Netherlands Infrastructure for Ecosystem and Biodiversity Analysis - Authoritative and Rapid Identification System for Essential biodiversity information (NIEBA ARISE)

Informations

Funding country

Netherlands

Acronym

-

URL

-

Start date

9/1/2020

End date

-

Budget

13,746,871 EUR

Fundings

Abstract

Biodiversity drives the fundamental ecosystem processes on which we depend. Ever since the 18th century, taxonomists have been naming and describing the plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms that share our planet. Although about 2 million species are now known, research suggests there are at least 10 and probably more than 20 million species on Earth, meaning that 80-90% of our world’s biodiversity is still undiscovered. At the same time, we are witnessing alarming biodiversity declines. Reports indicate that 1 million species are currently threatened with extinction. It is increasingly recognised that biodiversity loss is one of the most significant threats to the environment and to our ability to transition to a sustainable future. These circumstances call for transformational scientific progress in the area of biodiversity monitoring and management. Currently, most monitoring methods focus only on the presence or absence of particular species in selected habitats, failing to account for quantity, connectivity, interaction and mobility. Hence, they do not adequately or timely signal major changes in biodiversity. Established approaches cannot solve these shortcomings. The NIEBA ARISE consortium argues that two recent technological advances facilitate a much-needed revolution in biodiversity monitoring: ● High-throughput DNA sequencing can now support highly cost-effective large-scale studies even at ecosystem and landscape levels. ● Machine-learning technologies can now process a massive variety of different digital inputs, transforming environmental observing systems. Standardised laboratory pipelines, observation networks, and bioinformatics workflows can now deliver rapid and accurate species identifications for both single specimens and mixed samples from any time and place, and any ecosystem. We will exploit these advances to characterize and map biodiversity dynamics at unprecedented granularity, coverage and speed. New tools will allow us to properly validate new data and link them to information already collected on species and specimens. Both new and historical data will be combined to form a persistent and continuously growing knowledge resource. The proposed infrastructure will consist of six integrated components: (1) the Netherlands Species Reference Database, with validated genomic, image, sound and movement information for each species, (2) a Sequencing Facility for high-throughput DNA extraction and sequencing of single specimen and multi-species specimens, (3) a Species Identification Engine processing evidence of species occurrence and abundance, (4) a Biobank for storage, preservation and access to samples, reference specimens and DNA, (5) a Biocloud that collects, links and enriches occurrence and abundance data of species across space and time, and (6) Monitoring Demonstration Sites where combined sequence, image, sound and radar signals are collected to test how rapid species identification can validate and enrich data from innovative automated monitoring technologies. NIEBA ARISE will facilitate new research into structure, origins, dynamics and trends within Dutch biodiversity and ecosystems. It will allow researchers for the first time to identify any species, including those previously undiscovered; measure and monitor biodiversity changes at fine scales through time and space; understand species communities and associations between species and their environment; explore the dynamics of species and their parasites, pathogens and pollinators; and create new synthetic approaches to exploring biodiversity. This will open the way to paradigm shifts, including new generations of automated digital sensors to monitor environmental quality and detect incursions of pests and invasive species. The infrastructure promises to be as transformational for ecology and biodiversity as sequencing technologies have been for biology. The infrastructure leverages our past investments in aligning and coordinating management of different categories of biodiversity data and in linking between Dutch and international data networks. By linking closely to international initiatives and exploiting their data, services and communities, NIEBA ARISE can focus on delivering new and innovative functionalities. NIEBA ARISE will deliver a completely unique end-to-end infrastructure for near-real-time interpretation of evidence of the occurrence of species. It will position the Netherlands at the forefront of global initiatives to improve management and interpretation of evidence for biodiversity patterns and change. There is no other dedicated infrastructure within Europe that delivers similar capabilities.