A NASA-backed project aims to map the biodiversity of South Africa using devices that are usually found on the space station to study planets and stars, according to participating scientists.
The Bioscape project will conduct a series of remote sensing missions and in-field data collection through highly sophisticated tools to comprehensively map and assess biodiversity in the Greater Cape Floristic Region.
It is the first time NASA has funded a project of this size focused on biodiversity, said an international team of researchers including the University of Buffalo, the University of California, and South Africa’s National Research Foundation.
“We are in the midst of a biodiversity crisis, losing species globally far above historical rates, and we know that biodiversity is critical for keeping Earth habitable,” said Adam Wilson, a University of Buffalo biogeographer and mission scientist, in a statement.
“These new data will give us a deeper understanding of ecosystem composition and help us learn how they will respond to environmental change.”
The project is currently conducting aerial surveys with two specialised aircraft to collect remotely sensed data. Two NASA aircraft have been outfitted with a combination of sensors, including spectrometers and laser altimeter scanners, that each provide a different set of data, from sea surface temperatures to 3-D images of vegetation.
These data will be augmented with vegetation surveys, phytoplankton samples, recordings of bird and frog calls, and environmental DNA. Most data collection will be done between October and December, but some field surveys were collected earlier this year.
Scientists expect the remotely sensed data to be publicly available online within 12 hours of the aircraft landing for use by public agencies, researchers, and other organisations to get a better picture of biodiversity in the country, one of the 17 worldwide categorised as megadiverse.
“Bioscape is a unique and exciting project that will help reveal new insights about the biodiversity of one of the most diverse regions on Earth and provide new tools for mapping and monitoring it,” said Dr. Jasper Slingsby, the South African lead scientist and lecturer at the University of Cape Town.
“This information will be essential for supporting effective biodiversity conservation and management strategies for the region,” Slingsby added.
The Greater Floristic Cape region covers less than 0.5% of Africa, but harbours nearly 20% of the continent’s plant species, according to the researchers, which they say makes it one of the most challenging places to conduct such a project.
However, South Africa’s provincial nature reserves recently came under scrutiny due to poor management and underfunding.
Several national NGOs, including the Endangered Wildlife Trust and Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa, called for biodiversity and carbon markets to be part of the solution, potentially alongside debt for biodiversity swaps and payment for ecosystem services schemes to shore up funding.
By Tom Woolnough – tom@carbon-pulse.com
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