Global Biodiversity Sub-Committee Thematic Reports
Arctic Biodiversity Research
In September 2008 the GBSC held a substantive discussion on
Arctic biodiversity research, led by presentations from Dr Tavis
Potts (Centre for Coastal and Ocean Governance, Scottish Association for Marine
Scientists) and Richard Betts (Arctic and Antarctic Policy
Adviser, Polar Regions Unit, Foreign and Commonwealth Office).
A working group was created to consider the priority Arctic
biodiversity research issues, led by the JNCC. Experts were invited
to a workshop in October 2009 to address some of the issues raised
by the GBSC.
Initial report of the GBSC Arctic
Biodiversity Research workshop October 2009 (PDF 70,
kb)
Biodiversity and Climate Change
In June 2007 the GBSC co-hosted a meeting with the Royal
Society to investigate the inter-linkages between biodiversity,
climate change, and human livelihoods and the potential role for
biodiversity management in climate change mitigation and
adaptation.
Invasive alien species
In May 2006 the GBSC held a substanitve discussion on invasive
alien species (IAS), led by a presentation from Sean Murphy of CABI
Biosciene. A sub-group of experts was established to consider
research priorities and guide future funding decisions. The
following paper summarises the findings and proposes a small number
of international IAS issues that would benefit from UK-funded
research.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
In February 2006 the GBSC hosted a one-day workshop to
evaluate the
Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment (MA) and to develop an overview of it's
strengths and weaknesses.
Evaluating the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: messages,
knowledge gaps and policy implications -
full report of the workshop
(PDF, 84 kb)
Recommendations from
the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment workshop (PDF, 36 kb)
Multilateral Environmental Agreements
One of the first tasks the GBSC Secretariat undertook
following establishment of the group in late 2004 was to collate an
information paper on 7 of the key biodiversity interntational
conventions. The paper was updated in 2008 and it includes an
overview of each convention's objectives and commitments, the
governance structure and scientific element of the convention and
the UK point of contact.
In March 2009 the GBSC considered a
discussion paper on
biodiversity multilateral environmental agreements.
Ocean Acidification
Following a presentation by Carol Turley, Plymouth
Marine Laboratory at the February 2006 GBSC meeting, an expert
working group was formed to assess the current research actitivies
and identify the research priorities.
The GBSC report on ocean acidification provides a brief summary
of the key issues, considers current predictions for pH change and
their implications for marine organisms, outlines current
activities and research, both internationally and at a
European level, and identifies
research issues and key knowledge gaps to be addressed. Crucially,
the report identifies the need for a more coherent funding
regime to support high quality
science, and the facilitation of collaborative work between
research institutes and universities.
UK Overseas Territories
In February 2007 the GBSC raised the issue of the UK OTs in
the context of gaps in national capacity. The JNCC took the lead
role in running a broad consultation exercise with the UK OTs to
identify their research priorities. The responses to the
consultation were analysed by considering which of the drivers of
biodiversity loss as identified by the Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment each research need addressed. The analysis showed the
research priorities identified the following 3 drivers of
biodiversity loss significantly more frequently than others:
invasive alien species, habitat transformation and over
exploitation.