Metrics based on habitat area and condition are poor proxies for invertebrate biodiversity

The Sprint team who worked on biodiversity measures have recently published a pre-print of this work, available at bioRxiv, “Metrics based on habitat area and condition are poor proxies for invertebrate biodiversity”. In this paper, the authors test the relationship between the statutory biodiversity metric used for Biodiversity Net Gain and invertebrate richness, abundance, and community composition. Their results highlight the need to incorporate factors beyond habitat type and condition into site evaluations, and to complement metric use with species based surveys.

The paper was written by Natalie Elizabeth Duffus, Thomas B Atkins, Sophus O.S.E. zu Ermgassen, Richard Grenyer, Joseph W Bull, Dan A Castell, Ben Stone, Niamh Tooher, E.J. Milner-Gulland and Owen T Lewis.

This publication adds to the range of resources already produced by the “How do we account for biodiversity?” Sprint which ran from April 2022 to September 2023. Since the Sprint ended, the research has been recognised and taken up in a range of different ways. For example, following a presentation to the University of Oxford’s Estates and Facilities Biodiversity sub-Committee in 2023, the University has committed to achieving at least 20% BNG at Begbroke Science Park. Prof E.J. Milner Gulland and other University researchers are taking forward the Sprint’s work to turn Begbroke Science Park into a ‘living lab’ to monitor the impact of a major development over a long period.

Another paper by the Sprint, “Biodiversity offsets must address the trade-offs between people and nature: Case study and general principles” has been accepted for publication by One Earth. Further papers emerging from the Sprint’s research will soon be submitted for publication.

Read the paper in bioRxiv: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.10.02.616290v1