On-going projects
DIVERSITAS has a portfolio of on-going endorsed projects, which implement its scientific strategy:
- Aquabase: The Biophysical Basis of Freshwater Ecosystem Services
- BioFresh: Biodiversity of Freshwater ecosystems: status, trends, pressures, and conservation priorities
- BIOTA-FAPESP
- Central African Project
- DiverSus: Functional Biodiversity effects on ecosystem processes, Ecosystem services and sustainability in the Americas
- EEPA: Participation, conservation and livelihoods: Evaluating the effectiveness of participatory approaches in protected areas
- Effects of climate change on past, recent, and future biodiversity of alpine/arctic plants: Integrative evidence from phylogenies, population genetics, ecological niche modelling and new insights for conservation
- European Learning Network on Functional Agrobiodiversity
- FADA: Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment
- Global Land Project (GLP)
- GLORIA: Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments
- GLOWS: Global Water for Sustainability Program
- MIREN: Mountain Invasion Research Network
- MIRLU: The effect of migration and remittances on land use change: Is there a forest transition?
- Predict
Aquabase: The Biophysical Basis of Freshwater Ecosystem Services
Aquabase is a collaborative project, involving partners from USA, Australia, Germany and South Africa, which started in 2011 and is supported by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The goal of Aquabase is to develop ecological production functions for riverine ecosystem services that can be linked to economic production functions and made available to the policy and regulatory community.
Aquabase is one of the activities of the DIVERSITAS freshwaterBIODIVERSITY project.
Contact: Margaret Palmer, University of Maryland, USA
BioFresh: Biodiversity of Freshwater ecosystems: status, trends, pressures, and conservation priorities
Scientists and water managers have collected vast amounts of data on freshwater biodiversity. Nonetheless it is often impossible to be certain of the geographic range of a species. Why is this? The existing data from all of these studies are widely dispersed, gathered in locally-managed databases, many of which are not publicly available. In summary, the pieces of the global freshwater biodiversity puzzle are scattered, and it is difficult even to find them. What a story they could they tell if all of the pieces were combined and easily accessible to scientists, policy makers and planners?
Such an integrated and accessible dataset will be used to improve and establish effective plans for conservation and for a better understanding of the services provided by aquatic ecosystems.
BioFresh will improve the capacity to protect and manage freshwater biodiversity by:
- Building an information platform as a gateway for scientific research on freshwater biodiversity;
- Raising awareness of the importance of freshwater biodiversity and its role in providing ecosystem services;
- Predicting the future responses of freshwater biodiversity to multiple stressors in the face of global change.
BioFresh is an EU-funded international project that integrates the freshwater biodiversity competencies and expertise of 19 research institutions.
BioFresh is one of the activities of the DIVERSITAS freshwaterBIODIVERSITY project.
Contact: Klement Tockner, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Germany
BIOTA/FAPESP
The BIOTA/FAPESP Programme: The Biodiversity Virtual Institute aims to inventory and characterise the terrestrial, freshwater and marine biodiversity of the State of São Paulo, Brazil, as well as to define the mechanisms for its conservation and sustainable use. The program aims to achieve these goals by:
- Recovering the status of taxonomy as a major science area by training new taxonomists
- Supporting research projects on inventories and taxonomic revisions
- Establishing a standard protocol for recording biological information generated by inventories
- Developing the tools to integrate biological data with a sophisticated GIS
- Developing a Distributed Information System that integrates primary data from scientific biological collections to recover and make freely available all information deposited in biological collections
During the last six years, this program has supported 75 major research projects which trained successfully 150 MSc and 90 PhD students, produced and stored information about approximately 10000 species and managed to link and make available data from 35 major biological collections, and published 464 articles. In 2001, the program launched an open-access electronic peer-reviewed journal, Biota Neotropica, for original research on biodiversity in the Neotropical region. In 2002, the program started BIOprospecTA to search for new compounds of economic interest, which has already submitted 3 new drugs to patent.
BIOTA/FAPESP is especially relevant to the activities of the DIVERSITAS bioGENESIS and bioDISCOVERY projects.
Contact: Carlos A. Joly, University of Sao Paolo, Brazil
The Central African Program
The Missouri Botanical Garden’s field programme in Central Africa, The Central African Program aims at measuring, describing and mapping plant biodiversity in Central Africa to come to a better understanding and protection of its rain forest in face of human deforestation and global climate change. It plans to do the following research activities:
- Locating climatically stable forest in Gabon/Equatorial Guinea by assessing the biodiversity of potential area’s and proposing them as protected areas;
- Compiling ethno-botanical knowledge from the native peoples (pygmies) of the Massif du Chaillu;
- Contributions to the Flora of Gabon;
- Conserving endemic plants and orchids in Sao Tome;
- Studying the biogeography of endemic Orchids and Rubiaceae in Atlantic Central Africa.
The Central African Program is especially relevant to the activities of the DIVERSITAS bioDISCOVERY project and GEO BON.
Contact: Miguel E Leal, Missouri Botanical Garden, USA, and Gabon
DiverSus: Functional Biodiversity effects on ecosystem processes, Ecosystem services and sustainability in the Americas
DiverSus, which started in 2005, is an International Nucleus, with headquarters at the Multidisciplinary Institute of Plant Biology (CONICET - National University of Cordoba) in Argentina. It is funded through the Collaborative Research Network Programme of Inter-American institute for Global Change research (IAI) that promote research cooperation and exchange of information in an integrated way through interdisciplinary studies and international networks involving at least 4 countries in each project. The participating countries are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, USA.
The project objective is to conduct high quality research in the areas of biodiversity, ecosystems, and sustainability, in a context of social-relevant problems. It aims at assessing the indirect effects of land use changes mediated by shift in the composition of ecological communities – particularly changes in species compositions and relative abundance. The research focuses on the shifts in the plant functional biodiversity resulting from land use change; on the role of biodiversity in the resilience to climatic stresses.
The goals are to :
- Construct a network of scientists to address links between land use as a driver of global change, functional biodiversity shifts, and ecosystem processes and services in the Americas.
- Develop the first comparison of the effects of land use on FB and to establish how this in turn has the potential to modify ecosystem processes in systems under different degrees of climatic control.
- Establish links between FB, ecosystem functioning and major ecosystem services perceived by different local and non-local stakeholders.
- Develop a conceptual framework, tools and recommendations as the basis for management decisions to assess and optimize the ecosystem-service value of the land.
DiverSus is especially relevant to the activities of the DIVERSITAS ecoSERVICES project.
Contact: Sandra Diaz, Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Argentina
EEPA: Participation, conservation and livelihoods: Evaluating the effectiveness of participatory approaches in protected areas
The project ‘Evaluating the effectiveness of participatory approaches’ (EEPA), developed jointly by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the Graduate Institute for Development Studies (IUED), the Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD), and the UNESCO Man and Biosphere programme (MAB), was funded in 2006 by the Geneva International Adademic Network (GIAN). This project aims at: 1) creating a network of institutions specialized in protected areas research and development; 2) developing a methodology to evaluate the effectiveness of participatory and co-management approaches in protected areas governance; 3) testing the developed methodology in pilot protected areas; 4) preparing a large-scale project for gathering evidence on the efficiency of the participatory approach with regard to conservation and livelihoods compatibility.
The project’s added value is that it brings together four ongoing projects led by the partners: 1) the project ‘Peoples, protected areas and global change’ (NCCR-NS) led by IUED and aimed at comparing livelihood strategies, institutional settings, and participation in 10 protected areas; 2) the IUCN/WCPA project on assessing the management effectiveness of protected areas (Hockings et al., 2004; 3) the “Action Thématique Interdépartementale (ATI) Aires Protégées”, an IRD programme that intends to constitute a network for comparative and prospective research on protected areas; 4) a MAB research project on dialogue and concertation in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves, including methodology for comparing the diversity of contexts and itineraries of selected sites.
EEPA is especially relevant to the activities of the DIVERSITAS bioSUSTAINABILITY project.
Contact: Marc Hufty, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID), Switzerland
Effects of climate change on past, recent, and future biodiversity of alpine/arctic plants: Integrative evidence from phylogenies, population genetics, ecological niche modelling and new insights for conservation
Responding to the twin crises of global warming and biodiversity loss requires a deep understanding of how climate affects the processes that generate and destroy biodiversity, primarily through its effects on the ecology and distribution of species and communities. Recent improvements in our ability to reconstruct the history of biodiversity through timed phylogenies, estimate changes in genetic diversity, and predict the potential distribution of selected species with ecological niche models (ENMs) now allow us to infer the evolution of ecological preferences and distributional ranges at different temporal scales, from the present, to the past and the future. Newly trained scientists are thus in a unique position to influence the future of biodiversity with this new integrative knowledge, as long as they are also trained in communication and policy skills. We believe that the two Ph.D. students working on our research module will have a special opportunity to learn: (i) the theoretical and practical skills necessary to explain changes in species richness at different temporal and spatial scales and (ii) how to apply this scientific knowledge for conservation purposes in a way that benefits society as a whole through the specialized courses on environmental policy and communication offered by the Pro-Doc program of the Plant Science Center.
This project is especially relevant to the activities of the DIVERSITAS bioGENESIS project.
Contact: Elena Conti, University of Zürich, Switzerland, and Christophe Randin, University of Basel, Switzerland
European Learning Network on Functional Agrobiodiversity
In January 2009 the European Centre for Nature Conservancy (ECNC), in cooperation with the DIVERSITAS agroBIODIVERSITY International project started working on a new project to create the ‘European Learning Network on Functional Agrobiodiversity’. The realization that agriculture has to become more sustainable is incorporated in policy instruments from national to global level. Knowledge on how biodiversity can be mobilized to make agriculture sustainable is increasing. Throughout Europe, farmers, researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders are implementing various forms of management using agrobiodiversity for sustainable production objectives. At present, this practical experience is extremely fragmented and barely accessible. This project ‘European Learning Network on Functional Agrobiodiversity’ aims to change this.
The Network will provide a platform and facility for exchange of knowledge and practical experiences between EU Member States, across country and language borders, between farmers, policymakers, scientists, businesses and NGOs, to enable fast and effective implementation of best practices to help optimize agrobiodiversity benefits and promote sustainable agriculture. A Europe-wide register of agrobiodiversity projects, contacts database and collection of practical examples will be established, together with an up-to-date website which can be used by stakeholders and the secretariat of the Network (hosted by ECNC) to communicate. The knowledge will be set down in a handbook that will help the stakeholders to strengthen the role of functional agrobiodiversity in their operations. A European meeting will be organized that will bring together representatives of the various target groups from several countries to exchange experience. The project is funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM) and will run until the end of 2009. The further support of European policymakers and funders will also be sought during the project in order to expand the Network in the long term.
This project is one of the activities of the DIVERSITAS agroBIODIVERSITY project.
Contact: Mirjam Pulleman, Wageningen University, The Netherlands
FADA: Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment
The goal of FADA is to better understand ongoing activities related to data compilation on freshwater biodiversity and to identify common actions or strategies where data and expertise could be shared between the several international groups working on this topic. This will allow to better address research needs and conservation issues in freshwater biodiversity. This activity has joined forces with the EU BioFresh project.
FADA is led by the Belgium Biodiversity Platform and FADA is one of the activities of the DIVERSITAS freshwaterBIODIVERSITY project.
Contact: Koen Martens, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Belgium, and Hendrik Segers, Belgium Biodiversity Platform
The Global Land Project – GLP
The Global Land Project (GLP) is the successor of the jointly sponsored IGBP/IHDP (International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme / International Human Dimensions Programme for global change research) project Land-Use and Land-Cover Change (LUCC) and of the IGBP project on Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems (GCTE). The research goal of the GLP is to measure, model and understand the coupled human-environmental system (“land system”) as part of broader efforts to address changes in Earth processes and subsequent social, economic and political consequences, ranging from local to regional scales. Indeed, changes in coupled human-environmental systems also affect the rates of cycling of energy, water, elements, and biota at the global level, while global-level changes in political economy, such as international treaties and market liberalization, in turn affect decisions about resources at local and regional levels.
GLP’s Science Plan (2005) represents the research framework for the coming decade for land systems.
DIVERSITAS has been involved in discussions and in drafting parts of the GLP science plan. There are, in particular, common interests between DIVERSITAS and GLP on the topic of biodiversity and global environmental change. GLP is especially relevant to the activities of the DIVERSITAS bioDISCOVERY project.
Contact: Tobias Langanke, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
GLORIA: Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments
The purpose of GLORIA is to establish and maintain a world-wide long-term observation network in alpine environments. Vegetation and temperature data collected at the GLORIA sites will be used for discerning trends in species diversity and temperature. The data will be used to assess and predict losses in biodiversity and other threats to these fragile alpine ecosystems which are under accelerating climate change pressures.
The project goals' are to:
- Document changes in biodiversity and vegetation patterns, caused by climate change in the world's high mountain ecosystems;
- Assess the impacts of climate change-induced biodiversity and habitat losses and associated effects on ecosystem functioning;
- Contribute to international efforts to mitigate biodiversity and habitat losses.
This project is endorsed by the DIVERSITAS GMBA project since 2005.
Contact: Harald Pauli, University of Vienna, Austria
GLOWS: Global Water for Sustainability Program
GLOWS is a consortium financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This is a 5-year initiative designed to promote integrated water resources management (IWRM) worldwide through innovative field programs, diverse capacity building activities, and international leadership in the theory and practice of IWRM. GLOWS focuses on adapting and communicating the scientific outputs to the policy and management communities through widely accessible publications and special workshops or short courses, workshops, seminars, datasets, and possibly decision-support tools.
The Global Water for Sustainability Program and DIVERSITAS’ freshwaterBIODIVERSITY share common goals, possess complementary skills and have similar time-lines. In collaboration, DIVERSITAS and GLOWS are able to more effectively bridge the gap between the theory and practice of freshwater biodiversity conservation and aquatic resource management. The joint products of the collaboration are policy - and management-oriented publications.
DIVERSITAS endorsed the Global Water for Sustainability (GLOWS) Program in October 2006 with the aim of carrying joint activities on capacity building related to freshwater biodiversity issues.
Contact: Michael McClain, UNESCO-IHE, The Netherlands
MIRLU: The effect of migration and remittances on land use change: Is there a forest transition?
MIRLU is a three year research project, which started in 2009, and conducted by The Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM) in collaboration with the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB), Arizona State University in USA, Universidad del Valle in Guatemala and El Colegio de la Frontera Sur in Mexico. This projectis supported by the Norwegian Research Council.
The aim of MIRLU is to explore the effect of international migration and remittances on land use and land use change in the area of origin of migrants. This project will look at the relationship between poverty, migration and natural resources. To understand how and in what ways remittances influence land use and land use change could allow for planning policy interventions directed to resilient land use in rural areas in Latin America and to promote the conservation of biodiversity.
MIRLU is especially relevant to the activities of the DIVERSITAS bioDISCOVERY and bioSUSTAINABILITY projects.
Contact: Mariel Aguilar Støen, The Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), Norway
MIREN: Mountain Invasion Research Network
MIREN aims at understanding the problem of plant invasions into mountain areas. The promising research approach used in MIREN is altitudinal gradients in mountains for understanding plant invasion processes along environmental gradients. Research on plant invasions into mountains brings together three top priority areas of modern ecological research:
- Mechanisms of biological invasions;
- Patterns and impacts of global change; and
- threats to mountain systems as natural heritage areas.
This project is endorsed by the DIVERSITAS GMBA project since 2005.
Contact: Hansjörg Dietz, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Predict
Zoonotic diseases - or those that can be transmitted between animals and humans - represent approximately 75 percent of the newly emerging diseases currently affecting people. In the context of globalization and expansive trade and travel, these diseases can travel very quickly, posing serious public health, development and economic concerns.
The PREDICT project seeks to identify new emerging infectious diseases that could become a threat to human health. PREDICT partners locate their research in geographic "hot spots" and focus on wildlife that are most likely to carry zoonotic diseases - animals such as bats, rodents, and nonhuman primates.
Predict will help implementing the DESED activity of the DIVERSITAS ecoHEALTH project.
Contact: Peter Daszak, EcoHealth Alliance, USA
TraitNet
TraitNet is dedicated to the advancement and integration of trait-based evolutionary and ecological research. Traits are variously defined, but essentially concern species' properties that affect individual fitness and govern species' impacts and responses to their environment. Trait-based research spans an enormous array of ecological and evolutionary disciplines. While each discipline has sought to define traits, apply trait data to test theory, establish protocols for the quantification of traits, and build multi-user databases, little coordination or interaction has occurred across disciplines. TraitNet addresses this extraordinary opportunity to facilitate integration and synthesis across this array of disciplines. TraitNet is structured by five goals:
- Identify key questions and core hypotheses in trait-based research;
- Identify data gaps that hinder the advancement of intra- and inter-disciplinary trait-based research;
- Coordinate the standardization of collection and curation of trait data;
- Build a model database to test explicit core hypotheses;
- Facilitate the development of cross-disciplinary computational tools for merging, disseminating, and sharing trait data.
TraitNet is one of the activities of the DIVERSITAS ecoSERVICES project.
Contact: Shahid Naeem, Columbia University, USA
TROPI-DRY
TROPI-DRY is a collaborative research network sponsored by the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI). TROPI-DRY's goal is to bring together researchers in conservation biology, ecology and evolution, remote sensing and geographic information systems, sociology, anthropology, policy analysis, and forestry to develop a comprehensive, “state of the art” understanding of the status of tropical dry forests (primary and secondary) in the Americas. TROPI-DRY's research focuses on Ecological Research, Advances in Remote Sensing and GIS, and Human Dimension issues, and in collaboration with local and national policy-making organizations, produces comprehensive and comparative land use/policy studies in tropical dry regions in the natural and social sciences. At present, TROPI-DRY incorporates researchers and institutions from Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, United States of America and Venezuela.
TROPY-DRY is especially relevant to the activities of the DIVERSITAS bioDISCOVERY and bioSUSTAINABILITY projects.
Contact: Arturo Sanchez-Azofeifa, University of Alberta, Canada
