Researchers have developed a framework that can help scientists understand trends in biodiversity by using data from well-characterized species to provide insights on data-deficient species. The framework provides a how-to guide for researchers and practitioners to implement.
Elise Zipkin and her team at Michigan State University have developed a sort of"Robin Hood" approach to better understand and protect the world's biodiversity.
"We're losing biodiversity so rapidly that we're no longer in a position to ask what's going on with every species individually," said Zipkin, who is an associate professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at MSU."At the same time, we have unprecedented amounts of data and computing power," Zipkin said."We have to think more strategically about how to take advantage of those data to answer the tough questions.
The new publication is the culmination of a multi-year project supported by the National Science Foundation. In addition to Zipkin, the team included postdoctoral research associate Jeff Doser; graduate students Wendy Leuenberger, Samuel Ayebare and Kayla Davis; and Courtney Davis, who worked on this project as a postdoctoral fellow in Zipkin's group before becoming a research associate at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
In publishing this report and the associated computer code, Zipkin said the team's immediate goal is to get these methods into the hands of more researchers. The next step will be working with partners in government and nongovernmental organizations who can use information from the models as they develop conservation strategies.
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