ORCID Profile
0000-0002-7274-6755
Current Organisation
University of Amsterdam
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Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-10-2021
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 25-08-2020
DOI: 10.1101/2020.08.25.266379
Abstract: Protected areas (PAs) are the last refuges for wild bio ersity, yet human pressures (or threats) are increasingly prevalent within their boundaries. Human pressures have the potential to negatively impact species and undermine their conservation, but their overlap with sensitive threatened species in PAs remains rarely quantified. Here, we analyse the co-occurrence of nineteen threatening human activities within the distributions of 146 threatened terrestrial vertebrates in the European Union (EU), accounting for species-specific sensitivities to each pressure and thereby mapping potential human impacts on species within EU PAs. We find that human pressures extend across 1.022 million km 2 (94.5%) of EU protected land, with potential negative impacts on threatened species across 1.015 million km 2 (93.8%). A total of 122 out of 146 species (84%) have 50% of their EU protected ranges potentially impacted, and 83 out of 146 species (57%) more than 90% of their protected range. More species have a smaller proportion of their protected range potentially impacted in Natura2000 sites than in non-Natura2000 sites, and the same is true for species in nature reserves and wilderness areas compared to less strictly managed PAs. Our results show that threatened species in Europe’s PAs are exposed to immense human pressures, and suggest that areas designated for species conservation are ineffective for halting bio ersity decline. We recommend that the EU Bio ersity Strategy develops and enforces a comprehensive PA threat management program to reduce the negative impacts of human activities on wildlife in European protected lands.
Publisher: Pensoft Publishers
Date: 23-08-2022
DOI: 10.3897/BISS.6.93613
Abstract: ARISE (Authoritative and Rapid Identification System for Essential bio ersity information) is a digital infrastructure with the mission to provide semi-automated identification of all multicellular species in the Netherlands and innovate on bio ersity monitoring solutions. By applying DNA barcoding, artificial intelligence for species recognition based on images, sound and radar, and emerging technology for bio ersity monitoring, we can radically speed up the inventory of life on earth. The infrastructure relies on a species reference database, which brings together new and existing bio ersity information on all multicellular species in the Netherlands. ARISE will be open-access and organize data according to FAIR principles (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable). We will develop the infrastructure for the Dutch research community with financial support from the Dutch Research Council. ARISE is a partnership between the Naturalis Bio ersity Center, the University of Amsterdam, Westerdijk Institute and the University of Twente. With an Agile development approach, we will build iteratively guided by use cases and real-life challenges. Facilities and services include streamlined and accesible species s ling and (meta)barcoding, machine learning services to analyse digital input and a digital platform where all data and services come together powered by a state of the art data management system based on digital objects. We will be driven by continuous feedback from external scientists and representatives of species monitoring organizations. With ARISE, we will provide the scientific community with the foundation for automated recognition and monitoring of the entire Dutch bio ersity. Furthermore, ARISE will provide a basis for better bio ersity monitoring to provide policy makers with more reliable information on bio ersity and ecosystem change. This presentation will give an overview of work in progress, demonstrating several pilot versions of facilities and services, and what we envision to build in the future.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 24-05-2021
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-05-2022
DOI: 10.1038/S41559-022-01747-6
Abstract: Tropical forests are some of the most bio erse ecosystems in the world, yet their functioning is threatened by anthropogenic disturbances and climate change. Global actions to conserve tropical forests could be enhanced by having local knowledge on the forests' functional ersity and functional redundancy as proxies for their capacity to respond to global environmental change. Here we create estimates of plant functional ersity and redundancy across the tropics by combining a dataset of 16 morphological, chemical and photosynthetic plant traits s led from 2,461 in idual trees from 74 sites distributed across four continents together with local climate data for the past half century. Our findings suggest a strong link between climate and functional ersity and redundancy with the three trait groups responding similarly across the tropics and climate gradient. We show that drier tropical forests are overall less functionally erse than wetter forests and that functional redundancy declines with increasing soil water and vapour pressure deficits. Areas with high functional ersity and high functional redundancy tend to better maintain ecosystem functioning, such as aboveground biomass, after extreme weather events. Our predictions suggest that the lower functional ersity and lower functional redundancy of drier tropical forests, in comparison with wetter forests, may leave them more at risk of shifting towards alternative states in face of further declines in water availability across tropical regions.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 19-07-2021
Publisher: Pensoft Publishers
Date: 24-02-2023
DOI: 10.3897/ARPHAPREPRINTS.E102530
Abstract: EuropaBON harnesses the power of modelling Essential Bio ersity Variables (EBVs) to integrate different reporting streams, data sources, and monitoring schemes, and measure bio ersity change across multiple dimensions in space and time. Therefore, EBVs are at the core of the project and form the basis for several of the tasks feeding into the co-design of a bio ersity monitoring system for Europe. In this document, we describe the stepwise process of identifying and specifying the EBVs in the EBV list presented in this deliverable. We further provide a summary of the characteristics of the EBVs identified for EuropaBON, in terms of their desired spatial- and temporal resolutions, as well as the taxonomic/ ecosystem scope to be measured.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 13-05-2021
DOI: 10.1038/S41559-021-01451-X
Abstract: Monitoring global bio ersity from space through remotely sensing geospatial patterns has high potential to add to our knowledge acquired by field observation. Although a framework of essential bio ersity variables (EBVs) is emerging for monitoring bio ersity, its poor alignment with remote sensing products hinders interpolation between field observations. This study compiles a comprehensive, prioritized list of remote sensing bio ersity products that can further improve the monitoring of geospatial bio ersity patterns, enhancing the EBV framework and its applicability. The ecosystem structure and ecosystem function EBV classes, which capture the biological effects of disturbance as well as habitat structure, are shown by an expert review process to be the most relevant, feasible, accurate and mature for direct monitoring of bio ersity from satellites. Bio ersity products that require satellite remote sensing of a finer resolution that is still under development are given lower priority (for ex le, for the EBV class species traits). Some EBVs are not directly measurable by remote sensing from space, specifically the EBV class genetic composition. Linking remote sensing products to EBVs will accelerate product generation, improving reporting on the state of bio ersity from local to global scales.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 24-08-2023
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-12-2019
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.14904
Abstract: Plant traits—the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants—determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to bio ersity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits—almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on in idual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Date: 02-2019
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-09-2018
DOI: 10.1038/S41559-018-0667-3
Abstract: Essential Bio ersity Variables (EBVs) allow observation and reporting of global bio ersity change, but a detailed framework for the empirical derivation of specific EBVs has yet to be developed. Here, we re-examine and refine the previous candidate set of species traits EBVs and show how traits related to phenology, morphology, reproduction, physiology and movement can contribute to EBV operationalization. The selected EBVs express intra-specific trait variation and allow monitoring of how organisms respond to global change. We evaluate the societal relevance of species traits EBVs for policy targets and demonstrate how open, interoperable and machine-readable trait data enable the building of EBV data products. We outline collection methods, meta(data) standardization, reproducible workflows, semantic tools and licence requirements for producing species traits EBVs. An operationalization is critical for assessing progress towards bio ersity conservation and sustainable development goals and has wide implications for data-intensive science in ecology, biogeography, conservation and Earth observation.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-02-2018
DOI: 10.1111/GEB.12715
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 03-06-2022
Abstract: Ambitious conservation efforts are needed to stop the global bio ersity crisis. In this study, we estimate the minimum land area to secure important bio ersity areas, ecologically intact areas, and optimal locations for representation of species ranges and ecoregions. We discover that at least 64 million square kilometers (44% of terrestrial area) would require conservation attention (ranging from protected areas to land-use policies) to meet this goal. More than 1.8 billion people live on these lands, so responses that promote autonomy, self-determination, equity, and sustainable management for safeguarding bio ersity are essential. Spatially explicit land-use scenarios suggest that 1.3 million square kilometers of this land is at risk of being converted for intensive human land uses by 2030, which requires immediate attention. However, a sevenfold difference exists between the amount of habitat converted in optimistic and pessimistic land-use scenarios, highlighting an opportunity to avert this crisis. Appropriate targets in the Post-2020 Global Bio ersity Framework to encourage conservation of the identified land would contribute substantially to safeguarding bio ersity.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 04-05-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.05.04.442551
Abstract: Tropical forests support immense bio ersity and provide essential ecosystem services for billions of people. Despite this value, tropical deforestation continues at a high rate. Emerging evidence suggests that elections can play an important role in shaping deforestation, for instance by incentivising politicians to allow increased utilisation of tropical forests in return for political support and votes. Nevertheless, the role of elections as a driver of deforestation has not been comprehensively tested at broad geographic scales. Here, we created an annual database from 2001 to 2018 on political elections and forest loss for 55 tropical nations and modelled the effect of elections on deforestation. In total, 1.5 million km 2 of forest was lost during this time period, and the rate of deforestation increased in 37 (67%) of the analysed countries. Deforestation was significantly lower in years with presidential or lower chamber elections compared to non-election years, which is in contrast to previous local-scale studies. Moreover, deforestation was significantly higher in presidential or lower chamber elections that are competitive (i.e. when the opposition can participate in elections and has a legitimate chance to gain governmental power) compared to uncompetitive elections. Our results document a pervasive loss of tropical forests and suggest that competitive elections are potential drivers of deforestation. We recommned that organisations monitoring election transparency and fairness should also monitor environmental impacts such as forest loss, habitat destruction and resource exploitation. This would benefit the tracking of potential illegal vote buying with natural resources.
Publisher: Pensoft Publishers
Date: 26-01-2022
DOI: 10.3897/ARPHAPREPRINTS.E81207
Abstract: Observations are key to understand the drivers of bio ersity loss, and the impacts on ecosystem services and ultimately on people. Many EU policies and initiatives demand unbiased, integrated and regularly updated bio ersity and ecosystem service data. However, efforts to monitor bio ersity are spatially and temporally fragmented, taxonomically biased, and lack integration in Europe. EuropaBON aims to bridge this gap by designing an EU-wide framework for monitoring bio ersity and ecosystem services. EuropaBON harnesses the power of modelling essential variables to integrate different reporting streams, data sources, and monitoring schemes. These essential variables provide consistent knowledge about multiple dimensions of bio ersity change across space and time. They can then be analyzed and synthesized to support decision-making at different spatial scales, from the sub-national to the European scale, through the production of indicators and scenarios. To develop essential bio ersity and ecosystem variables workflows that are policy relevant, EuropaBON is built around stakeholder engagement and knowledge exchange (WP2). EuropaBON will work with stakeholders to identify user and policy needs for bio ersity monitoring and investigate the feasibility of setting up a center to coordinate monitoring activities across Europe (WP2). Together with stakeholders, EuropaBON will assess current monitoring efforts to identify gaps, data and workflow bottlenecks, and analyse cost-effectiveness of different schemes (WP3). This will be used to co-design improved monitoring schemes using novel technologies to become more representative temporally, spatially and taxonomically, delivering multiple benefits to users and society (WP4). Finally, EuropaBON will demonstrate in a set of showcases how workflows tailored to the Birds Directive, Habitats Directive, Water Framework Directive, Climate and Restoration Policy, and the Bioeconomy Strategy, can be implemented (WP5).
No related grants have been discovered for W. Daniel Kissling.