Long-term biodiversity monitoring

The ecosystems suffer changes over time. Some of them have a natural origin, while others are induced or directly caused by the human being. Knowing these changes is not only useful for studying the functioning of natural communities and ecosystems, a subject studied by ecology, but it is also essential to sustainable management of natural resources. In this sense, this knowledge is essential to foresee possible dramatic changes and start looking for solutions, contributing to the efficient management and conservation of communities and ecosystems.

To identify these changes, we worked on the creation of indicators at different levels (species, habitats, ecological processes and factors of change) for the establishment of long-term monitoring, as well as in the development of standardized protocols for their development. This monitoring should allow the acquisition of quantitative and qualitative information of the state of biodiversity, comparable over time and space, and informative of changes in ecosystems. Thus, if we can predict these changes in biodiversity and ecosystems, we will be able to establish policies for the sustainable management of natural resources.