Use of ALA for data-driven analysis of biological survey gaps

Use of ALA for data-driven analysis of
biological survey gaps supports species
discovery through Bush Blitz
Kristen Williams, Brian Hawkins, Jacqui Meyers, Art Langston, Justin Perry,
Daniel P Faith, Glenn Manion, Tom Harwood, Simon Ferrier, Jo Harding
12 May 2016, Ecology and Environment Session 2
Atlas of Living Australia Symposium 11-12th May 2016, Kensington Science Centre, WA
CSIRO LAND & WATER
Species Discovery Program
www.bushblitz.org.au
Bush Blitz II is a four-year $12M partnership between the
Australian Government, BHP Billiton Sustainable Communities
and Earthwatch Australia
Collaborating with Australia’s museums and herbaria, Conservation
Land Managers, Australian Science Teachers Association, State
Conservation Agencies, and CSIRO
Bush Blitz Survey Gap Analysis | Kristen Williams et al. | Page 2
Providing baseline scientific data
informing the protection and
management of biodiversity
Since 2010 Bush Blitz has
discovered about 900 new and
undescribed species and added
thousands of species to what is
already known
CSIRO is supporting the
program through data-driven
analyses of biological survey
gaps to enhance local targeting
and national coverage of field
surveys
Salticidae cytaea plumbeiventris - Fish River Station © R Whyte
Candalides delospila,
Wongalara Station©MFBraby
Bush Blitz Survey Gap Analysis | Kristen Williams et al. | Page 3
As at 2014
~41 putative
new
species
61 putative
new
species
Work-inprogress
140 putative
new species
39 putative
new
species
Bush Blitz Survey Gap Analysis | Kristen Williams et al. | Page 4
Framework for strategic targeting of knowledge gaps
Remote-derived
environmental variables
Other sources of
information
Modelling and
prediction of
biological diversity
Strategic biodiversity
and conservation
assessments/planning
Expert
knowledge
Available biological
survey data
Strategic location of
additional survey sites
Update data driven analysis
of biological survey gaps
Figure adapted from: Ferrier 2002, Systematic Biology, 51
Bush Blitz Survey Gap Analysis | Kristen Williams et al. | Page 5
The ‘Environmental
Diversity’ framework
is used to evaluate
biological survey gaps
Principles and application of ‘Environmental Diversity’
(ED) framework for evaluating biological survey gaps
1. The best new survey site is the one that fills the largest gap in the
environmental space as defined by the biggest improvement in
the ED score.
2. ED score is a theoretical estimate of the number of species still to
be represented (complementing those already represented in a
biological database), given a set of previously survey localities.
3. ED seeks to minimise the sum of distances from each point of
“demand” in an underlying multi-dimensional environmental
space to its nearest already-surveyed site.
4. Here, we use environmental space scaled by a model of species
composition patterns using GDM, to derive the “distances”.
Adapted from, Williams, Ferrier, … Faith, et al (2010) Harnessing Continent-Wide Biodiversity Datasets for
Prioritising National Conservation Investment, https://publications.csiro.au/rpr/pub?list=BRO&pid=csiro:EP102983
Bush Blitz Survey Gap Analysis | Kristen Williams et al. | Page 6
Assume a map in environmental space at the left
Is represented by a set of grid cells at the right
Patterns of biological diversity
‘mapped’ in multiple dimensions of
environmental space, schematically
shown here in two dimensions
Bush Blitz Survey Gap Analysis | Kristen Williams et al. | Page 7
Centre points of the set of grid cells
evenly span environmental space
where biodiversity could potentially
be sampled (i.e., demand points)
Assume individual species have bell-shaped distributions,
uniformly spaced among these demand points
Patterns of biological diversity
‘mapped’ in multiple dimensions of
environmental space, schematically
shown here in two dimensions
Bush Blitz Survey Gap Analysis | Kristen Williams et al. | Page 8
Centre points of a set of grid cells
represent the putative centres of
species’ bell-shaped distributions in
GDM-scaled environmental space
Find the best 5 localities (orange dots) to represent the
entire environmental space. Each has minimised its sum of
distances to the nearest set of black “demand” points.
The ED method measures how well the space is spanned as an inference
of how many species have been sampled....and it can indicate where to
add a sample (fill a gap) in order to sample the most new species
Faith DP, Walker PA (1996) Environmental diversity: on the best-possible use of surrogate data for assessing the
relative biodiversity of sets of areas. Biodiversity and Conservation 5(4), 399-415.
Bush Blitz Survey Gap Analysis | Kristen Williams et al. | Page 9
Framework for strategic targeting of knowledge gaps
Remote-derived
environmental variables
Other sources of
information
Modelling and
prediction of
biological diversity
Strategic biodiversity
and conservation
assessments/planning
Expert
knowledge
Available biological
survey data
Strategic location of
additional survey sites
CSIRO modelling informs:
Update data driven analysis
of biological survey gaps
Figure adapted from: Ferrier 2002, Systematic Biology, 51
Bush Blitz Survey Gap Analysis | Kristen Williams et al. | Page 10
(1) selection of new areas
(2) possible survey locations
Models of four biological groups as surrogate
indicators of environmental heterogeneity
Amphibians
Gastropods
images: http://www.bushblitz.org.au/mediacentre.php
Bush Blitz Survey Gap Analysis | Kristen Williams et al. | Page 11
Reptiles
Vascular plants
Occurrence records of four biological groups
used as indicators of survey completeness
Amphibians
Gastropods
Reptiles
Vascular plants
>2 species
>5 species
>5 species
>10 species
Previously surveyed locations were sourced from data
aggregators such as ANHAT and Atlas of Living Australia,
filtered by species richness to represent completeness
Bush Blitz Survey Gap Analysis | Kristen Williams et al. | Page 12
Identify survey gaps in environmental space
National context for each taxonomic group:
Extract survey
data
Model
environmental
heterogeneity
Identify gaps in
environmental
space
Amphibians
Gastropods
Reptiles
Vascular plants
>2 species
>5 species
>5 species
>10 species
Bush Blitz Survey Gap Analysis | Kristen Williams et al. | Page 13
Identify
national & local
sites to survey
Local Area Analysis - Kiwirrkurra
Suggest
locations
Pre-survey
Local areas
surveyed
2014 - 2015
Post-survey
Amphibians
Gastropods
Iterations
1
2
3
4
Bush Blitz Survey Gap Analysis | Kristen Williams et al. | Page 15
Reptiles
Plants
Iterative model
output highlighting
under sampled
areas with
contrasting
environmental
conditions for 4
taxonomic groups
Where are the largest survey gaps now?
Now have more Bush Blitz surveys to combine data from the Atlas of Living Australia
Analysis updated July 2015
Amphibians
Gastropods
Bush Blitz Survey Gap Analysis | Kristen Williams et al. | Page 16
Reptiles
Vascular plants
Next Steps
• Continuing to support selection of survey sites for local areas
• Conducting a final analysis of National gaps taking into account
actual locations of surveys before and after Bush Blitz I and II
• This data-driven work wraps up mid 2017
Bush Blitz Survey Gap Analysis | Kristen Williams et al. | Page 17
WHILE INVERTEBRATE DATA ARE A CORE
GROUP FOR BUSH BLITZ DISCOVERY THERE IS
NOT YET ENOUGH DATA MOBILISED DIGITALLY
TO USE IN THESE META-ANALYSES
Thank you
Fish River Survey © R Whyte
CSIRO Land & Water
Kristen Williams
Discocharopa 'mimic' New species Tasmania © K Bonham
Group Leader
t +61 2 6246 4213
e Kristen.williams@csiro.au
w http://people.csiro.au/Kristen-Williams.aspx
Wolf Spider © D Paul, Museum Victoria
LAND & WATER