Monitoring and Biodiversity Indices

Monitoring and Biodiversity Indices

„Monitoring is commonly defined as the process of gathering

information about state variables at different points in

time for the purpose of drawing inferences about changes

in state (Yoccoz et al. 2001), whereas an indicator is defined

as a metric that represents that state. Biodiversity

indicators can be straightforwardmetrics, such as relative

abundance of species, or they can be composite metrics

that combine data from a number of different monitoring

programs (Collen et al. 2009).“

Jones et al. 2011: Conservation Biology 25, pp. 450-457

CBD Article 7: I & M

CBD Article 7: I & MEach Contracting Party shall, as far as possible and as appropriate, in particular for the purposes of Articles 8 to 10: (a) Identify components of biological diversity important for its conservation and sustainable use having regard to the indicative list of categories set down in Annex I; (b) Monitor, through sampling and other techniques, the components of biological diversity identified pursuant to subparagraph (a) above, paying particular attention to those requiring urgent conservation measures and those which offer the greatest potential for sustainable use; (c) Identify processes and categories of activities which have or are likely to have significant adverse impacts on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, and monitor their effects through sampling and other techniques; and (d) Maintain and organize, by any mechanism data, derived from identification and monitoring activities pursuant to subparagraphs (a), (b) and (c) above

CBD Article 7: I & M

Annex I. Identification and Monitoring

1. Ecosystems and habitats: containing high diversity, large numbers of endemic or threatened species, or wilderness; required by migratory species; of social, economic, cultural or scientific importance; or, which are representative, unique or associated with key evolutionary or other biological processes;

2. Species and communities which are: threatened; wild relatives of domesticated or cultivated species; of medicinal, agricultural or other economic value; or social, scientific or cultural importance; or importance for research into the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, such as indicator species; and

3. Described genomes and genes of social, scientific or economic importance.

CBD Programmes

CBD COP decisions[1 identify research needs

· improvement of basic knowledge and understanding of biodiversity and its components; · improvement of monitoring systems;· improvement of measures of biodiversity· improvement of biodiversity valuation· improvement of models of change in biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services· improvement of understanding of thresholds· development and refinement of indicators suitable for monitoring biodiversity at the global, regional, national and local levels· improvement of taxonomic knowledge· understanding of ecosystem function and services and their relation to human well-being

[1] Research needs expressed in the COP decisions have been summarized by the Institute for Biodiversity (ibn, www.biodiv.de). This information is available from the German Clearing-House Mechanism (CHM), see: http://www.biodiv-chm.de/konvention/fol412327

Indicators according to CBD Decision VIII/15

Sustainable Tropical Forest Management

Early representations of wildlife

Basic monitoring schemes:

collection of specimens

... or observation:

Presence data !

• scientific name• locality (+ lat/lon)• date

Species concepts

morphological species concept:A species is a community, or a number of related communities, whose distinctive morphological

characters are ... sufficiently definite to entitle it, or them, to a specific name.” biological species concept

AA species is a group of interbreeding natural populations unable to successfully mate or reproduce with other such groups, and which occupies a specific niche in nature.”

phylogenetic species concept “A species is the smallest aggregation of populations (sexual) or lineages (asexual) diagnosable

by a unique combination of character states in comparable individuals”

We intuitively recognize a species as a group of closely similar organisms, such as humans, horses or carrots. The scientific definition has varied historically, but one that is often cited

today is 'a group of morphologically similar organisms of common ancestry that under natural conditions are potentially capable of interbreeding.'

Development of species descriptions

New Species Descriptions

Spektakulärer Fund aus der Tiefsee: Neue Haiart entdeckt

und wissenschaftlich beschrieben von Dr. Nicolas Straube, Zoologische Staatssammlung München (ZSM):Straube N., Duhamel, G., Gasco N, Kriwet J & Schliewen UK(2011) Description of a new deep-sea Lantern Shark Etmopterusviator sp. nov. (Squaliformes: Etmopteridae) from the SouthernHemisphere. In: The Kerguelen Plateau: marine ecosystems andfisheries G Duhamel & D Welsford D eds.), Société Francaised`Ichthyologie, pp 137-150

Etmopterus viator Straube et al. 2011

How many Species on Earth?Erwin´s Estimate

based on fogging data

Fogging at the Hainich Forest, Germany. Courtesy: Andreas Floren, University of Würzburg

How many Species on Earth?

5 – 30 million species?

Only 1.7 million described...

How many Species on Earth?Erwin´s Estimate

based on fogging data from 19 Luehea seemannii trees (Panama), yielding 1,100 beetles

Based on Erwin, T & Scott, JC (1982): Coleopterist´s Bulletin 34, 305and data from May, RM (1986): Nature 324, p. 514

1601,100+TOTAL

5596Scavengers

71069Fungivores

155296Predators

14020682Herbivores

Est. Number of host-specific species

Estimated fraction host-specific (%)

Number speciesTrophic group

How many Species on Earth?Erwin´s Estimate cont´d:

from 160 host-specific species of canopy beetles to 30 million arthropod species in total

1. Beetles represent 40% of known arthropods: 400

2. Canopy 2xrich as forest floor 600

3. 50,000 tropical tree species (600x50,000): 30 million

www.dorsa.de

Insect diversity in tropical forests

Guess-timates from fogging the canopy: 30 million (Erwin 1982) - 80 million (Stork 1988)

Consensus: 5 million - Ratio described/undescribed: 1:3

.... but how can insect diversity be

mapped or monitored, if most species

don´t even have a name?

Undescribed/described species

Present Extinction Rates: Current Estimates

Suppositions:•50 % species localised (endemics)•Extinction rate co-varies with forest destruction

(habitat specialists, destruction massive)• 5 million species on Earth (conservative!)

0.5 x 5,000 000 x 0.007 = 17,500 species per year

(0.007: forest destruction rate per yr)

(E.O. Wilson 1990s)

Keine Klimafolge: Neuartiges Artensterbenim 50-Jahre Takt ab 1850, Waldwiese in

Thüringen:oligotrophente Futterpflanzen erloschen.Ausstellung Berliner Sammlungen nach E. Mey

Pursuit of the smallest game...

TYPES OF TOMORROW

Cerace diehlii Heteroc. Sumatr. 12(3): 155-161

Chironomus sp. WOC

Eneoptera sp.

Deutsche Orthopteren Sammlungen - www.dorsa.de

Countries of origin of Orthoptera type material deposited in German museums

GBIF –the Global Biodiversity Information GBIF –the Global Biodiversity Information Facility- Facility- was established to redress the

inequality of data distribution

Developing WorldDeveloping World

BiodiversityBiodiversity

Biodiversity Biodiversity DataData

Developed WorldDeveloped World

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)

GBIF facilitates „Data Papers“

but: GBIF coverage still insufficient: see groms.gbif.org

Distribution:Expected area

OutlineOutlinepolygonpolygondistributondistributon(cheetah)

Point distribution Point distribution (Eurasian lynx) Chance observation Kills

Raster cell distributonRaster cell distributon(Iberian lynx) Occupied Not occupied

Area of occupancy

Presence/absence data

Advanced monitoring schemes:

Databases for single individuals: otters, gorillas, whales....

Humpback fluke identification photos can be catalogued with information about the date and time of the sighting, pod composition, travel direction, and presence / absence of a calf. More than two thousand humpback whales have been individually identified in the North Pacific.

Advanced monitoring schemes:

Movement tracks (satellite telemetry)

Ciconia ciconia - White stork

appr. 10,000 data points (1991-2003, MPI Ornithology:Berthold et al.)

New technologies:

RadarRadio/Satellite/GPS telemetry

Genetic fingerprinting/bar-coding

Isotope markers

Phototraps

Acoustic monitoring

Movebank - http://www.movebank.org/

Movebank

Bioacoustic monitoring

WWF Living Planet Index

The LPI is the average of three separate indices measuring changes in abundance of

555 terrestrial species,

323 freshwater species

267 marine species

around the world. LIVING PLANET REPORT 2004





267 marine species

around the world.

LIVING PLANET REPORT 2004

Calculating the Index

The Living Planet Database (LPD) holds time-series data for over 10,000 populations of more than 2000 vertebrate species from around the world.The global LPI is calculated using over 7000 of these population time-series which are gathered from a variety of sources such as journals, online databases and government reports.

http://www.zsl.org/science/research-projects/indicators-assessments/calculating-the-index,1227,AR.html

Behind the LPI: the GPDD at NERC (Natural

Environment Research Centre) http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/cpb/research/patternsandprocesses/gpdd

The IUCN Red List currently comprises conservation

assessments for nearly 50,000 species. Around 60% of these

are vertebrates.

The Sampled Red List Index (SRLI)

The Sampled Red List Index is an adaptation of the IUCN Red List Index (RLI), which is based

on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and is an indicator of the relative rate at

which the conservation status of certain species groups change

over time.

How is the SRLI calculated?

Red List Index scoresIn a nutshell, the SRLI uses weight scores based on the Red List status of each of the sample species.

These scores range from 0 (Least Concern) to Extinct/Extinct in the Wild (5).

Summing these scores across all species and relating them to the worst-case scenario - where all species are extinct - gives us an indication of how biodiversity is doing.

Repeating the assessments over time will then allow us to see whether the extinction risk of biodiversity is overall increasing, decreasing or staying the same.

Red List Calculation For example, this can be seen in the picture at the top of the page which shows the RLI for all birds as calculated by Birdlife Internation in collaboration with the IUCN.

Tipping points – H. Mooney, Diversitas 2009

Stock data are monitored for economically important species...

Catch data: Hunting, Whaling and Fishery

http://www.erin.utoronto.ca/~w3env100y/env/ENV100/hum/cod.htm

From: The Collapse of the Canadian Cod Fishery , WebCT Courses at University of Toronto

Canadian Cod (Gadus morhua, North Atlantic pop)s FisheryRed List: VU; CMS: NL



















267 marine species

around the world.

LIVING PLANET REPORT 2004

Hungarian monitoring scheme

International Red List CriteriaEX

EWCRENVU

DD

NE

THREATENED

EXTINCT

...but only mammals and birds were sufficiently evaluated!

Global Amphibian Assessment

The GAA assessed threat status and distribution for each of the

5,743 amphibian species known to science.

More than 520 scientists from over 60 countries contributed to the three-year study.

Results provide a baseline for global amphibian conservation, and will be used to design strategies to save the world’s rapidly declining amphibian populations

The Panamanian golden frog is one of roughly 110 species of harlequin frog (Atelopus), many of which are dying out. Although this species still

survives, its numbers have fallen significantly.

35 EXTINCT/EW

427 CriticallyEndangered

EuMon Search for insect monitoring schemes

Monitoring and Biodiversity Indices

Science

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