Humans have become a major component of global biodiversity; our well-being depends on sustainable biodiversity and ecosystem services, and our actions drive changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services. Ecological science has demonstrated that human-driven biodiversity change alters ecosystems, with consequences for human wellbeing. Yet, the direct dependence of ecosystem services on biodiversity is not yet accounted for in global policy efforts that consider future scenarios for human activities and their consequences for nature.
Results/Conclusions
Here we identify seven scientific research challenges that, if addressed, could allow future policy and conservation efforts to quantitatively account for the ecosystem and societal consequences of biodiversity change. These include the need to include biodiversity change in models of future biodiversity and ecosystem change, to examine how ecosystem services depend on diversity and function at different scales, and to determine how people play a dynamic role in ecological systems that comprise both changing diversity and ecosystem functions. To meet these challenges, we outline a 5-point action plan for collaboration and connection among scientists and policy-makers that emphasizes open and international access to data, projects and products. Efforts to protect biodiversity require the best possible scientific understanding of biodiversity trends, ecosystem functions, and - critically - the feedbacks between them across spatial and temporal scales.