Making Earth Observation accessible for genetic diversity monitoring

Genetic diversity within and among populations is essential for species persistence, yet its assessment across many species, at national and regional scales, remains challenging. Measuring genetic diversity with established DNA sequence-based and in situ measurements is time-consuming, expensive, and for some areas and species infeasible due to geographical or political reasons. Thus, conservationists, ecosystem managers, and Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) still require accessible tools for reliable and efficient monitoring at the multiple scales relevant for policy and decision-making. 

We propose a new approach to support genetic diversity assessments with the available resources from space and describe how Earth Observation (EO) makes essential contributions to enable, accelerate, and improve genetic diversity monitoring. We introduce a stepwise workflow for integrating EO into existing genetic diversity monitoring strategies. Our key contribution is to make EO-based information - such as satellite data and higher-level products like Global Forest Watch or land cover data - accessible to support calculation of the genetic diversity indicators for the GBF monitoring framework and to inform management and monitoring decisions. The approach is based on the observation of Earth surface processes visible from space, although genetic diversity per se cannot be “seen” from space. Changes in land cover and land use or habitat condition can be used to estimate the health, size and suitability of a habitat for a certain population and the evolution over time (i.e., abrupt or long-term changes). By combining expert knowledge - such as species occurrence, preferred habitats, and species density - with land cover data, we can predict a population's development when analysing the evolution of their suitable habitats. Furthermore, the forthcoming generation of EO data (e.g., hyperspectral data) has high potential to support more direct assessments of habitat condition and even genetic diversity related  traits from space by providing unprecedented spectral detail and temporal resolution.