A global biodiversity observing system to unite monitoring and guide action

Andrew Gonzalez, Petteri Vihervaara, Patricia Balvanera, Amanda E. Bates, Elisa Bayraktarov, Peter J. Bellingham, Andreas Bruder, Jillian Campbell, Michael D. Catchen, Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Jonathan Chase, Nicholas Coops, Mark J. Costello, Maria Dornelas, Grégoire Dubois, Emmett J. Duffy, Hilde Eggermont, Nestor Fernandez, Simon Ferrier, Gary N. Geller, Michael Gill, Dominique Gravel, Carlos A. Guerra, Robert Guralnick, Michael Harfoot, Tim Hirsch, Sean Hoban, Alice C. Hughes, Margaret E. Hunter, Forest Isbell, Walter Jetz, Norbert Juergens, W. Daniel Kissling, Cornelia B. Krug, Yvan Le Bras, Brian Leung, Maria Cecilia Londoño-Murcia, Jean-Michel Lord, Michel Loreau, Amy Luers, Keping Ma, Anna J. MacDonald, Melodie McGeoch, Katie L. Millette, Zsolt Molnar, Akira S. Mori, Frank E. Muller-Karger, Hiroyuki Muraoka, Laetitia Navarro, Tim Newbold, Aidin Niamir, David Obura, Mary O’Connor, Marc Paganini, Henrique Pereira, Timothée Poisot, Laura J. Pollock, Andy Purvis, Adriana Radulovici, Duccio Rocchini, Michael Schaepman, Gabriela Schaepman-Strub, Dirk S. Schmeller, Ute Schmiedel, Fabian D. Schneider, Mangal Man Shakya, Andrew Skidmore, Andrew L. Skowno, Yayoi Takeuchi, Mao-Ning Tuanmu, Eren Turak, Woody Turner, Mark C. Urban, Nicolás Urbina-Cardona, Ruben Valbuena, Basile van Havre & Elaine Wright

The rate and extent of global biodiversity change is surpassing our ability to measure, monitor and forecast trends. We propose an interconnected worldwide system of observation networks — a global biodiversity observing system (GBiOS) — to coordinate monitoring worldwide and inform action to reach international biodiversity targets.