Advances in biodiversity informatics, computer technology and governance structures allow information to be shared and processed at unprecedented speed, creating an environment to enable truly rapid biodiversity analysis. Without strong, ongoing support for data gap identification, generation and curation, the most advanced informatics will be an empty shell.īringing biodiversity analysis into the digital world will provide all people and jurisdictions with easy and rapid access to the authoritative and comprehensive evidence and knowledge that they need to make informed decisions. In this context, maintaining investment in biodiversity surveys and descriptions, including novel applications of predictive spatial modelling, increased efficiency of phenotyping and (meta)genomics are key. Essential biodiversity variables (EBVs)-a minimum set of essential measurements for studying, monitoring and reporting on biodiversity and ecosystem change-are proposed as one mechanism for addressing this goal, although practical implementation remains a challenge. This urgency is evident at an international level, given the importance of data to achieving the goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity, expressed through the Aichi Biodiversity Targets for 2020 and initiatives such as the Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and research consortiums such as GEO BON (Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network). Major challenges will include food security, emerging diseases, managing natural and agricultural landscapes in a sustainable fashion and interactions with invasive species (native and alien) coinciding with an era of rapid environmental change.
There is an urgent need to document and understand nature at a rate that will provide us with an informed system-level response to the accelerating impacts that humans are having on the world.
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