Written by
Danny ChenTo evaluate biodiversity outcome, extent, condition, and significance are used for measurement. In today’s post, we will talk about the condition.
This is the second post in which we will discuss the condition or ecosystem condition. If you have not read the previous post, the link will be shared in the comment section below.
Compared to extent, condition focuses on the biodiversity quality with abiotic and biotic information in a defined spatial area.
As a stakeholder who cares about the quality of biodiversity outcomes, the information below is what you would need to follow when reading the project SD VISta document.
To measure the biodiversity quality with the project causal chain, project developers make the decision to select the condition indicators for quality measurement.
Typically, each ecosystem type within 1 project will have 4 components that require developers to select suitable indicators for biodiversity restoration or conservation measurement. They are:
Composition: The variety, identity, and abundance of organisms
Structure: Biotic or physical size and form, physical and chemical characteristics
Function: Ecological processes and fluxes
Pressures: Scale and severity of threatening processes
For all projects, developers must measure 2 composition indicators and 3 structure indicators for each ecosystem type within the project.
The indicators selected should be responsive to change during the project duration and are good explanations for biodiversity restoration or conservation.
It is recommended that the indicators be sourced from established approaches(e.g., the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems Assessment), methods from peer-reviewed scientific journals, or national biodiversity monitoring schemes.
If the indicators used are not from the above sources, developers would need to justify them with an explanation.
The indicators adopted will collect the reference state value to help standardize the evaluation and compare the positive difference.
All this information must be documented with the information sources and reviewed by validation and verification bodies(VVBs) before project implementation.
That’s all for today’s learning. In the next post, we will talk about significance.
Note: Ecosystem condition is the quality of an ecosystem within a defined spatial unit
