Important first steps towards designing the freshwater, marine and terrestrial Essential Biodiversity Variable (EBV) workflows for the European Biodiversity Observation Network

Abstract

The EuropaBON project aims to co-design a European Biodiversity Observation Network by utilising Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) as the foundation for its monitoring system. To co-design the workflow steps for each EBV, the project organised a virtual workshop to engage a diverse group of experts and stakeholders. The workshop focused on describing various workflow components, identifying future needs for EBV implementation and specifying the relative importance of different monitoring techniques for each EBV. With 520 participants from 49 countries, the workshop benefited from a large stakeholder engagement and a wide range of expertise across realms, EBV classes, monitoring techniques and workflow components. During the 3-day workshop (2 hours per day), participants captured different workflows components (i.e. data collection and sampling, data integration and modelling), specified current EU or national initiatives and identified emerging tools and future needs for all 70 currently proposed EBVs. By the end of the workshop, all 70 templates of EBV workflows contained details about workflow components and future needs. Specific future needs for data collection and sampling highlighted by participants were to increase sampling efforts (e.g. number of sites, geographic coverage, sampling frequency and taxonomic scope), to develop and better incorporate novel monitoring techniques (e.g. eDNA, remote sensing and digital sensors) and to create new or improved sampling designs at a European scale. For data integration, combining and harmonising data from diverse sources and data collectors and developing standards and protocols were mentioned as key needs. For modelling, participants especially highlighted the need to develop spatially-explicit models or improve other types of existing models, ideally with open-source software and code. Next steps for designing EBV workflows are to analyse the gathered workshop information, to provide detailed descriptions of EBV workflows and to formulate specific recommendations for the development of a European Biodiversity Observation Network. Recommendations for each monitoring technique (structured in-situ monitoring, citizen science, digital sensors, genetics, satellite remote sensing and aerial remote setting) will also be identified. The gathered information will contribute to the co-design of the European Biodiversity Observation Network and to supporting the establishment of a Biodiversity Monitoring Coordination Centre in Europe.