisa Bayraktarov, Peter J. Bellingham, Andreas Bruder, Jillian Campbell, Michael D. Catchen, Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Jonathan Chase, Nicholas Coops, Mark J. Costello, Maria Dornelas, Grégoire Dubois, Emmett J. Duffy, Hilde Eggermont, Nestor Fernandez, Simon Ferrier, Gary N. Geller, Michael Gill, Dominique Gravel, Carlos A. Guerra, Robert Guralnick, Michael Harfoot, Tim Hirsch, Sean Hoban, Alice C. Hughes, Margaret E. Hunter, Forest Isbell, Walter Jetz, Norbert Juergens, W. Daniel Kissling, Cornelia B. Krug, Yvan Le Bras, Brian Leung, Maria Cecilia Londoño-Murcia, Jean-Michel Lord, Michel Loreau, Amy Luers, Keping Ma, Anna J. MacDonald, Melodie McGeoch, Katie L. Millette, Zsolt Molnar, Akira S. Mori, Frank E. Muller-Karger, Hiroyuki Muraoka, Laetitia Navarro, Tim Newbold, Aidin Niamir, David Obura, Mary O’Connor, Marc Paganini, Henrique Pereira, Timothée Poisot, Laura J. Pollock, Andy Purvis, Adriana Radulovici, Duccio Rocchini, Michael Schaepman, Gabriela Schaepman-Strub, Dirk S. Schmeller, Ute Schmiedel, Fabian D. Schneider, Mangal Man Shakya, Andrew Skidmore, Andrew L. Skowno, Yayoi Takeuchi, Mao-Ning Tuanmu, Eren Turak, Woody Turner, Mark C. Urban, Nicolás Urbina-Cardona, Ruben Valbuena, Basile van Havre, Elaine Wright (2023). A global biodiversity observing system to unite monitoring and guide action. Nature Ecol Evol. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02171-0
Contact:
Prof Andrew Gonzalez
Liber Ero Chair in Biodiversity Conservation
Co-Chair GEO BON
Email: andrew.gonzalez@mcgill.ca
Prof Dr Henrique Miguel Pereira(speaks English and Portuguese)
Head of Biodiversity Conservation research group
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU)
Email: henrique.pereira@idiv.de
Web: www.idiv.de/en/profile/132.html
Kati Kietzmann
Media and Communications
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Phone: +49 341 9739222
Email: kati.kietzmann@idiv.de
