National-scale terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystem monitoring with essential biodiversity variables in Japan and Finland

Abstract

Essential biodiversity variables (EBVs) have emerged as a crucial tool for monitoring biodiversity change and provide a framework for standardized and integrated data that align with national and global conservation targets. While EBVs have static definitions, they offer flexibility in data products, allowing regions to develop unique implementation strategies. To guide the development of EBV lists for Japan, we compare data availability with Finland, a country with a similar environment. We review the status of primary data for EBVs in terrestrial ecosystems in these two countries and then compare data for Japan with the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network EBVs and the EBV lists recommended by Europa Biodiversity Observation Network and Finland. Furthermore, we summarize EBVs, remote sensing and modeling applications employed to produce them, and provide ideas for regional EBV priority lists. We found that Japan has medium-to-high data availability across several EBV classes, particularly for species distributions, phenology, and environmental disasters, which include unique datasets. For Japan, we identified data gaps in the EBV classes, Genetic composition, Species traits, and Ecosystem structure. We then discuss how EBVs can contribute to calculating indicators for Japan, such as the “30 by 30,” and highlight the remaining data gaps required to realize their implementation. Finally, we provide our perspectives on calculating EBVs at the national scale, focusing on Japan. With several countries and regions developing EBV lists, comparative regional analyses can help elucidate key commonalities and differences to inform more coordinated and effective responses to the global biodiversity crisis.