ORCID Profile
0000-0001-7433-4431
Current Organisation
University of Amsterdam
Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the Feedback Form.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 23-05-2012
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2022
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-08-2018
DOI: 10.1111/BRV.12359
Abstract: Much bio ersity data is collected worldwide, but it remains challenging to assemble the scattered knowledge for assessing bio ersity status and trends. The concept of Essential Bio ersity Variables (EBVs) was introduced to structure bio ersity monitoring globally, and to harmonize and standardize bio ersity data from disparate sources to capture a minimum set of critical variables required to study, report and manage bio ersity change. Here, we assess the challenges of a 'Big Data' approach to building global EBV data products across taxa and spatiotemporal scales, focusing on species distribution and abundance. The majority of currently available data on species distributions derives from incidentally reported observations or from surveys where presence-only or presence-absence data are s led repeatedly with standardized protocols. Most abundance data come from opportunistic population counts or from population time series using standardized protocols (e.g. repeated surveys of the same population from single or multiple sites). Enormous complexity exists in integrating these heterogeneous, multi-source data sets across space, time, taxa and different s ling methods. Integration of such data into global EBV data products requires correcting biases introduced by imperfect detection and varying s ling effort, dealing with different spatial resolution and extents, harmonizing measurement units from different data sources or s ling methods, applying statistical tools and models for spatial inter- or extrapolation, and quantifying sources of uncertainty and errors in data and models. To support the development of EBVs by the Group on Earth Observations Bio ersity Observation Network (GEO BON), we identify 11 key workflow steps that will operationalize the process of building EBV data products within and across research infrastructures worldwide. These workflow steps take multiple sequential activities into account, including identification and aggregation of various raw data sources, data quality control, taxonomic name matching and statistical modelling of integrated data. We illustrate these steps with concrete ex les from existing citizen science and professional monitoring projects, including eBird, the Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring network, the Living Planet Index and the Baltic Sea zooplankton monitoring. The identified workflow steps are applicable to both terrestrial and aquatic systems and a broad range of spatial, temporal and taxonomic scales. They depend on clear, findable and accessible metadata, and we provide an overview of current data and metadata standards. Several challenges remain to be solved for building global EBV data products: (i) developing tools and models for combining heterogeneous, multi-source data sets and filling data gaps in geographic, temporal and taxonomic coverage, (ii) integrating emerging methods and technologies for data collection such as citizen science, sensor networks, DNA-based techniques and satellite remote sensing, (iii) solving major technical issues related to data product structure, data storage, execution of workflows and the production process/cycle as well as approaching technical interoperability among research infrastructures, (iv) allowing semantic interoperability by developing and adopting standards and tools for capturing consistent data and metadata, and (v) ensuring legal interoperability by endorsing open data or data that are free from restrictions on use, modification and sharing. Addressing these challenges is critical for bio ersity research and for assessing progress towards conservation policy targets and sustainable development goals.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2019
No related grants have been discovered for Wouter Los.