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Nature's untold stories: an overview on the availability and type of on‑line data on long‑term biodiversity monitoring

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-20, 08:58 authored by Stefania OndeiStefania Ondei, Barry BrookBarry Brook, Jessie BuettelJessie Buettel
Long-term field-based monitoring is time and resource demanding. Consequently, there are few robust biodiversity databases that contain both a baseline and repeat measurements. On-line repositories represent a potential goldmine of conservation-relevant data, and are increasingly incentivized by funding agencies. However, there remains scarce information on their distribution and availability, limiting the possibility to exploit them to their full potential. Here we comprehensively searched and assessed open-access datasets where biodiversity has been monitored in the same site for at least 4 years, and where species and site locations were clearly reported. We located data on 75,669 field sites (9436 of which are in biodiversity hotspots), for a total of 28,723,226 records, monitoring a total of 15,046 different taxa. We found strong geographic and taxonomic biases. Monitoring sites were predominantly located in the Palearctic and Nearctic biogeographic realms and in the forest biome. Where fauna was monitored, the focus was mostly on amphibians and birds. Supporting open-access policies and developing strategies to fill the identified gaps will be crucial for improving our understanding of global biodiversity trends. Our results suggest, however, that we are on the right trajectory, with a vast storehouse of readily available (and often high quality) yet largely under-analysed biodiversity data now available online from a range of sources. We argue that such data can provide the required biodiversity baselines for national- or local-scale studies.

History

Publication title

Biodiversity and Conservation

Volume

27

Issue

11

Pagination

2971-2987

ISSN

0960-3115

Department/School

School of Natural Sciences

Publisher

Kluwer Academic Publ

Place of publication

Van Godewijckstraat 30, Dordrecht, Netherlands, 3311 Gz

Rights statement

© Springer Nature B.V. 2018

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Other environmental management not elsewhere classified; Other environmental management not elsewhere classified