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Biogeography explores the spatial and temporal distribution of life on Earth, revealing the complex patterns that shape biodiversity across regions and ecosystems. Environmental changes, both natural and anthropogenic, continuously reshape species distributions, leading to shifts in community composition, habitat fragmentation, and alter ecosystem structure and functioning. Climate change, habitat loss, and biological invasions are among the key drivers of these transformations, threatening endemic species and facilitating the expansion of generalist and invasive organisms.

The study of biogeographical patterns is essential for understanding species dispersal mechanisms, historical contingencies, and ecological interactions. Rapid environmental changes are accelerating range shifts, local extinctions, and novel species assemblages, making predictive models and conservation planning more critical than ever. Integrating paleobiogeography, phylogenetics, and ecological niche modeling allows for a deeper comprehension of biodiversity dynamics and the resilience of ecosystems to ongoing pressures.

In this Working Group, we aim to develop innovative tools for biogeographical data analysis, modeling, and visualization. Our objective is to investigate biodiversity distribution patterns, assess the impacts of global change on species ranges, and predict future biogeographical trends. By applying interdisciplinary approaches, we seek to enhance conservation strategies and foster a deeper understanding of the mechanisms driving the spatial organization of life on Earth.

Taxonomy is as old as humankind. It is at the very heart of our knowledge of biodiversity. Taxonomy is described as the science, the efforts and the tools behind global species discovery and naming. Understanding the name of a species grants access to a wealth of information and knowledge about its biology, distribution and significance to humanity. In essence, taxonomy is the connecting chain between the different biological disciplines. Over time, the way species are being recognised and described has evolved, together with our knowledge of biodiversity and our organisation and use of this knowledge in a digital era.

The activities of this Taxonomy Working Group will greatly be based on the ongoing work within the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), to keep the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), its infrastructure (Aphia) and related systems up-and-running, while also exploring opportunities to improve existing content and services. Taxonomists will be assisted in their research and data management, and the WoRMS Data Management Team will liaise with other global data systems, which rely on Aphia-WoRMS as their taxonomic backbone.

Animal tracking, the practice of monitoring and studying animal movements and behaviour in their natural environment from a distance, can be performed across various spatial (local, regional, continental, global) and temporal (minutes to decades) scales using a suit of tools and technologies. Tracking fish with acoustic transmitters, following bird migrations with GPS tags, assessing wildlife presence with camera traps and monitoring presence of marine mammals with passive acoustics are all interesting examples of animal tracking. Advantages of the practice are the possibility to gather robust data over extended temporal periods, regardless of weather conditions and other logistically challenging situations, with minimal environmental disturbance and no or very little inference with the individual behaviour. Animal tracking has yielded key information about the biology and ecology of organisms, and has afforded useful insights to establish conservation frameworks and regulations. In addition, it allows to model distribution and forecast the effects of anthopogenic activities on the animals. Technological advancements resulted in an enhanced capacity for animal tracking and is transforming our understanding of the ecosystems and the animals that live within them.

In this working group we will share latest insights on technological capacity and data flows for four tracking technologies: GPS tracking; Acoustic telemetry and biologging; Camera/video imaging; Passive acoustics. We intend to establish data pipelines towards LifeWatch recommended tracking systems and stimulate collaboration and innovation within the respective tracking communities.

The Biodiversity Observatory Automation Working Group aims to review and update the requirements for effective biodiversity assessment at a time of unprecedented environmental change and biodiversity loss. Biodiversity assessment faces several challenges, including time-intensive fieldwork, demanding post-fieldwork data processing and limited storage capacity. However, advances in the automation of data collection, increasing computing power and the integration of artificial intelligence offer promising solutions.

The first international meeting (https://www.lifewatch.eu/thematic-services-working-groups/biodiversity-observatory-automation) on this topic took place in Slovenia in April 2024. It brought together experts to share key achievements, address obstacles in monitoring and observational methods and discuss the needs and concerns of the various stakeholders.

The working group will explore modern approaches to biodiversity monitoring and detection, ranging from aerial observations to eDNA analysis. Efforts will focus on optimising data collection, improving data curation and exploration, using artificial intelligence and applying FAIR data principles to enable the creation of digital twins.

Through these initiatives, the group aims to improve biodiversity monitoring methods and close current gaps in order to find effective answers to global environmental challenges.

Ecosystems and biodiversity are currently under threat owing to many different anthropic pressures. Among these, climate changes have direct impact on ecosystems and biodiversity, pushing populations to abandon traditional distribution areas and move to new territories, favouring the spread of allochthonous species, reducing the survival of endemic and/or specialised organisms, leading to impoverished ecosystems that are more prone to collapse. Ecological responses to climate change include also increasing individual level respiration rates, altering species interaction networks and ecosystem process rates, with expected global lower net primary productivity and standing biomass. Climate change can also have indirect amplifying effects on other anthropogenic threats, such as pollution, land degradation and fragmentation, the diffusion of invasive species; and human well-being.
Ecological responses are quantitatively related to a complex series of inter-individual relationships, whose dynamics could potentially lead to adaptation and impact mitigation but also to the amplification of the expected impacts. As far as we deepen the understanding on these ecological dynamics, we might also acquire the capacity to manage biodiversity and ecosystem changes. In this Working Group we intend to develop a suite of tools and services on data curation, data analysis and modelling, to better understand and manage ecological responses to climate change, describe modifications of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning under climate change and analyse and predict the effects of restoration measures, considering in particular ecosystem integrity and supporting in the benefits that healthy ecosystems provide to human beings.