The Global Ecosystems Atlas: comprehensive and systematic mapping of Earth's ecosystems
Abstract
Halting and reversing biodiversity loss is central to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, yet a
lack of consistent, spatially comprehensive data on ecosystem distributions has undermined our ability to monitor
progress against its goals and targets. Here we introduce the Global Ecosystems Atlas initiative, convened by the
intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and developed
through an international collaboration among intergovernmental organisations, non-government organisations,
scientists, governments, and practitioners. The core elements of the Global Ecosystems Atlas (www.globalecosystemsatlas.org) are (i) an open-access geospatial dataset designed to represent the spatial
distribution of 110 ecosystem functional groups, 25 biomes, and 10 realms as classified by the IUCN Global
Ecosystem Typology, (ii) a data catalogue of pre-existing geospatial datasets that were developed to represent
ecosystems, and (iii) a spatial dataset of ecosystem occurrence records (‘Ecotrain’) annotated by a team of trained
interpreters to provide training and validation data across the initiative. In addition to these three core data
products, the Global Ecosystems Atlas initiative includes guidelines, mapping and analysis tools, an online
application and API, and online training resources to enable individuals, governments, corporates and other
stakeholders to access ecosystems data, develop their own maps of ecosystem functional groups, and produce
reports on the extent and distribution of ecosystems at a variety of spatial scales. Future work of the Global
Ecosystems Atlas initiative focuses on developing further essential data and resources required to advance our
knowledge of the distribution, change dynamics and condition of all of the world’s ecosystems. We anticipate that
the Global Ecosystems Atlas will emerge as a central resource for distributing knowledge about the distribution
and change of all of the world’s ecosystems to support conservation and restoration efforts worldwide.
lack of consistent, spatially comprehensive data on ecosystem distributions has undermined our ability to monitor
progress against its goals and targets. Here we introduce the Global Ecosystems Atlas initiative, convened by the
intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and developed
through an international collaboration among intergovernmental organisations, non-government organisations,
scientists, governments, and practitioners. The core elements of the Global Ecosystems Atlas (www.globalecosystemsatlas.org) are (i) an open-access geospatial dataset designed to represent the spatial
distribution of 110 ecosystem functional groups, 25 biomes, and 10 realms as classified by the IUCN Global
Ecosystem Typology, (ii) a data catalogue of pre-existing geospatial datasets that were developed to represent
ecosystems, and (iii) a spatial dataset of ecosystem occurrence records (‘Ecotrain’) annotated by a team of trained
interpreters to provide training and validation data across the initiative. In addition to these three core data
products, the Global Ecosystems Atlas initiative includes guidelines, mapping and analysis tools, an online
application and API, and online training resources to enable individuals, governments, corporates and other
stakeholders to access ecosystems data, develop their own maps of ecosystem functional groups, and produce
reports on the extent and distribution of ecosystems at a variety of spatial scales. Future work of the Global
Ecosystems Atlas initiative focuses on developing further essential data and resources required to advance our
knowledge of the distribution, change dynamics and condition of all of the world’s ecosystems. We anticipate that
the Global Ecosystems Atlas will emerge as a central resource for distributing knowledge about the distribution
and change of all of the world’s ecosystems to support conservation and restoration efforts worldwide.
