Monitoring Biodiversity

Ecological and biodiversity-based monitoring has been marked by an appalling lack of effectiveness and lack of success in Australia for more than 40 years, despite the billions of dollars that are invested in biodiversity conservation annually. What can be done to rectify this situation? This book tackles many aspects of the problem of biodiversity monitoring. It arose from a major workshop held at The Australian National University in February 2011, attended by leaders in the science, policy-making and management arenas of biodiversity conservation. The diversity of participants was deliberate – successful biodiversity monitoring is dependent on partnerships among people with different kinds of expertise. Chapter contributors examine what has led to successful monitoring, the key problems with biodiversity monitoring and practical solutions to those problems. By capturing critical insights into successes, failures and solutions, the authors provide high-level guidance for important initiatives such as the National Biodiversity Strategy, similar kinds of conservation initiatives in state government agencies, as well as non-government organisations that aim to improve conservation outcomes in Australia. Ultimately, the authors hope to considerably improve the quality and effectiveness of biodiversity monitoring in Australia, and to arrest the decline of biodiversity.

The book compiles case studies regarding the biodiversity research and monitoring program of Andean species and habitats carefully chosen as indicators to assess the short- and long-term effects of a linear disturbance: the PERU LNG pipeline. Set in a scientifically unexplored region of the Andes, Monitoring Biodiversity clearly articulates the Smithsonian-led conceptual framework for the implementation in the field by scientists. It addresses scientific and conservation questions addressed by the research protocols, the experimental design, and data gathering. Moreover, the book covers a gap on how to integrate biodiversity research, monitoring, and conservation into sustainable development projects of national and international interest. The text is presented in both English and Spanish.

First Published in 2012. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Results of regular monitoring of the species diversity and structure of plant communities is used by conservation biologists to help understand impacts of perturbations caused by humans and other environmental factors on ecosystems worldwide. Changes in plant communities can, for example, be a reflection of increased levels of pollution, a response to long-term climate change, or the result of shifts in land-use practices by the human population. This book presents a series of essays on the application of plant biodiversity monitoring and assessment to help prevent species extinction, ecosystem collapse, and solve problems in biodiversity conservation. It has been written by a large international team of researchers and uses case studies and examples from all over the world, and from a broad range of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The book is aimed at any graduate students and researchers with a strong interest in plant biodiversity monitoring and assessment, plant community ecology, biodiversity conservation, and the environmental impacts of human activities on ecosystems.

As the impacts of anthropogenic activities increase in both magnitude and extent, biodiversity is coming under increasing pressure. Scientists and policy makers are frequently hampered by a lack of information on biological systems, particularly information relating to long-term trends. Such information is crucial to developing an understanding as to how biodiversity may respond to global environmental change. Knowledge gaps make it very difficult to develop effective policies and legislation to reduce and reverse biodiversity loss. This book explores the gap between global commitments to biodiversity conservation, and local action to track biodiversity change and implement conservation action. High profile international political commitments to improve biodiversity conservation, such as the targets set by the Convention on Biological Diversity, require innovative and rapid responses from both science and policy. This multi-disciplinary perspective highlights barriers to conservation and offers novel solutions to evaluating trends in biodiversity at multiple scales.

This book is an exciting reappraisal of the role and practice of biodiversity monitoring, showing how new technologies and software applications are rapidly maturing and can both complement and maintain continuity with the best practice in traditional field skills. Environmental monitoring is a key component in a large number of national programmes and constitutes an important aspect of understanding environmental change and supporting policy development. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, Monitoring Biodiversity begins by discussing monitoring as an established field and examines the various budgetary and technological challenges. It examines different methodologies, the variation between countries, and the design features relevant to understanding monitoring systems created for new policy goals or different funding situations. The huge variety of methods revealed across 18 chapters, which vary from statistical designs to remote sensing, interviews, surveys, and new ways of stacking and combining data and thematic information for visualization and modelling, underlines just how mature and multifaceted the modern practice of monitoring can be. It concludes with several problem-based chapters that discuss the design and implementation of environmental monitoring in specific scenarios such as urban and aquatic areas. All chapters include key messages, study questions, and further reading. With a focus on Europe but with international relevance, Monitoring Biodiversity will be an essential resource for students at all levels of environmental monitoring, assessment, and management.

This Handbook, first published in 2005, provides standard procedures for planning and conducting a survey of any species or habitat and for evaluating the data.