Digital twins as a tool for ecosystem research.

Abstract

To understand the functioning of ecosystems and to carry out scenario studies to forecast functional change, we need to integrate different fields of research. An emerging approach to do so is digital twins: innovative tools for integrated ecosystem analysis, capturing species interactions, biodiversity dynamics, and ecosystem carrying capacity. Digital twins can be characterised as (i) being tailored to and behave like a specific ecosystem, and as such accepted by empiricists as representing a description of a real ecosystem, (ii) having a dynamic interaction between the digital twin and the physical ecosystem, (iii) integrating diverse information and data sources, (iv) combining complementary models, and (v) enabling scenario studies. Development of digital twins of ecosystems is instrumental to bend the curve of biodiversity loss and enhance climate resilience, and is timely because of breakthroughs in digital technologies.