GEO BON Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observing Network

1. GEO BON Group on Earth ObservationsBiodiversity Observing Network RJ (Bob) Scholes Chair, GEO BON CSIR Natural Resources and Environment PO Box 395, Pretoria 0001, South Africa IGOS-GEO Symposium, Washington DC 19 November 2009

2. The mission, paraphrased What forms of biodiversity are changing Where, and Why; and with what consequences?

3. Where are we at? Stakeholder endorsement received Users: CBD, IPBES, IUCN, National nature protection agencies Providers: Biodiversity NGOs, GBIF, Space Agencies Founding documents (Concept and Implementation Plan) accepted A network has been formed, committee and task groups appointed Detailed design in progress Work underway on early products

4. GEO BON Early Products: Example 1Protected Areas Monitoring Pilot PA boundary From WCMC Species from GBIF

5. Early products Example 2Continuous Plankton Recorder

6. Various WWF- Living Planet IUCN Red list GOFC/GOLD GEOSS WCMC ITIS Catalog of Life GBIF GEOSS GBIF GenBank BOLD Space agencies Scholes, RJ et al 2008 Towards a global biodiversity observation system. Science 321,1044-5

7. Some missing pieces A global database of interaction observations Food webs (who eats who?) Pollinators Hosts and pathogens/parasites Symbionts, mutualists A community/plot/site database Species that co-occur Relative or absolute abundances Community attributes Functional type profile (broadleaf, needleleaf, grass…) Structure (Height, crown cover, biomass, leaf area…) Function (NPP, albedo, bulk conductance…) Uses of biodiversity (societal benefits) Nature of use (food, fibre, medicinal, cultural…) Use intensity Value

8. Making the links Non-biodiversity data Spatial location Ecosystems Interactions Functional types Organisms (indexed by species) Abundances (indexed by popn, polygon and time) species Persistent identifier Gene sequences

9. Simplicity in complexity: A biodiversity syntax[optional] (quality control) Nouns: What, where, when,[how many],(by who),(how) Ecosystem extent Species presence/absence/abundance record Genetic record Adjectives: A is a member of B (says who) (when) Nested taxonomies Cladistics Functional types Communities Verbs: A performs action C on B [intensity] (where)(when)(by who) Food webs Non-tropic interactions Ecosystem service flows Hypothesis: there are just three basic types of record

10. A natural succession in biodiversity information Presence/absence Abundance Confidence intervals Time series Known individuals Genetic relatedness, phylogenetics Species interactions Simple Complex

11. Dealing with institutional diversity and complexity Countries & Organisations Users International bodies Brokers/intermediaries Inter- national / global GEOSS Nations GEO BON International Environment NGOs GenBank GBIF WCMC GxOS Encyc of Life TDWG public Space agencies Observers/data holders National/ local Local biodiv NGOs researchers

12. Information divergence versus convergence 2010 target Goals Subtargets Indicators

13. Example of an integrated indicator Ecosystem type Land cover/use (A) Change in abundance (I) Species richness (R) Biodiversity Intactness % Scholes, RJ and R Biggs (2005) A biodiversity intactness indexNature 434, 45-9

14. Some thoughts on the post-2010 targets A positive vision Perhaps based on avoidance of critical thresholds eg Increasing natural capital, sufficient supply of key services Stay within adaptive limits Based on the possible and desired, rather than the readily available Small set that is socially relevant and specific Health, food and other ecosystem services, hazard avoidance Key ecosystems: eg Amazon, Great Barrier Reef etc Central tendency and limits at ecosystem, species and gene levels Gene level Phyllogenetic richness The genetic foundation of the global food basket Species level Broad-based abundance (population trends in several thousand representative species) Risk of extinction (eg red list index) Ecosystem level Natural capital (the capacity to deliver ecosystem services) Effective extent of critical ecosystems

15. Achieving the power of integration within GEOSS Disturbances DI-09-03b: Implementation of a Fire Warning System at Global Level Agriculture AG-06-02: Data Utilization in Fisheries and Aquaculture Health HE-09-03c: Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Health EN-07-02: Energy Environmental Impact Monitoring CL-09-01a: Enhanced Climate, Weather, Water and Environmental Prediction CL-09-01b: Climate Information for Decision-making and Adaptation Biodiversity BI-07-01b Invasive Species Monitoring System BI-07-01c Capturing Historical and New Biodiversity Information Ecosystems EC-09-01a: Ecosystem Classification and Mapping EC-09-01b: Ecosystem Status and Trends EC-09-01c: Regional Networks for Ecosystems EC-09-01d: Protected Areas Assessment and Monitoring EC-09-02a: Impact of Tourism on Environmental and Socio-Economic Activities EC-09-02b: Impact of Transport Infrastructure Development EC-09-02c: Vulnerability of Sea Basins EC-09-02d: Vulnerability of Mountain Regions

16. What is going on in 2010 Early Products’ throughout 2010, the International Year of Biodiversity GEO BON all working group meeting, Asilomar, USA 22-25 Feb 2010 The run-up to the CBD Preparatory science conference, Nagoya, Japan 22-23 March 2010 Inputs to CBD SBSTTA, Nairobi,May 2010 World Biodiversity Day, 20 May 2010 UN General Assembly special session on Biodiversity, September 2010 CoP in October 2010

17. bscholes@csir.co.zahttp://www.earthobservations.org/geobon_par.shtmlbscholes@csir.co.zahttp://www.earthobservations.org/geobon_par.shtml