This session aims to (re)introduce biodiversity, an essential component of many aspects of life on Earth, as a notion that offers a wide array of multidisciplinary work from numerous fields of research, including but not limited to the geosciences and ecology. While biological diversity is vital for natural ecosystems such as forests and wetlands, and crucial for maintaining healthy freshwater ecosystems, soil systems, and oceans, it is also a factor that affects an ecosystem’s response to disturbances, in turn affecting notions such as (ecosystem) integrity, health and resilience. Biodiversity is also intrinsically linked with the Earth’s processes, geomorphology, formation, and development. The United Nation’s definition of biodiversity, or biological diversity, is: the variety of life on Earth and the natural patterns it forms. A wide range of studies on biological diversity also encompass ecological diversity and ecosystem diversity, since the diversity of ecosystems also affects the diversity of organisms that inhabit them. Earth Science recognizes the role of biotic factors in governing geophysical processes, and feedback mechanisms, across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Studies show that the control of biota might be part of a longer-term cycle, in which the dominance of biotic and abiotic processes not only switch, but depend on each other. Biota and abiotic processes may have co-evolved over both longer and shorter timescales. Scientific evidence from the geoscience community is therefore valuable in many political decisions for restoration, or rewilding, including the recent EU Nature Restoration Law. Also, research in these fields may contribute to policy on preparation for and/or prevention from geohazards, including those that may be triggered by anthropogenic interference and/or climate change, acting as stressors which affect diversity within a system.
Thus, in this session we aim to recognize the wide range of geoscience research projects that focus on or highlight aspects of biodiversity, while welcoming those that favor inter- and/or transdisciplinary approaches. Through these presentations, we hope to demonstrate the broad spectrum of biodiversity-related areas in which the geosciences contribute and where geoscience research gaps need to be addressed.