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 | Reprinted with permission from Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Vol. 16, No. 1, January 2001 |
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Abstract
January 2001 marks the start of the International Biodiversity Observation Year (IBOY), which is an initiative of Diversitas, the international program of biodiversity science that seeks to promote and integrate the various dimensions of research. During 2001 and 2002, scientists, informatics specialists, the media, and educators from across the world will collaborate to focus attention on biodiversity, its status and trends.
Why an IBOY?
| We're largely unaware of biodiversity's impact on our daily lives. |
Globally, biodiversity is being lost at all levels: (1) genes, species, and landscapes that provide goods such as food, fuels, fibers, and medicines; (2) ecosystem services such as purification of air and water and renewal of soil fertility; and (3) natural environments that provide a foundation for art, culture, and recreation. As has been abundantly documented in the scientific literature, the rate of extinctions of plant and animal species has increased to between 50 and several hundred times the rates expected on the basis of geological data [1-3], with 50 percent of mammals and birds predicted to be extinct within 100 to 1,000 years. As Myers et al. [4] note, "the number of species threatened with extinction far outstrips available conservation resources."
Biologists generally believe that these losses represent a threat to the well-being of human societies [5], yet no sector of society is equipped with sufficient knowledge to evaluate this erosion of natural capital and its goods and services. Only a small fraction, approximately 1.75 million of the 14 million species estimated to be on the planet, have been taxonomically described [6]. In addition, the distribution, abundance, status, trends, and contribution to ecosystem goods and services of many of these species, not to mention the remaining 80 to 95 percent of species yet to be taxonomically described, are unknown. Awareness of biodiversity and its many connections to our daily lives is limited across the globe, thereby completely undermining the ability of the public and policy makers to make decisions for sustainable development and conservation.
During IBOY, biologists, educators, and media professionals will collaborate to collate and increase the availability of accurate biodiversity information that is essential for informed decision making. In doing so, they hope to make the compelling, scientific case for increased general concern and action about losses of biodiversity. The ultimate goals of IBOY, as eloquently stated in Article 13a of the Convention on Biological Diversity (1992), are to "promote and encourage understanding of the importance of and the measures required for the conservation of biological diversity, as well as its propagation through media and the inclusion of these topics in educati nal programs." Indeed, IBOY has the potential to achieve multiple goals.
Pushing the Frontiers of Science: The IGY Model
| IBOY was inspired by the success of IGY. |
The IBOY was inspired in part by the enormous success of IGY (International Geophysical Year, July 1957 - December 1958) which brought together many of the geophysical sciences to derive a more synoptic view of geophysical phenomena of the Earth and its atmosphere. Studies were made of the aurora, airglow, cosmic rays, geomagnetism, glaciology, gravity, ocean-floor soundings, the ionosphere, solar activity and, most notably, the ozone concentrations in the upper atmosphere [7]. The studies of ocean-floor soundings and the upper atmosphere led to our understanding of plate tectonics and the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts, respectively. In a large sense, the IGY paved the way for space-age research.
Thus, the hallmark of the IGY was innovative geophysical science that integrated both scientific disciplines and global expertise. Longer-term research efforts were also initiated, adding to the data gathered during the single intensive year. Furthermore, the IGY was a great unifying force for the relevant sciences, bringing together unprecedented cooperation among the world's scientists and even leading to a remarkable political gain: the Antarctic Treaty [8].
| Besides adding new data, IBOY will view old data holistically. |
IBOY is set to play similar roles for biodiversity science, advancing our understanding of the nature and functioning of biological diversity, and conveying the importance of biodiversity to societal welfare. Projects within IBOY are ex loring the frontiers of biodiversity - from the taxonomic diversity of the abyssal plains of the Atlantic Ocean to the dark and microscopic world in the soils beneath our feet [box 1]. Some projects are examining the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning from patch to landscape scales, and others will identify biotic indicators of marine and terrestrial ecosystem sustainability. Many projects are combining previously fragmented data sets to provide new information on global biodiversity patterns and their relationships with ecosystem goods and services.
Forging Links Among Disparate Elements: The IGBP Model
In 1986, the 25th anniversary celebrations of the IGY led to the launch of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP), which aimed to develop an understanding of the Earth as a system, bringing together information from biogeochemistry and elements that drive climate. The IGBP program has focused on the links between components of the Earth system (for example, those between geology, soil physics, and plant physiology), rather than on the isolated disciplines themselves. Thus, a new scientific concept has been developed, one that has a holistic view of the interactions and feedbacks between the physical and biological components of the Earth. Such an integrated science is needed for comprehensive understanding of biodiversity and its interactions with ecosystems, and societal concerns such as global change, economics, and health. Diversitas is embarking on the necessary long-term program to integrate biological, physical, and social sciences, to learn how the diversity capital of the Earth originates and is maintained, how it contributes to ecosystem functioning and human services, and how we can preserve and protect it. IBOY will boost the launch of this program, initiating dialogue, increasing understanding and information transfer across disciplines, and raising awareness within the scientific and policy communities of the urgent need for funding and research institutions to support such an integrated structure.
| The first step will be interdisciplinary planning. |
In the early months of IBOY, leading international researchers from fields including taxonomy, genetics, ecology, conservation biology, oceanography, and biogeochemistry will meet to present an overview of their contributions to IBOY. Together, the meeting participants will describe the breadth and status of biodiversity research and help identify: (1) where disciplines intersect (potentially yielding new information on interrelationships), (2) which recent technologies can be "borrowed" from one discipline and applied to another, (3) where synergy of disciplines can provide urgently needed answers to complex, cross-disciplinary questions, (4) gaps in knowledge, and (5) research priorities.
Educating the Public
As Jane Lubchenco reported, "All too many of our current environmental policies and much of the street lore about the environment are based on the science of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, not the science of the 1990s" [9]. Informed decision making within civil society is crucial because species and their activities within ecosystems are intrinsically connected with the concerns of society, through provision of ecosystem goods and services and the foundation of natural resource-based economies [10]. To make such decisions, access to a breadth of science-based, accurate information on biological diversity is required.
| Public education about biodiversity is a high priority. |
During IBOY an eclectic group of education and media projects will explain the status and trends of biodiversity, and its implications, to the public worldwide. IBOY will also launch new efforts to increase the availability of first-hand biodiversity data to the public, via the Internet, CD-ROM databases, and traditional media.
The unprecedented collaboration of scientists and "gatekeepers of knowledge" in both education and media during IBOY provides a unique opportunity to improve communication of scientifically accurate information on biodiversity. A recent report of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Commission on Education and Communication reported that:
[Some of the major] challenges facing biodiversity communication and education are . . . to make a large issue small enough to be solved, as biodiversity tends to be all inclusive and is hard to narrow down: therefore, translate it from something complex to something easy to grasp . . . [to] change the communication from wordy arguments about why biodiversity is important to communicating what results are wanted [11].
| Communicators must make this complex issue understandable and personal. |
Planning is underway for an IBOY workshop in early 2001, in which scientists and media professionals will identify the scientific information on biodiversity that is most needed by decision makers and develop effective communication strategies to disseminate these findings. The workshop will maximally exploit opportunities provided by the recent explosion in communication technologies and initiate a platform for long-term partnerships between scientists and "communication" specialists.
What Will Happen During IBOY?
At the core of IBOY is a diverse portfolio of international biodiversity projects from over 50 countries, with participation by the global scientific community, the media, and educators. During 2001 and 2002, these projects will have a peak of activity and yield products such as new data, syntheses and assessments, scientific and popular articles and books, curriculum guides, Web pages, and television and film documentaries. Throughout IBOY, synergistic activities including meetings, films, Web-based interviews, Internet chat sessions, and a media campaign, will highlight these projects and explain the implications of the information on biodiversity that they deliver. The IBOY Web page provides a wealth of information on biodiversity, including a science-based background to biodiversity issues, interviews with researchers and filmmakers that explore biodiversity, and constantly updated information on activities and findings of IBOY projects occurring around the world. The Web page will link to activities such as national "science weeks" in numerous countries, providing a single point of entry to global information on biodiversity, around which classroom and other activities can be built.
| IBOY has three foci: discovery, informatics, and education. |
The core projects contributing to IBOY fall into three categories - "scientific voyages of discovery," "informatics," and "education and outreach" - which address crucial biodiversity questions, outlined in box 1. More detailed information and a comprehensive list of projects, along with the breadth of biodiversity knowledge and observations these projects represent, can be found at the IBOY Web site.
These and other international "core network projects" will be the focus of IBOY-synergistic activities and media campaigns. However, IBOY recognizes the vital role of smaller scale, local, regional, and national biodiversity research and education projects, particularly for providing information at scales that are relevant to management decisions, and for demonstrating the relevance of biodiversity to peoples' daily lives. Through IBOY, an interoperable Web page will be maintained to highlight and provide information on local, national, and regional biodiversity activities occurring around the world during 2001 and 2002. Users will be able to click on the map and pull up descriptions of, and links to, biodiversity activities occurring in that area.
We invite you to submit a description of your biodiversity research, informatics or educational activities to post on the IBOY map. For more information, please contact Diana Wall.
Diana Wall is the director of the National Resource Ecology Laboratory at Colorado State University.
Gina Adams is a research associate at the National Resource Ecology Laboratory.
Harold Mooney is a professor of environmental biology and population biology.
Geoffrey Boxshall is a merit researcher in the Crustacea Research Group in the Department of Zoology at the Natural History Museum in London.
Andy Dobson is an associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton University.
Tohru Nakashizuka is a professor of ecological complexity at Kyoto University in Japan.
James Seyani is Commonwealth Secretariat in London.
Cristián Samper is the director of the Humboldt Institute in Bogotá, Columbia.
José Sarukhán is a professor at the Instituto de Ecologia at Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico.
World Conservation Monitoring Centre - includes many resources related to the policy issues surrounding biodiversity conservation.
Association for Biodiversity Information - offers conservation information for more than 50,000 plants, animals, and ecological communities in the U.S. and Canada as well as other resources.
National Biological Information Infrastructure - includes international biodiversity information, a newsletter, biological search engine, and more.
Virtual Library of Ecology and Biodiversity - a large, well-ordered collection of sites including links to information on endangered species, habitats, and government issues.
Convention on Biological Diversity Clearing-House Mechanism - a centralized resource for thousands of biodiversity-related documents.
Rediscovering Natural Product Biodiversity - highlights from a recent conference on biodiversity and drug discovery. From Drug Discovery Today, 1999, 4:10:449-451. Full text available from BioMedNet.
Does Global Change Increase the Success of Biological Invaders? - examines the link between changing environments and biodiversity. From Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 1999, 14:4:135-139. Full text available from BioMedNet.
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