13th National Biodiversity Network ConferenceFuture challenges for the NBN

The Sir John Burnett Memorial Lecture, 2013

Big data, NBN and effective conservation

William Sutherland, Conservation Science Group,Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge

Did we really use this stuff in 2013?

35 seconds later…

The next day…

Plant – herbivore interactions

Since 2005, iBats data cover 30 species from 200,000 km in 3000 transects, directly training 159 volunteers in 20 workshops, involving over 1000

volunteers Jones et al. 2013 In: Biodiversity Monitoring and Conservation

Indicator Bat Program

Bat Monitoring Smartphone Apps

© Jon Russ

Bird-borne miniature video cameras

Rutz et al. (2007) Science

Rutz & Bluff (2008) Trends Ecol. Evol.

Bluff & Rutz (2008) Biology Letters

Rutz & Troscinako (2013) Methods Ecol. Evol.

Environmental DNA

metabarcoding

What can we do with this mass of data?

Platform

Hydrological data

Landuse dataBiodiversity Models

Information Research Policy

Environmental data

Where is important?

How is biodiversity changing?

What are the threats?

What are the effective solutions?

What are the costs and benefits of options?

Delphi technique

Confidential expert assessments

Presentation anonymised scores

Question

Discussion

Group assessment

“WISCONSIN appears to be in the driver’s seat en route to a win, as it leads 51-10 after the third quarter. Wisconsin added to its lead when Russell Wilson found Jacob Pedersen for an eight-yard touchdown to make the score 44-3….”

“Let’s just say that if UNLV wins, it’s going to be one of the biggest upsets of the season. Their QB, Caleb Herring, is definitely the player to watch. I mean, it’s not like he has no in-game experience, but it’s a little different coming on the road and playing in front of 80,000 screaming Wisconsinites…”

400,000 accounts in 2012, 1.5m in 2013?

From NBN

To William Sutherland

Dear Bill,Thank you very much for submitting your record of a adult female Polecat on the 3rd of November 2013 at Duxford, Cambridgeshire, Grid Reference TL452456 to NBN via irecord. There have been eleven previous records for Cambridgeshire with the first being seen in 2009. Three of the seven sexed have also been females. There have been records in all four seasons. Five of the records have also been of individuals found dead on the road.Thanks you for contributing to the NBN database.

Do nest boxes help bumblebees?

• Nest boxes are a useful means of helping bumblebees• Nest boxes are a complete waste of time• Six studies test this type of nest box• Three (pre-1978, USA or Canada) find 10-40%

occupancy

• Three (post-1990, UK) find very low occupancy 0-1%

• Four studies test underground nest boxes• Three (pre-1978, USA or Canada) find 29-48%

occupancy• One (2009, UK) finds 6% occupancy• Nest box use increased over time for introduced

bees in NZ.

ACTION Leave margin unsprayed (Conservation Headland)• No more bumblebees than conventional margins (2 studies)

ACTION Allow margin to naturally regenerate• More bumblebees than cropped margins, in some years (4 studies)• Value to bumblebees depends on thistle species (2 studies)

ACTION Sow with wildflower seed mix• Greater abundance and diversity of bumblebees than cropped (4 studies),

grassy (2 studies) or naturally regenerated (1 study) margins• More long-tongued bumblebees than on annual forage plants (1 study)

ACTION Sow with agricultural bee forage plants (clovers, borage..)• More bumblebees than cropped or naturally regenerated margins (2

studies)• More bumblebees than on wildflower seed mix in some years (3 studies)

ACTION Sow with grasses• Greater abundance (2 studies) and diversity (1 study) of bees than

cropped margins• More nest-searching queen bumblebees than conventional margins (1

study)

MANAGING FIELD MARGINS FOR BEES

Available from all good bookshops

Or free as pdf from Conservationevidence.com

Or search for the interventions on ConservationEvidence.com

Amphibian Conservation

Evidence for the effects of interventions

Rebecca K. Smith & William J. Sutherland

SYNOPSES OF CONSERVATION EVIDENCE SERIES

Synopses

• Bees – done• Birds – done• W European agriculture – online• Amphibians – in press• Bats (Leeds) in press• Agricultural pest management – part completed (joint with Paris)• Aquaculture (Bangor/PML)• Soil ecosystem services – part completed (Manchester/Reading)• Reptiles (Israel)• Carnivores – started 2012 (Duke)• Plants (Bangor)• UK aquatic invasives (Cambridge)• Galapagos invasives (Charles Darwin)• Forests (Israel)• Wetlands (Tour du Valat).

Comparison of traditional review and ConservationEvidence

EU report Synopsis

Interventions 17 24

Papers testing 36 40

Peer reviewed 29 35

Time Months? Years? Minutes

Cost 10,000s+ Euro Free

Lucas et al. 2004, Journal of General Internal Medicine

Medical practitioners will change their prescribed treatments based on evidence provided

Questions?

Answers

15 17 20 21 22 16 13 27 5 7 26 8 24 2 23 14 6 9 18 25 28 3 11 19 12 10 1 4

Intervention, sorted by effectiveness

Pro

po

rtio

n o

f p

rac

titio

ne

rs

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Much more likely

More likely

No change

Less likely

Much less likely

Intervention

Effectiveness NA NA NA NA NA 0 7 9 10 10 13 20 22 27 28 33 40 45 45 48 48 50 50 50 59 60 66 81

Prop

ortio

n of

pra

ctitio

ners

Interventions sorted by effectiveness

Much more likely

More likely

No change

Less likely

Much less likely

Practitioners changed their opinion about 46% of interventions after seeing the evidence

Practitioners change management when given evidence

Walsh et al submitted

Information unrelated to biodiversity

Amano & Sutherland (2013).Proceedings B 280, 1756

Issues to consider

• Identifying priorities for monitoring e.g. earthworms

• Identifying other variables e.g. for nanotechnology

• Standardising methods• Monitoring effort• Standardising data globally• Capacity building

This is a global collaboration. Delighted to chat to those interested in:

Identifying horizon scanning issuesWorking on a synopsisConverting review into practiceFinding means of funding!

With grateful thanks for funding to Arcadia, NERC, ESRC, Sychronicity Earth, Natural England

Can publishresults