Building essential biodiversity variables(EBVs) of species distribution and abundanceat a global scale

Abstract

Much biodiversity data is collected worldwide, but it remains challenging to assemble the scattered knowledge forassessing biodiversity status and trends. The concept of Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) was introduced tostructure biodiversity monitoring globally, and to harmonize and standardize biodiversity data from disparate sourcesto capture a minimum set of critical variables required to study, report and manage biodiversity change. Here, weassess the challenges of a ‘Big Data’ approach to building global EBV data products across taxa and spatiotemporalscales, focusing on species distribution and abundance.