 What, where, how many  Morphology, physiology…  Genetic diversity  Phenology  Water and nutrients  Species interactions  …  Trends Observations: In-situ Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus BBS Summer Relative Abundance BBS Trend Map, Sauer, J. R., J. E. Hines, and J. Fallon. 2008

GEO Biodiversity Observation Network Integration and interoperability of biodiversity systems Gary GELLER Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology NASA Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Meeting Washington, D.C May 2010 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (c) 2009 California Institute of Technology. Government sponsorship acknowledged. (c) Christine Holtz 2009

Observations: Remotely sensed  Visible images  Radar  LiDAR  Field-based Radar image, Sumatra ASTER image, Edgemont National Park, NZ LIDAR image, forest CENS, UCLA

 NASA, JAXA, ERSDAC, ESA, IRSO, INPE…  BirdLife International  NatureServe  UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC)  Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)  International Union of Conservation (IUCN)  ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB)  Census of Marine Life (CoML)  Wetlands International  World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)  Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) Many sources and systems South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON) Earthwatch Conservation International (CI) Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental (CRIA) National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning (MARBEF) The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) World Resources Institute (WRI) BIOTA Africa United States Geological Survey United States Fish and Wildlife Service Smithsonian Institute (SI) National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA)

Too many isolated sources and systems Mash ups are difficult or impossible Global view is impossible Data are poorly shared What should we do? Issues

Build GEO BON  Network of networks for biodiversity observation systems  Collect, manage, analyze, share data on status of the world’s biodiversity Scholes et al., Science 321: 22 August 2008

Answers to basic questions  What is changing?  Why is it changing?  What are the impacts?

Focal areas  Ecosystems  Species  Genes  Ecosystem services

Major GEO BON Outcomes  Coordination  Data system interoperability Increased access and sharing New correlations and analyses Integration of in-situ and remotely-sensed observations  Data collection Gaps filled (spatial, temporal, taxonomic…) Standardized collection methods and formats

How do we build this?

Implementation approach  Incrementally  Opportunistically  Collaboratively  Starting point: Topical Working Groups ARKive © Jörn Köhler

Topical working groups 1. Ecosystem change: Terrestrial 2. Ecosystem change: Freshwater 3. Ecosystem change: Marine 4. Species change: Terrestrial 5. Genetic change 6. Ecosystem services change 7. In-situ / remote sensing integration 8. Data integration and interoperability

1.Map concepts to activities 2.Find regional and thematic partners 3.Together, plan and implement GEO BON Topical working groups

GEO BON status  Have Concepts Steering committee Working groups Detailed Implementation Plan  Need Develop partner base

Big 5 challenges  Technical: Making systems work together  Social: Collaboration of independent organizations with different missions  Scientific: Integrating in-situ and remote sensing observations  Ensuring appropriate incentives for partners  Funding and resources

Next Steps  Find partners  Refine implementation plan accordingly  Find resources (piece by piece)  Implement

Website: Google “GEO BON” Thank you