SYMP 9 - Minimizing Data Waste: Conservation in the Big Data Era

Organizer(s)

• AB

  Allison Binley

  Carleton University, Ontario, Canada

Co-organizer(s)

• BE

  Brandon Edwards

  Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON Canada, Canada

Moderator(s)

• BE

  Brandon Edwards

  Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON Canada, Canada

Data collected through biodiversity monitoring are a crucial component of solving any conservation problem. Gaining information about the state of an ecological system can inform better decisions to be made surrounding protections of that system. However, with biodiversity rapidly declining, monitoring can delay much needed action and take up valuable and limited resources, and therefore may not always be the best option. The increasing availability of open data through large data repositories and alternative sources of data such as community science programs means that researchers should not have to compromise between fast action and informed action. In many cases, data already exist that can inform our conservation decisions. Integration can allow researchers to fill perceived spatial and temporal knowledge gaps, and analytical tools are available that can help quantify whether more data are needed. In this symposium, we explore how using open and available data is not simply making the best and most efficient use of limited resources, but can lead to better conservation outcomes. We will investigate how data integration helps improve our understanding of species trends and distributions, better evaluate ecological systems, and redistribute limited resources from monitoring to action. We emphasize why these advances in open data and data integration are critical not only for minimizing data waste, but also conducting better conservation research and directly improving conservation management decisions.

Presentations:

• 8:00 AM – 8:20 AM EDT

  Full Annual Cycle Conservation of a Declining, Nocturnal Bird: A Data Integration Journey
  

  Presenting Author: Elly Knight – ABMI

  Co-author: Mark Brigham – University of Regina

  Co-author: Brandon P. Edwards – Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON Canada

  Co-author: Autumn-Lynn Harrison – Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center

  Co-author: Peter P. Marra – Georgetown University

  Co-author: Amy Scarpignato – Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center

  Co-author: Adam C. Smith – Environment and Climate Change Canada

  Co-author: Steven Van Wilgenburg – Environment and Climate Change Canada

  Co-author: Erin M. Bayne – Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta
• 8:20 AM – 8:40 AM EDT

  Extending ecological uniqueness indicators to broader spatial extents using open data
  

  Presenting Author: Gabriel Dansereau – University of Montreal

  Co-author: Pierre Legendre, Ph.D., FRSC – Université de Montréal

  Co-author: Timothée Poisot, PhD – Université de Montréal
• 8:40 AM – 9:00 AM EDT

  Mapping the premigration distribution of eastern Monarch butterflies using community science data
  

  Presenting Author: Iman Momeni-Dehaghi – Carleton University

  Co-author: Iman Momeni-Dehaghi – Carleton University

  Co-author: Joseph R. Bennett, Bennett, PhD – Carleton University

  Co-author: Greg W. Mitchell – Environment and Climate Change Canada

  Co-author: Trina Rytwinski – Carleton University

  Co-author: Lenore Fahrig – Carleton University
• 9:00 AM – 9:20 AM EDT

  Redistributing conservation resources from monitoring to action using community science
  

  Presenting Author: Allison D. Binley – Carleton University

  Co-author: Orin Robinson – Cornell Lab of Ornithology

  Co-author: Jeffrey O. Hanson, PhD – Carleton University

  Co-author: Gregory Golet – The Nature Conservancy

  Co-author: Mark Reynolds – The Nature Conservancy

  Co-author: Joseph R. Bennett, Bennett, PhD – Carleton University
• 9:20 AM – 9:30 AM EDT

  Discussion