biodiversity data News
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Biodiversity: Facts and figures
Laura Hood summarises the latest data on the world's biodiversity, with facts and figures on its value and efforts to conserve it. This feature contains the latest data on the extent and the distribution of the world's biodiversity. It also includes the most recent estimates of extinction threats for different groups of species, as well as facts and figures on the value of biodiversity and ...
By SciDev.Net
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Local governments get guidance on biodiversity data
Guidance to help local governments preserve and publish valuable biodiversity data has been provided in a new best practice guide. The guide — published last month (25 May) by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) — outlines the tools and infrastructure available to governments for publishing data, and the benefits of ...
By SciDev.Net
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African observatories will gather biodiversity data
Scientists are pooling remote-sensing satellite data and geographical information services for two pan-African digital observatories that will provide accurate and readily accessible information on biodiversity and forest cover for policymakers. Under a grant awarded in 2009, the European Commission"s (EC) Joint Research Centre (JRC) is supporting the development of the observatories, details of ...
By SciDev.Net
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World`s largest digital biodiversity database developed
The world's most comprehensive digital biodiversity database has been developed, enabling access to over 177 million records. However, over two-thirds of the records are from just three countries: the USA, Sweden and the UK, and focus on certain groups such as birds. Changes in policy and funding could help widen the scope of the data. Maintaining biodiversity at both a global and European level ...
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Biodiversity data gaps `need bridging` to meet global targets
Global biodiversity targets are in danger of being missed because of inadequate capacity and tools to gather and assess data, an international conference has heard. The information "is still not there", Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), told a session on scientific approaches to biodiversity at the CBD's 11th Conference of ...
By SciDev.Net
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Europe-wide biodiversity data infrastructure project developed
Developing a Europe-wide research infrastructure on biodiversity is the ambitious goal of the recently-started LIFEWATCH project. The infrastructure will enable the exchange and linking of biodiversity data, the development of online analysis tools and the creation of virtual laboratories in EU Member States. Ultimately, the project partners hope their approach will contribute to better managing ...
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Utah Division of Wildlife Resources generates first biodiversity data using EPA Exchange Network
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources in cooperation with NatureServe has become the first agency in the nation to exchange biodiversity data using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Central Data Exchange. The state agency was awarded an EPA Exchange Network grant to create Internet-based applications for field biologists that allow them to enter species data along with mapping ...
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India expands its biodiversity databases
India is expanding its biodiversity databases and linking them in a network so that policymakers for programmes that address biodiversity, climate change and socio-economic concerns have ready access to information. An Indian Bioresources Information Network (IBIN) was launched this month (11 October) by M. S. Swaminathan, eminent crop scientist and founder of the M.S. Swaminathan Foundation of ...
By SciDev.Net
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New tool developed to highlight and help prevent declines in freshwater biodiversity
Biodiversity is declining in freshwater ecosystems across the globe, a new study has shown. The researchers created a mathematical model, called GLOBIOaquatic, which builds a picture of the threats to the biodiversity of rivers, lakes and wetlands that are posed by a variety of human activities. The most crucial of these are land-use changes, nutrient and chemical pollution, and disturbances to ...
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Shedding light on the cinderellas of the deep sea
Ocean sponges from shallower waters have already been shown to be valuable sources for new medicinal drugs to treat cancers and for antibiotics, and it is expected that deepwater sponges will be equally valuable, if not more so. A groundbreaking new report, Deep-sea Sponge Grounds: Reservoirs of Biodiversity, which consolidates knowledge on the biology and ecology of deep-water sponge grounds, ...
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Shedding light on the cinderellas of the deep sea
Ocean sponges from shallower waters have already been shown to be valuable sources for new medicinal drugs to treat cancers and for antibiotics, and it is expected that deepwater sponges will be equally valuable, if not more so. A groundbreaking new report, Deep-sea Sponge Grounds: Reservoirs of Biodiversity, which consolidates knowledge on the biology and ecology of deep-water sponge grounds, ...
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The global spread of alien plants
Driven by trade, the spread of alien species is increasing worldwide. This study combined 60 years of trade data with that on biodiversity and climate to model the spread of plant species across 147 countries. The model predicts significant increases in plant invasions in the next 20 years, especially for emerging economies. The authors say trade legislation must consider biological invasion and ...
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Green Week 2015 tackles declining biodiversity as new data reveals birds and marine life threatened with extinction
Nearly 15% of birds in the EU are threatened with extinction, as well as 7.5% of all marine fish species in European waters, according to new reports published today by the European Commission. Green Week 2015, Europe’s biggest conference dedicated to environment policy which opens today,will look at the reasons behind these trends and ways to fight back against declining biodiversity. The ...
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German chancellor Angela Merkel and UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon officially launch the international year of biodiversity
Launching the International Year of Biodiversity in Berlin yesterday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged the world to take the necessary steps to protect the biological diversity of the Earth. 'The conservation of biological diversity has the same dimension as climate protection. We need a trend reversal - not at some point in the future, but immediately', said German Federal Chancellor ...
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Amazon rainforest is storing less and less carbon
A team of 90 researchers has discovered that the uptake of carbon in the Amazon rainforest is decreasing over the long term. This is due to a recent decline in the growth rate of trees, while tree mortality has increased. As a result, carbon is stored in the rainforest for a shorter period. A possible cause of the shorter lifespan of trees could be greater variation in climate. This was one of ...
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A straightforward approach to assessing urban ecosystem services
Ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change relies on the services provided by nature; new research has now demonstrated the wide potential of urban ecosystem services to aid local adaptation efforts. This study developed and trialled a streamlined method for assessing ecosystem services, such as temperature reduction and carbon sequestration, in four European cities, providing a valuable tool ...
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Launch of the first online Global Freshwater Biodiversity Atlas
A new online Atlas of freshwater biodiversity presenting spatial information and species distribution patterns was launched today. The Atlas is an output of BioFresh, an EU-funded project supported by Wetlands International that is putting together the widely dispersed information about life in our rivers and lakes, to better understand, manage and protect our freshwaters for generations to come. ...
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A human-focused approach to measuring ocean health
A new index for measuring the health of oceans considers the benefits of the sea to humans, as well as the status of natural components, such as biodiversity. According to the researchers who developed the index, it provides a powerful tool for allocating resources and improving policy in the management of marine ecosystems. From an ecosystem services perspective, the oceans provide specific ...
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A new method for evaluating threats to soil biodiversity
Little is known about the organisms that live within soil, although they play a vital role in the biological processes that support life on Earth. In a recent study, researchers calculated the relative risk of pressures caused by human activity on soil biodiversity in the EU, showing that intensive land use has the greatest impact. There is a lack of baseline data regarding soil biodiversity, ...
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Welsh conservatives slam assembly sustainability targets
Welsh Conservatives have attacked the recent Welsh Assembly Government’s sustainability report for its “lack of clarity” over measurable sustainability targets. The report, published earlier this year, found “clear improvement” in only 15 of 39 benchmarks, including housing, air quality, water quality and management, and greenhouse gas emissions. The other 24 either did not improve, declined or ...
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