Lecture about Monitoring and Biodiversity Indices, with linkage to on-going CBD programs, and a special focus on species monitoring.Many examples, needs some formatting, hope still useful!

1. 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

2. CBD Article 7: I & M

3. CBD Article 7: I & M

4. CBD Article 7: I & M
Each 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

5. 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.

6. CBD Programmes

7. 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

8. Indicators according to CBD
Decision VIII/15

9. Indicators according to CBD
Decision VIII/15

10. Indicators according to CBD
Decision VIII/15

11. Sustainable Tropical Forest Management

12. Sustainable Tropical Forest Management

13. Early representations of
wildlife

14. Basic monitoring schemes:
collection of specimens
... or observation:
• scientific name
• locality (+ lat/lon)
• date
Presence data !

15. Species concepts
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.'
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”

16. Development of species descriptions

17. New Species Descriptions
Etmopterus viator Straube et al. 2011
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 Etmopterus
viator sp. nov. (Squaliformes: Etmopteridae) from the Southern
Hemisphere. In: The Kerguelen Plateau: marine ecosystems and
fisheries G Duhamel & D Welsford D eds.), Société Francaise
d`Ichthyologie, pp 137-150

18. How many Species on Earth?
Erwin´s Estimate
based on fogging data
Fogging at the Hainich Forest, Germany. Courtesy: Andreas Floren, University of Würzburg

19. How many Species on Earth?
5 – 30 million species?
Only 1.7 million described...

20. How many Species on Earth?
Erwin´s Estimate
based on fogging data from 19 Luehea seemannii trees
(Panama), yielding 1,100 beetles
Est. Number of
host-specific
species
Estimated fraction
host-specific (%)
Trophic group Number species
Herbivores 682 20 140
Predators 296 5 15
Fungivores 69 10 7
Scavengers 96 5 5
TOTAL 1,100+ 160
Based on Erwin, T & Scott, JC (1982): Coleopterist´s Bulletin 34, 305and data from May, RM (1986): Nature 324, p. 514

21. 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

22. Insect diversity in tropical forests
www.dorsa.de
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?

23. Undescribed/described species

24. Present Extinction Rates:
Current Estimates
(E.O. Wilson 1990s)
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)

25. Keine Klimafolge: Neuartiges Artensterben
im 50-Jahre Takt ab 1850, Waldwiese in Thüringen:
oligotrophente Futterpflanzen erloschen.
Ausstellung Berliner Sammlungen nach E. Mey

26. Pursuit of the smallest game...

27. TYPES OF TOMORROW
Cerace diehlii
Heteroc. Sumatr. 12(3): 155-161
Chironomus sp. WOC
Eneoptera sp.

28. Countries of origin of Orthoptera type material deposited in
German museums
Deutsche Orthopteren Sammlungen - www.dorsa.de

29. GBIF –the Global Biodiversity Information
Facility- was established to redress the
inequality of data distribution
Developing World
Biodiversity
Developed World
Biodiversity
Data

30. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)

31. GBIF facilitates „Data Papers“

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

33. Distribution:
Expected area
Outline
polygon
distributon
(cheetah)
Point distribution
(Eurasian lynx)
 Chance observation
Kills
Raster cell distributon
(Iberian lynx)
 Occupied
 Not occupied
Area of occupancy
Presence/absence data

35. 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.

36. Advanced monitoring schemes:
Movement tracks
(satellite telemetry)
Ciconia ciconia - White stork
appr. 10,000 data points (1991-2003, MPI Ornithology:Berthold et al.)

37. New technologies:
Radar
Radio/Satellite/GPS telemetry
Genetic fingerprinting/bar-coding
Isotope markers
Phototraps
Acoustic monitoring

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

39. Movebank

40. Bioacoustic monitoring

41. 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

42. 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

43. 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

44. Behind the LPI: the GPDD at NERC (Natural
Environment Research Centre)
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/cpb/research/patternsandprocesses/gpdd

45. Behind the LPI: the GPDD at NERC (Natural
Environment Research Centre)
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/cpb/research/patternsandprocesses/gpdd

46. Behind the LPI: the GPDD at NERC (Natural
Environment Research Centre)
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/cpb/research/patternsandprocesses/gpdd

47. comprises conservation
assessments for nearly 50,000
species. Around 60% of these
are vertebrates.

48. 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.

49. Tipping points – H. Mooney, Diversitas 2009

50. Stock data are monitored for economically
important species...
Catch data: Hunting, Whaling and Fishery
Canadian Cod (Gadus morhua, North Atlantic pop)s Fishery
Red List: VU; CMS: NL
From:
The Collapse of the Canadian Cod Fishery , WebCT Courses at University of Toronto
http://www.erin.utoronto.ca/~w3env100y/env/ENV100/hum/cod.htm

51. 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

52. Hungarian monitoring scheme

53. International Red List Criteria
EX
EW
CR
EN
VU
DD
NE
EXTINCT
THREATENED
...but only mammals and birds were sufficiently evaluated!

54. Global Amphibian Assessment
The GAA assessed threat status
and distribution for each of the
5,743 amphibian species
known to science.
35 EXTINCT/EW
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
427 Critically
Endangered
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.

56. EuMon Search for insect
monitoring schemes