“Reliable information on the state of diversity lays the groundwork for decision-making based on knowledge. The required knowledge base encompasses information on how the operations of various sectors and policies affect biodiversity. Such information can only be gleaned from observations made in nature, across time and space,” says Professor Jarno Vanhatalo from the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences and the Faculty of Science.
Finland has among the world's most extensive and diverse observational datasets pertaining to nature. A project carried out at the Research Centre for Ecological Change of the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, investigated how current monitoring of Finnish nature responds to present needs and how it should be developed to meet future needs.
The researchers propose the following measures to develop biodiversity monitoring:
1. Monitoring must be extended to species and groups of species that are currently not monitored.
2. The coverage of sampling must be increased to collect observations of multiple species groups from the same locations.
3. Sampling must be expanded to represent Finland as a whole, all relevant environmental variation and all seasons. The distribution of monitoring sites and times must cover both short and long distances.
4. Species monitoring must be supplemented with the monitoring of essential ecosystem functions and genetic variation.
5. Monitoring must be planned and implemented through collaboration covering multiple species groups.
6. The continuity of long-term monitoring must be ensured by legislation.
7. All monitoring data must be made available in accordance with the principles of open data, providing comprehensive metadata to ensure the usefulness of the data also in the future.
8. The methods, software and code used in the analysis of monitoring data must be accurately described and openly published.
“The results of the project will help develop biodiversity monitoring so that these activities are able to meet future information needs in a cost-efficient manner. In response to the challenge of biodiversity loss, governments have initiated reforms of both international treaties and national legislation and regulation. We need observation data on the changes to assess the impact of these reforms in the future,” Vanhatalo sums up.
Read the policy brief in Finnish:
Suomen luonnon monimuotoisuuden seuranta: nykytila ja kehitystarpeet
(‘Monitoring biodiversity in Finland: current status and development needs’)
Funding
This study received funding from the BIOMON research programme of the Ministry of the Environment.
The diversity of nature is the foundation of ecosystem services that support human wellbeing and life on Earth. Changes in biodiversity can manifest as species loss, the arrival of new species in new areas, or fluctuations in population numbers. These changes undermine natural ecosystem services, such as pollination necessary for food production.
Ecosystem services denote the free, tangible and intangible benefits of ecosystems for humans, such as food, water purification, photosynthesis and recreation.