An observation network to protect biodiversity
EBONE is a pilot for the 'Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network' (GEO BON) that is stimulating the development of observation networks to improve the capacity and quality of biodiversity monitoring. These networks will facilitate management of both the knowledge and human resources required for policymaking in the area of biodiversity. The approach is already being applied in other projects and as national approaches in Switzerland and Israel. EBONE is the first European contribution to this effort. The consortium was established and based on existing collaborations from established initiatives through the FP5 project BioHab. There are four major products arising from EBONE. Firstly, the European Habitat Classification developed as general habitat categories (GHCs) for cost effective in situ habitat monitoring for the EU Habitats Directive reporting and Aichi targets, for example. Secondly, providing a consistent stratification of the terrestrial parts of the globe in 125 strata, the Global Environmental Stratification will allow cost efficient global biodiversity observation. The EBONE project data has helped populate a habitat database so European habitat and species data from new field observations can be merged with existing surveys (such as the Swedish NILS survey and the British Countryside survey) for better and cost-effective European reporting. Lastly, remote sensing approaches such as 'Interferometry Detection and Ranging' LiDAR can be tested and used for local habitat mapping and testing of phenology indicators. EBONE mapping is three times faster than traditional vegetation mapping methods used before; this allows researchers and agencies reduce to costs considerably. Good correlation of GHCs with species composition is attainable, but not yet with species richness. By using GHCs, EBONE researchers were able to get a good correlation between several remote sensing (RS) categories and in situ habitat data. The Global Environmental Stratification has been developed as one of the GEO deliverables and it is already applied in the Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA) and in the Himalayas for setting up an environmental monitoring system in the border region of India, Nepal and China. The database is freely available through the GEO Portal. The scientific publication came out in Global Ecology and Biogeography in 2013. EBONE has been instrumental in the Convention on Biological Diversity by organising the GEO BON workshop on the 'Assessment of Observation Capabilities' for the Aichi targets. This report has been submitted to the AHTEC and has been positively received by the SBSTTA of the CBD. This workshop also initiated the process of discussing essential biodiversity variables (EBVs) to be developed in a comparable process as the essential climate variables (ECVs). The EBV concept paper was published in Science in January 2013.
