"Connecting a Global Network of Coral Reef Field Data" Emily Darling, Director of Coral Reef Conservation (Wildlife Conservation Society) Recording available

As global insect populations collapse, there is an urgent need for data on species abundances and distributions. However, the diversity of insects and scarcity of experts for many taxa can make traditional data-gathering challenging. Recent developments in AI present opportunities for scalable insect monitoring, including via automated camera traps, eDNA analysis, and annotation of citizen science data. In this session, we will explore how AI is being used in insect monitoring from the perspectives of both ecology and computer science. Organizers: David Rolnick (McGill University) Maxim Larrivée (Montreal Insectarium) Tom August (UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology)

Our session will present key questions that arise from a bottom-up approach of monitoring biodiversity, and how to connect currently running monitoring programs to national, regional and international objectives. We will address issues of governance, data and information infrastructure, protocols and indicators, and development of their capabilities through the networks. We’ll emphasize how Essential Biodiversity Variables can be combined with observations from monitoring networks to make inferences about biodiversity change at various levels. We also identify some tools that can help support this effort. The session will have short presentations (e.g., 10 min) and a panel discussion to share issues and solutions that fit needs, especially in regions where investment in monitoring capacity is needed. Organizers: European Biodiversity Partnership (Biodiversa+) AP BON GEO BON Secretariat

The Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework takes a “whole of society” approach, relying on action of sectors of society to achieve its goals and targets. This session showcases options and opportunities to support different sectors in monitoring and reporting impacts on biodiversity changes, as well as how to engage actors in monitoring to not only capture biodiversity change, but also the attribution of drivers underlying this change. Organizers: Cornelia Krug (University of Zürich, bioDISCOVERY) Alice Hughes (AP-BON, University of Hong Kong) Laetitia Navarro (Estación Biológica de Doñana, EBD-CSIC)

Environmental DNA approaches are well-established for both targeted and taxonomically broad biodiversity characterization, however they are not yet widely applied beyond proof-of-concepts or pilot studies. To support large-scale and long-term environmental stewardship, especially as we face a climate emergency and biodiversity decline, we need standardized and robust eDNA workflows. Our session brings together leading experts in multidisciplinary programs that have developed and utilized eDNA for real-world applications within current regulatory regimes or for forward-looking environmental stewardship programs. We aim to demonstrate challenges and opportunities for applying eDNA as a routine measure of biodiversity in varied environmental settings. Organizers: Mehrdad Hajibabaei (University of Guelph) John Darling (US EPA) Florian Leese (University Duisburg-Essen) Kelly Goodwin (NOAA) Kristian Meissner (Finnish Environment Institute) Toshifumi Minamoto (Kobe University)

Parks Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada are working with Indigenous, academic, NGO and government partners to assess biodiversity and the extent and quantity of carbon stocks and fluxes in wetland, peatland, coastal, and marine ecosystems in the Hudson-James Bay Lowlands where decisions on protection and development are pending. Many national and international tools and models have been developed to aid in evaluation and prioritization of biodiversity and carbon conservation and other co-benefits. This session will present case studies that demonstrate implementation of applicable prioritization models to large, data limited landscapes for decision support. Organizers: Karen Richardson (Parks Canada) Jason Duffe (Environment and Climate Change Canada)

The global biodiversity loss poses a crucial development issue and states the urgency of a financial system with winning policies in terms of both biodiversity and economic outcomes. Satellite-based products provide crucial information to quantify dependencies and impacts on nature of supply chains and can be integrated into operational reporting practices and financial decision-making. Developing standard procedures to assess and monitor physical and transition risks, transparently define bio-debits/credits, effectively integrate nature-based solutions in financial systems are some key challenges where satellite assets can highly contribute. This session welcomes innovative demonstrations of satellite assets for nature finance metrics and management. This session will conclude with a 30-minute panel discussion among the speakers and organizers. Organizers: Francesca Elisa Leonelli (European Space Agency - ESA) Christophe Christiaen (Oxford Sustainable Finance Group, University of Oxford; UK Centre for Greening Finance and Investment)

The concept of Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBV) was first published about 10 years ago. Since then, several projects, initiatives and methodologies have been developed to measure and monitor EBV at different scales. This session will present and initiate a discussion on protocols and standards to work on them collaboratively, and identify elements that are needed to make them accessible for the global community interested in biodiversity monitoring. Organizers: María Helena Olaya-Rodríguez (Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt) Lina María Sánchez-Clavijo (Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt) Víctor Rincón (Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt) María Camila Díaz (Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt) Juan Carlos Rey (Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt)

In tropical areas, biodiversity monitoring through environmental DNA is still in its infancy. The number and scope of eDNA studies in the tropics is constrained by the high monetary and computational costs of sequencing and analyzing genomic data, plus the lack of complete genetic references, integrated local germplasm banks, and trained personnel in each country. In this session, we aim to evaluate the contribution of eDNA to monitoring studies of megadiverse biotas and deliver a roadmap to remove impediments preventing the common use of this technique in tropical landscapes. Organizers: Alexandre Aleixo (Instituto Tecnológico Vale - ITV) Valéria Tavares (Instituto Tecnológico Vale - ITV)

This minisymposium will discuss the integration of biomolecular tools in global biodiversity monitoring across space and time. Biomolecular approaches include the observation of DNA, environmental DNA (eDNA), proteins, lipids and other metabolites. The symposium encompasses applications from within- species genetic diversity to tracking the distribution of organisms across ecosystems. Presented topics span data collection, analysis, and management, to standards, indicators, and the translation of biomolecular data to inform policy and management. We aim to promote ‘omics’ and genetic composition observation initiatives to advance the mainstream integration of biomolecular tools and augment biodiversity observations across the GEO BON community. Organizers: GEO BON Omic BON and Genetic Composition Working Group Margaret Hunter (U.S. Geological Survey) Raissa Meyer (Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research) Anna MacDonald (Australian Antarctic Division) Neil Davies (Gump South Pacific Research Station, University of California Berkeley) Pier Luigi Buttigieg (Helmholtz Metadata Collaboration, Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research) Kathleen Pitz (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)

We generally agree on the need to make more accurate projections about future biodiversity patterns, but arguments abound about how best to do that. Here, we will host an informal discussion about how to apply diverse models to improve biodiversity projections rapidly. Some questions for discussion include:(1) Is there a way to overcome the diversity-complexity divide, whereby we can make lots of predictions using simple models or a few predictions with complex models?(2) When and where are correlative approaches sufficient for making predictions and when are more mechanistic approaches needed?(3) How can we scale between regional dynamic models to global ecosystem assessment models, or should we?(4) Can recent advances in AI provide useful tools that could be leveraged for biodiversity projections and management?(5) What are the current barriers to making better predictions, and how can they be overcome? Organizers: Mark Urban (University of Connecticut, Center of Biological Risk) Greta Bocedi (University of Aberdeen) Damaris Zurell (University of Potsdam)

Speakers: Maria Cecilia Londoño-Murcia and Andrew Gonzalez (GEO BON co-chairs) Katie Millette (GEO BON) Najet Guefradj (QCBS) Adriana Radulovici (GEO BON) Erie Tamale (Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity) Panelists: Belma Kalamujić Stroil (University of Sarajevo-Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology) Alice Hughes (University of Hong Kong; AP BON) Damaris Zurell (University of Potsdam; EcoCode) Eren Turak (FWBON) Gary Geller (JPL-NASA) Mailyn Gonzalez (Humboldt Institute) Thank you to our sponsors, speakers, participants and volunteers. See you in Colombia in 2025! Recording available