The role of GEOSS in monitoring ecosystems and their services

Reyers, B., O'Farrell, P., & Fritz, S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0420-8549 (2009). The role of GEOSS in monitoring ecosystems and their services. In: Proceedings from the 33rd International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment (ISRSE-33) "Sustaining the Millennium Development Goals", 4-8 May 2009.

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Abstract

Global declines in biodiversity and ecosystem services have triggered national and international agreements to halt and reverse these trends (e.g. the Convention on Biological Diversity's target of achieving a significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss by 2010). These agreements have highlighted the need for monitoring systems which accurately describe the conditions and trends of biodiversity and ecosystem services, as well as the drivers of change. GEOSS aims to contribute to these needs in the ecosystems and biodiversity benefit areas. We demonstrate the benefits of GEOSS in the monitoring and assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services using a case study from a semi-arid biodiversity hotspot in South Africa. Using data poor (non-GEOSS) and data rich (GEOSS) scenarios we highlight the substantial differences found in biodiversity and ecosystem service condition. We link these findings to the need for careful and well informed management of ecosystems in semi-arid regions. We conclude with a summary of the costs and benefits of improved data.

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