Knowing biodiversity at Higher Level: The same ideas as SL, with different real cases: Hawaii, parabiologists in Papua New Guinea, eBird and the mountain gorillas of the Virunga Mountains. Law and ethics shape who surveys, and whose knowledge counts.
Practise this as you read
- Explain how knowledge leads to a conservation strategy.
- Evaluate citizen science from survey data.
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Know it to protect it: To protect biodiversity, managers must first know it: which species and habitats are where, how many there are, and which are in trouble. That knowledge is needed at two scales: global and regional.
The points to remember
- Global knowledge shows where species are richest, most endemic and most threatened, so effort goes there first.
- Regional and local knowledge shows which species live in a place, how many, and whether they are declining.
- It identifies endangered species and priority habitats, and what threatens them.
- It sets a baseline, so change can be measured and management can be judged.
- Without it, management can miss species or even make things worse.
Global
- The IUCN Red List: over 150 000 species assessed for extinction risk.
Regional
- A national survey of every breeding bird, repeated every few years.
Local
- Volunteers counting the plants and insects of one nature reserve.
Why some regions matter most
- Many endemic species, found nowhere else.
- Very high species richness: a large share of the world's biodiversity.
- Under high threat from logging, farming, hunting or building.
- Many ecosystems in one region.
- Natural capital and ecosystem services: tourism, food, carbon storage, flood control.
- Intrinsic value: its species have a right to exist.
Real example: about 90% of Hawaii's native species are endemic, and introduced rats, pigs and mosquitoes threaten them, so the islands are a priority for conservation.
Too vague to score: 'Ethical reasons' alone is too vague. 'Beautiful' counts only with a use, such as tourism. 'It has endangered species' or 'it is large' is not enough on its own.
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Knowledge of biodiversity is gathered by many people, not only professional scientists.
Who gathers it
- Citizen scientists: volunteers who record what they see, often with an app.
- Government-funded agencies: national park staff and national surveys, often required by law.
- Voluntary organisations: charities such as the WWF and local wildlife trusts run surveys and projects.
- Indigenous people and parabiologists: local people trained to find, record and identify species.
- International networks share data across borders, because species migrate and threats spread.
Real example: in Papua New Guinea, the Binatang Research Center trains villagers as parabiologists. They survey insects in forests that few professional scientists can reach.
Local knowledge plus science: Local people notice changes first and know why they happen. Real example: from 1989 Costa Rica trained rural people as parataxonomists to build a national list of its species.
Law
- Many countries require a biodiversity survey before a new road or mine is allowed.
- Agencies must monitor protected species by law.
Ethics
- Whose knowledge counts: scientists' or local people's?
- Indigenous knowledge should be used only with the community's consent.
Remember it as: Volunteers, agencies, charities, local experts, and the whole world sharing data.
Is it really there?: To confirm that a species is present, use a monitoring method: one that finds the animal or its traces.
Ways to confirm a species is there
- Camera traps: photos or video, without disturbing the animal.
- Field signs: tracks, droppings, hair, scratch marks, burrows.
- eDNA: DNA the species leaves in water, soil or snow.
- Sound recorders: for species with calls you can recognise.
- Live trapping and tagging (radio or GPS collars), by trained teams.
- Reports from rangers, local people or citizen scientists, checked by experts.
Real example: in the UK, great crested newts can be found without catching them: a water sample is tested for their eDNA, which has been accepted in official newt surveys since 2014.
What citizen scientists use
- Keys and apps to identify species, with photos or sound recordings.
- Transects, quadrats, pitfall traps and kick sampling in rivers.
- Organised bird counts, nest monitoring and camera traps.
- Not tools that only measure abiotic factors (such as water acidity), and not questionnaires.
Monitor, not protect: Fences, guards and corridors protect a species; they do not confirm it is there. For [2], give two different methods, one sentence each.
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Citizen science brings huge numbers of people into research. Real example: birdwatchers have sent more than a billion sightings to eBird, an app run by Cornell University, but most come from popular, easy-to-reach places.
Strengths
- Many more people: far more data, over large areas and many years.
- Shows trends, such as a species declining or an invader spreading.
- Volunteers, so costs are low.
- Local people know where to look.
- Raises public awareness of local issues.
Limits
- Weak methods can cause errors, bias or disturbance.
- Many record only interesting or rare species.
- Popular places are surveyed far more.
- Limited knowledge: species misidentified.
- Irregular days and times; motivation fades.
- Managing the data needs experts and money.
Reading the chart: 78% search wetlands often, but only 18% search urban parks often. Rarer species, the wish to support conservation and more to learn draw volunteers to wetlands; parks hold mostly common species.
The verdict: Citizen science gives far more data than scientists could collect alone, but the data can be biased. It works best when an NGO or a government agency organises it, trains the volunteers and checks the records.
Monitoring turns knowledge into numbers. Two calculations come up: a percentage change over time, and a region's percentage share of the species.
The formulas: Percentage change = (new − old) ÷ old × 100
Percentage share = part ÷ whole × 100
Four steps
- Write the formula first.
- Change: take the old number from the new one, then divide by the old number.
- Share: divide the part by the whole.
- Multiply by 100, add the % sign, and round only at the end.
Worked examples: Change: gorillas rose from 480 in 2010 to 604 in 2016. (604 − 480) ÷ 480 × 100 = 124 ÷ 480 × 100 = 25.8%.
Share: 3 of the world's 5 rhino species are critically endangered. 3 ÷ 5 × 100 = 60%.
The most common slip is dividing by the new number. For a change, always divide by the old number.
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How this comes up: Identify why a region matters for conservation [2]; outline how survey data could be used [1]; calculate a percentage change or share [1]; read a survey of citizen scientists and evaluate citizen science [1-4].
Hawaii's native forests hold many species found nowhere else, and introduced rats, pigs and mosquitoes threaten them.
Explain how knowledge of global and regional biodiversity can help develop effective strategies to conserve Hawaii's species.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Evaluate means both sides: Give strengths and limits, then a judgement. Three strengths and no limit cannot reach full marks.