Doctoral Thesis Defence on AI, Biodiversity and Sustainable Ecosystem Management 

AI biodiversity

On 27 April 2022, a presentation of a doctoral thesis by doctoral candidate Francisco Pérez-Hernández, entitled “Pre- and Post-Processing Strategies in Deep Learning for Multi-class Problems in the Field of Security and Biodiversity” took place at the “Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Informática” (ETSII) of the University of Granada. This thesis is one of the results of the Thematic Centre on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Deep Learning, and High Mountains Ecosystems, under the umbrella of the so-called LifeWatch ERIC SMART ECOMOUNTAINS Andalusia ERDF project, hosted by the University of Granada as one of the distributed facilities engaging with LifeWatch ERIC.

This is an outstanding milestone in the application of state-of-art AI and Deep Learning techniques in, e.g., advanced satellite image processing for the study of biodiversity and ecosystems, to be made available to the scientific community and environmental decision makers in the form of a LifeWatch ERIC Virtual Research Environment.

Among those attending the defence were the doctoral tutors, supervisors and member of the evaluation committee: Juan Miguel González-Aranda, LifeWatch ERIC CTO, Enrique Herrera Viedma, Vice-Rector for Research and Transfer of the University of Granada; Siham Tabik, Professor of the Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence; Francisco Herrera Triguero, Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Granada; Domingo Alcaraz Segura Professor at the University of Granada; Juan Mario Haut Hurtado, Professor at the University of Extremadura,  and Gloria Ortega López, Professor at the University of Almería. 

LifeWatch Slovenia Publishes New Research Paper

LifeWatch Slovenia Research

Researchers affiliated with LifeWatch Slovenia have published the research paper: “Karst Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems—Typology, Vulnerability and Protection” (Nataša Ravbar, Tanja Pipan). You can read the abstract below and click on the link to access it in full.

Karst Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems—Typology, Vulnerability and Protection

Nataša Ravbar, Tanja Pipan

Karst groundwater dependent ecosystems (KGDEs) represent an important asset worldwide due to their ecological and socioeconomic values. In the contribution the main KGDEs of the Dinaric karst in Slovenia are presented. The main hydrological processes (i.e., extent, duration and frequency of groundwater inflow), the main biota and indicator communities, and the factors limiting the evolution of species (e.g., darkness) were identified. An overview of rare, endemic and charismatic species was also shown including Proteus anguinus, Marifugia cavatica, Monolistra racovitzae racovitzae and others. Due to its location in an area of very high geographical diversity and between different climate types, the Slovenian Dinaric karst is one of the hotspots of subterranean biodiversity on a global scale. The interaction between orographic, climatic, hydrological and edaphic conditions, as well as the fact that the area served as a hub for different species and as a refuge during the ice ages, are crucial for the very high biodiversity in this area. Due to deforestation in prehistoric times, man has even contributed to the diversification of the flora by creating space for the appearance or spread of habitats that are now considered natural (e.g., dry grasslands). An important factor in maintaining a particularly rich diversity of karst flora and fauna is also the low human impact and the very well preserved landscape in its natural state. KGDE sites in Slovenia with the greatest known species diversity are the Postojna -Planina and Škocjanske Jame cave systems, Cerkniško and Planinsko Polje, and the intermittent lakes of Pivka. Characterization of KGDEs is a prerequisite for a better understanding of the processes that control them, their biological function, and their vulnerability. The ecohydrological characterization of KGDEs of Slovenian Dinaric karst can serve as a pilot study for other karst regions with high biodiversity.

Photo credit: B Kogovšek, N Ravbar, Adobe Stock.

WoRMS Video Tutorials available on LifeWatch ERIC Training Platform

WoRMS Tutorial

Last year, the WoRMS Data Management Team (DMT), which is supported by LifeWatch Belgium, created instruction videos for the WoRMS editors, to assist them in their online editing activities. Now, the WoRMS DMT has released a series of short tutorial videos specifically aimed at its users, which have also been made available on the LifeWatch ERIC Training Platform.

Are you sometimes a bit at a loss on how you can find species-related information through the WoRMS website? Maybe you are just curious on how you can efficiently search through the available distributions, specimens or literature in WoRMS? Or you want to match your own species list to WoRMS? Well, this series of 6 short tutorial videos – all under 10 minutes – will guide you through all these ‘how to…’ topics:

  • How to search for taxa in WoRMS, through the quick, simple, and advanced search interfaces
  • How to search for literature in WoRMS
  • How to search for distributions in WoRMS
  • How to search for specimens in WoRMS
  • How to upload images and videos through the WoRMS photo gallery (both without and with login)
  • How to match your taxa to WoRMS using the taxon match tool

Click here to access the videos on our Training Platform.

The creation of these tutorial videos fits under the WoRMS endorsed project within the UN Ocean Decade, where WoRMS continues to support not only scientists, but everyone who makes use of species names, including policy, industry and the public at large.

This news item has been adapted from a post on LifeWatch Belgium.

The Next-Generation Research Infrastructure

A Window on Science S1

As promised in the trailer we released a few weeks ago, Season 1, Episode 1 of our brand new podcast ‘A Window on Science’ is now live!

The first season of the LifeWatch ERIC podcast series ‘A Window on Science’ outlines the  steps forward that the European e-Science infrastructure for biodiversity and ecosystem research has made in the last two years, developing cutting-edge services for researchers. Our CEO, Christos Arvanitidis, opens the series, walking us through terminology that may seem challenging to non-scientific audiences: Research Infrastructures, the Joint Internal Initiative, and virtual servers. The conversation places LifeWatch ERIC clearly in the context of the European Research Area and outlines not only the progress already made, but strategic plans for the next five years – becoming ‘the next-generation Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research Infrastructure’.

If you’re interested in the topics covered in this podcast, and want to find out more, we invite you to visit our dedicated minisite on the Internal Joint Initiative, or to flick through our ‘Alien Alert!’ magazine.

The Window on Science podcasts are available on our website and on the following platforms:

Introducing the EBES Master’s Diary

EBES Master's

In the Spring Term of 2022, LifeWatch ERIC will be funding a three-month internship abroad for three students, Martina, Marco and Ludovico, of the e-Biodiversity and Ecosystem Sciences Master’s degree (EBES) at the University of Salento, which is supported by LifeWatch ERIC.

Thanks to this dedicated LifeWatch ERIC internship programme, the students will be going to the Ionian University in Corfu, where they will be given the chance to apply the skills they have developed during their studies, carrying out research for their dissertations and gaining experience in the university labs. Individually, Martina, Marco and Ludovico will be focusing on using text mining to extract information on spatial and ecological traits of freshwater fishes, using a modelling approach to investigate the reasons a species population stays heterogenous, and building user-friendly citizen science applications with the aim of monitoring natural ecosystems. You can follow all three of the students’ journeys throughout their experience in Corfu by watching their Master’s Diary, which they will be updating periodically – subscribe to our YouTube channel to ensure you never miss an update! 

The EBES Master’s Degree e-Biodiversity and Ecosystem Sciences (EBES) is the newest curriculum available within the Master of Coastal and Marine Biodiversity and Ecology degree, designed to provide trans-disciplinary knowledge and skill sets for a new generation of ecologists proficient in data science, modelling and eco-informatics. It is a two-year programme at the University of Salento, entirely taught in English, allowing students to gain highly specialised instruction on biological and ecological sciences,ecological modelling and ecological informatics technologies. The course was created as current global challenges call for a deeper understanding of ecological phenomena at various levels of scale, to identify patterns and underlying mechanisms of biodiversity organisation and ecosystem functioning, and design scenarios of future change. 

For more information about the EBES Master’s Degree, please see the dedicated webpage of the University of Salento, or download the PDF here.



Big Seashell Survey 2022 shows remarkable differences between Belgium and the Netherlands

Big Seashell Survey

On Saturday 19 March 2022, circa 750 citizens collected over 38,000 shells on Belgian beaches for the Big Seashell Survey 2022, with a top-5 in line with the results of the 2021 edition. For the first time, the Netherlands joined this LifeWatch Belgium citizen science initiative and collected another 22,000 shells, showing remarkable differences between the countries.

The Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) and its partners (EOS wetenschap, Natuurpunt, Provincie West-Vlaanderen, Strandwerkgroep, Kusterfgoed, the ten coastal municipalities) joined forces for the fifth edition of the Big Seashell Survey, a well-established LifeWatch Belgium citizen science initiative.

On Saturday 19 March, under the bright sunshine, 750 citizens collected, counted and identified 38,000 beach shells, with the help of more than eighty mollusk experts. For the first time, the Netherlands – Naturalis, NMV, Stichting Anemoon, Stichting De Noordzee and the Strandwerkgemeenschap – stepped in and collected another 22,000 shells on seven beaches in the Dutch province of Zuid-Holland and on one Texel beach. In the countries, 60 different species have been registered, with two out of three species shared by Belgium and the Netherlands. Non-indigenous species (NIS) accounted for 10% of all specimens and species.

In addition, scientists discovered remarkable differences between the two countries. Belgium recorded a top-5 comparable to the result of the 2021 edition (Baltic tellin 37%, Cut trough shell 22%, Edible cockle 18%, Blue mussel 9% and Atlantic razor clam 5%), whereas on Dutch beaches there was a clear dominance of Spisula shells, with 49% Cut trough shells, 9% Elliptical trough shells and 6% Thick trough shells. Here, Atlantic razor clams (9%) and the Edible cockle (8%) completed the top-5. One explanation for the high number of Cut trough shells on Dutch beaches could be the slightly different hydrographic conditions with more exposure, in favour of this shell.

“Another difference appears to relate to the vicinity of the Scheldt estuary”, says Jan Seys (VLIZ). “The mouth of this estuary, next to the eastern part of the Belgian coast, contains more silt and clay then the sandier Zuid-Holland and Flemish west coasts, and it has quite some peat banks in and on top of the sea-bottom. This silty environment is perfect for the Baltic tellin; the peat banks can house American and white piddocks”. On the Dutch coast, the Baltic tellin ended up in eighth position, accounting for only 2% of all shells. And in the Netherlands, Barnea candida did not end up in the top-10, whereas piddocks at the eastern part of the Belgian coast were much more common (9% of all shells).”

This news story was originally posted on LifeWatch Belgium.

Ten remarkable new marine species from 2021

Top Ten WoRMS

As in previous years, the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), an initiave hosted by VLIZ, LifeWatch Belgium‘s focal point, has released its annual list of its top-ten marine species described by researchers during the past year, marking World Taxonomist Appreciation Day on 19 March!

If you were unaware of this celebration of all the work that taxonomists do, you can find more here, here, and here.

The 2021 top-ten list is just a small highlight of over 2,000 fascinating new marine species discovered every year (there were 2,241 marine species described in 2021 and added to WoRMS, including 263 fossil species).

Full list:
How were the species chosen?

A call for nominations was announced in December 2021, sent to all editors of WoRMS and editors of major taxonomy journals, and posted openly on the WoRMS website and social media so anyone had the opportunity to nominate their favourite marine species. Nominated species had to have been described in 2021, and come from the marine environment (including fossil taxa). A small committee (including both taxonomists and data managers) was brought together to decide upon the final candidates. The list is in no hierarchical order.

The final decisions reflect the immense diversity of animal groups in the marine environment (including fish, crustaceans, molluscs, corals, sponges, jellies and worms) and highlight some of the challenges facing the marine environment today. The final candidates also feature some particularly astonishing marine creatures, notable for their interest to both science and the public.

Each of these marine animals has a story. This year the chosen species range from the extremely tiny and often overlooked, to a new species of whale! Among the featured is the tiny Japanese Twitter Mite, discovered on social media, the Quarantine Shrimp, described during the COVID-19 lockdown, a new species of mysid hiding in plain sight, the massive Yokozuna Slickhead, honouring high ranking sumo wrestlers, and the astonishing Jurassic Pig-Nose Brittle Star!

About the WoRMS top-ten list of Marine Species

After 250 years of describing, naming and cataloguing the species we share our planet with, we are still some way off from achieving a complete census. However, we do know that at least 240,000 marine species have been described because their names are managed in WoRMS, by almost 300 scientists located all over the world.  

WoRMS’ previous lists of the top-ten marine species described for the decade 2007–2017, for 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 can be found here:

This news item was adapted from a post on LifeWatch Belgium.

To Infinity… And Beyond! LifeWatch ERIC in Initiative to Launch Nanosatellite

Nanosatellite

LifeWatch ERIC is proud to be a key partner in an initiative to launch the first nanosatellite for terrestrial observation in Andalusia, alongside longstanding collaborator AGAPA from the Junta de Andalucía. The initiative in question is the SmartFood project, which has planned the nanosatellite launch for 2023, integrating a high-resolution camera, as well as the corresponding power supply equipment and the communications system necessary for transmitting data to the ground control station.

The SmartFood project has a budget of almost €1 million, 80% financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through the Pluriregional Operational Programme for Spain 2014-2020. Its mission is to deploy a land network of sensors to monitor variables related to climate, soil, water and plants; capture aerial images through drones and balloons, as well as capture images from space. The collection of these data from a range of different spatial-temporal scales will allow for a comprehensive approach to monitoring agricultural and livestock systems.

“Another aim of the SmartFood project is to establish standardised protocols for the monitoring, quantification and evaluation of biodiversity through the integration of open data. To this end, the ultimate goal is to offer tools and collaborative work environments for the research community, also making the information and applications developed available to the different end users involved in the primary sector” said LifeWatch ERIC CTO, Juan Miguel Gonzalez-Aranda, as PI of the project. This will be made possible through LifeWatch ERIC; the entire ecosystem of data and applications collected will be shared with the LifeWatch ERIC community, thus facilitating consolidation and collaborative analysis in relation to:

  1. monitoring and controlling the impacts that agriculture and fishing have on biodiversity, as well as;
  2. measuring the effects of climate change on the sustainability and profitability of agriculture and fishing;

by means of the implementation of the proper VRE.

A Window on Science

Podcasts

LifeWatch ERIC, the European e-Science Infrastructure for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, is launching a new podcast series. Entitled “LifeWatch ERIC: A Window on Science”, the fortnightly 10-minute broadcast is geared towards the widest possible audience, from researchers to informaticians, and from politicians to ordinary people concerned about climate change and the environment. 

Starting on 16 March 2022, the early episodes will focus on the Internal Joint Initiative, LifeWatch ERIC’s core activity in its first five years: the development of a new, innovative Virtual Research Environment focused on Non-indigenous and Invasive Species. And if that sounds complicated to you, perhaps you would do well to tune into the first few podcasts, designed to demystify some of that science-speak.

As Christos Arvanitidis, CEO of LifeWatch ERIC commented, “The podcasts are offered as an easy-to-digest communication to raise awareness of our work beyond the scientistic communities already involved. We’re hoping they will have a great impact and attract more users to our next-gen Big Data management facilities”.

The Window on Science podcasts are available on our website and on all major podcast platforms:

Series One. Introducing the Internal Joint Initiative:

16 March Trailer

30 March LifeWatch ERIC Chief Executive Officer, Christos Arvanitidis

12 April    Alberto Basset, Director of the LifeWatch ERIC Service Centre, Lecce

27 April    LifeWatch ERIC Chief Technology Officer, Juan Miguel González-Aranda

Stay tuned, more details on Seasons Two and Three coming up soon!

Statement from Africa Zanella, Gender & Sustainability Expert, for International Women’s Day on behalf of LifeWatch ERIC

International Womens Day 2022

“I have been profoundly moved learning about the fantastic scientists put in the spotlight for International Women’s Day 2022. While their stories read in isolation are inspiring, it is particularly poignant to read them together, and realise that while this diverse group of women speak different mother tongues, hail from different time periods and harbour different interests, they all shared the same vision to improve the world through science, and broke the barriers put in front of them to arrive at that goal. From Marie-Anne Libert, who was not entitled to receive formal scientific training, yet went on to describe more than 200 novel taxa, to Angela Piskernik, who became the first Slovenian female doctor of biological sciences, to Emilia Chiancone, the first woman President of the Italian National Academy of Sciences, to Rita Covas, Montserrat Vilà, Tatyana Bileva, Despoina Vokou and Martina Vijver, the brilliant scientists who are powering research in Europe today.

Individually, their work has had a huge impact on their respective research fields, but together, they have profoundly influenced society as a whole, from our cultural beliefs to the economic landscape, by paving the way for future women scientists to overcome established patterns, stereotyping and unconscious bias and help to maintain a female presence in these traditionally male-dominated fields. LifeWatch ERIC has sought on the special occasion of International Women’s Day 2022 to encourage more women to pursue a career in STEM – to seek roles as researchers, investigators, thought leaders, to assist with the many issues facing our planet and our society at this point of time and ensure sustainability for the future.

By recently creating the role of Gender Equity Officer, LifeWatch ERIC is going further to actively integrate a gender dimension in Research and Innovation, and a more gender-balanced approach to its work, in fostering equality in scientific careers, and diversity and inclusion in line with European Commission guidelines as well as the UN SDGs and campaigns (Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow). As women, we too have an important role to play in science, progress and well-being, as demonstrated by the women described above. It is my job and pleasure to work with the LifeWatch ERIC team to design and implement a Gender Equality Plan, to create an equitable  and sustainable culture  for all talent at work, and to further the Infrastructure’s quest to develop innovative research tools and systems for biodiversity and ecosystem scientists everywhere. 

From all at Lifewatch ERIC, we wish you a very Happy International Women’s Day 2022.”