Remote Sensing in Monitoring of Terrestrial Biodiversity

Dear Colleagues,

Biodiversity monitoring is the systematic repeated making and analysis of measurements for assessing changes in biodiversity for specified habitats, ecosystems, and biomes. The results of biodiversity monitoring are key components of nature management and environmental and ecological policies. The overall trend shown from biodiversity monitoring to date is one of major statistically significant declines in biodiversity, leading to severe negative impacts upon key ecosystem services and the ability of ecosystems to maintain themselves. The sheer breadth of the spectrum of existing life forms necessitates the use of a broad range of applied measurement methods and tools. Traditional data collection for biodiversity monitoring, based upon sample field survey, remains a core means of measurement for many key components of biodiversity in most ecosystems. While remote sensing is still not widespread in national and international strategic biodiversity monitoring activities, much research now points to a large and underexploited potential in this field. The use of remote (i.e., non-contact) sensing techniques is already having an increasing role in specific sectors of biodiversity monitoring (e.g., for macroflora), whilst the possibilities for conducting data collection with remote sensing for biodiversity components that are relatively small (e.g., invertebrates) or hidden from the sensor (e.g., subterranean organisms) remain limited.

Remote sensing techniques for biodiversity monitoring have developed massively in recent years, meriting this Special Issue, which aims to present the latest advances on current works to enhance strategic biodiversity monitoring by the use of remote sensing methods and data. This SI will cover only terrestrial biodiversity, meaning biodiversity that is not confined strictly to aquatic or marine environments. In this SI, the term “biodiversity” will be considered broadly, and therefore covers not only species diversity but also functional diversity and species- and functional composition. “Remote sensing” here refers to sensing systems that gather data over a certain spatial extent by means of moving or mobile (e.g., tripod- or backpack-mounted) platforms. We welcome contributions in all fields where remote sensing is being developed and applied for novel use in systematic biodiversity monitoring, including but not limited to:

Application of satellite RS data;

Application of piloted and remotely-piloted aircraft;

Application of multi-sensor methods;

Integration of plot and coverage biodiversity related data;

Remote sensing for monitoring of both observed and dark diversity;

Integration of remote sensing biodiversity data with eDNA biodiversity data;

Mappings made with remote sensing methods, applied as baselines for biodiversity monitoring;

Studies of the relationships between remote sensing measures and biodiversity measures.

Dr. Geoffrey Groom
Dr. Jesper Erenskjold Moeslund
Guest Editors

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