Annual Report 2010-11 - Global Invasive Species Programme - GISP

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freshwaterBIODIVERSITYChair: M A Palmer, University of Maryland, Solomons, USAwww.diversitas-international.org/freshwaterbiodiversityfreshwaterBIODIVERSITY aims toestablish the scientific basis for effectiveconservation measures and actions,thereby ensuring a sustainable use offreshwater resources and of the ecosystemgoods and services they provide.Environmental flowsThe long-term aim of this activity is toidentify robust indicators of river ecosystemhealth that can be reported at the globalscale, in order to determine: 1) how muchflow variables can be modified withoutmajor degradation to river ecosystems;and 2) how this is likely to vary betweenbiomes and climatic regions. The outputof the last years activities on this topicwas the publication of a special issue ofFreshwater Biology “Environmental Flows:science and management” by ArthingtonAH, McClain ME, Naiman RJ and Nilsson C(2010). See page 32.Rivers in Crisis study – DIVERSITAS/GWSP projectThis ongoing effort produced in 2010 thefirst multi-factor, high resolution geospatialassessment of the state of contemporaryriver ecosystems, presenting global-scalegeographies of impairment, arising fromthe management and mismanagement ofwater, watersheds, and fisheries; local andtransboundary pollution; and introducedspecies. The results were published by CVorosmarty and P McIntyre in September2010 in Nature 467: 555-561. DIVERSITASand GWSP organised a media campaignaround this paper leading to an importantmedia coverage.Freshwater biodiversity andecosystem servicesThe main goal of this activity is to bring, ina joint framework, the following projects:ZZEU-Biofresh project (Leader: KTockner): 1) to build an informationplatform as a gateway for scientificresearch on freshwater biodiversity;2) to raise awareness of the importanceof freshwater biodiversity and its rolein providing ecosystem services; and3) to predict the future responses offreshwater biodiversity to multiplestressors in the face of global change.More information on the activities heldin 2010-11 can be found at:www.freshwaterbiodiversity.eu/ZZAquaBase – Biophysical basis offreshwater ecosystem services (Leader:M Palmer). The proposal submitted toUS-EPA to co-fund this project wassuccessful and the leadership team withmembers from Australia, Germany, USA,and South Africa met in June 2010 todiscuss Aquabase implementation.Launch of a Global FreshwaterConsortiumThis is a DIVERSITAS activity initiatedjointly with the EU Biofresh project, andlaunched in February 2011 at a meetingin Montserrat, Spain. The goal of thisFreshwater Consortium is to enhancecommunication and coordination amongthe many groups working on research andconservation of freshwater biodiversityand ecosystems. This consortiumis an informal group open to majororganisations and research/conservationprojects on freshwater biodiversity.The goal of the first meeting was toidentify 1) priorities of each majorgroup/project, and 2) global prioritiesfor conservation and sustainability offreshwater ecosystems and biodiversity.Science-policy activities: WorldWater Week (WWW)In the context of its collaboration withthe GEO BON – freshwater ecosystemsworking group, freshwaterBIODIVERSITYco-organised a symposium on “MonitoringFreshwater Ecosystem Change – acomponent of the ‘Group on EarthObservations Biodiversity ObservationNetwork’ (GEO BON)”, 5-11 September2010, Stockholm, Sweden.18 DIVERSITAS I ANNUAL REPORT 2010
Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment (GMBA)Chair: C Körner, Institute of Botany, University of Basel, Switzerlandhttp://gmba.unibas.ch and www.mountainbiodiversity.orgThe Global Mountain BiodiversityAssessment (GMBA) is a Cross-cuttingNetwork of DIVERSITAS. It activelyexplores and explains the great biologicalrichness of the mountains of theworld. GMBA seeks to provide input topolicy makers and stakeholders for theconservation and sustainable use ofbiodiversity in mountain regions.Mountain Biodiversity PortalGMBA, in cooperation with the GlobalBiodiversity Information Facility (GBIF),released on 10 May 2010, the MountainBiodiversity Portal(www.mountainbiodiversity.org).The portal allows exploring GBIF’sbiodiversity archive data for mountainregions, from region to globe, or bymountain life zones (such as the treelessalpine zone).International GMBA-DIVERSITASconference “Functional significanceof mountain biodiversity”(July 2010, Chandolin, Switzerland)To celebrate the 10 th anniversary ofGMBA-DIVERSITAS and the InternationalYear of Biodiversity 2010, GMBAorganised a conference on variousmountain biodiversity themes, attendedby 130 participants from 27 countries.Conference webcast (videos of each talk),abstracts of the conference (talks andposters) available on GMBA web site.Training workshop on “Open accessto, and publication of, mountainbiodiversity data of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region”(June 2010, Kathmandu, Nepal)GMBA, together with GBIF and ICIMOD,held a workshop in order to improverelevant biodiversity data from theHimalayan region and to provide openaccess to high quality geo-referencedbiodiversity information.International conference: “Globalchange and the world’s mountains”,(September 2010, Perth, Scotland)GMBA organised the 3 Sessions onmountain biodiversity and KatherineDickinson, New Zealand, SC-GMBA Member,gave a keynote address.Ongoing projectsZZJoint Research Project with SNF/SCOPESin the Central Caucasus in Georgia:“Mountain biodiversity in the Caucasusand its functional significance”.Z Z “IMpacts of EXtreme CLIMatic Eventson ecosystem functioning in alpinegrasslands (IMEXCLIME)”, a study in theSwiss Alps supported by Syngenta.Outlook on activities in 2011ZZUpgrade of the mountain biodiversitydata portal, engaging the mountainbiodiversity research community morestrongly in the open access and sharingof biodiversity realm provided by GBIF.ZZExpanding Long-Term EcologicalResearch (LTER) sites to an alpinenetwork in the GMBA framework toform a nucleus of core sites that willuse common protocols to ensure datacomparability.MIREN (Mountain Invasion ResearchNetwork, www.miren.ethz.ch) andGLORIA (Global Observation ResearchInitiative in Alpine Environments,www.gloria.ac.at) are inititativesassociated to GMBA.SECTION 1 I DIVERSITAS SCIENCE 19
Page 1: Annual Report 2010-11I n t e g r a
Page 5 and 6: FOREWORDFrom the Chair and the Exec
Page 7: Contributing to 2010,the Internatio
Page 10 and 11: New DIVERSITAS web sitelaunched!DIV
Page 12 and 13: InternationalProject Officescoordin
Page 14 and 15: ioDISCOVERYAssessing, monitoring an
Page 16 and 17: ioSUSTAINABILITYScience for the con
Page 18 and 19: InternationalProject Officescoordin
Page 22 and 23: ecoHEALTHBuilding bridges between b
Page 24 and 25: EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE PARTNERSHIPDev
Page 26 and 27: Global Water System Project (GWSP)C
Page 28 and 29: DIVERSITAS at the interfacebetween
Page 30 and 31: Building a globalbiodiversity obser
Page 32: DIVERSITAS at the interfacebetween
Page 36 and 37: PublicationsThe Intergovernmentalsc
Page 39 and 40: September 2010freshwaterBIODIVERSIT
Page 41 and 42: DIVERSITAS Committees’ initiative
Page 43 and 44: Global Environmental Change Program
Page 45 and 46: AcknowledgementsFunding for the act
Page 47 and 48: Getting involved…The success of D

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