This session uses biodiversity science as a case study to illustrate different aspects of the ecological data revolution and how it can be harnessed. These aspects range from the complexity of relatively small data sets arising form designed experiments (first two talks), to the heterogeneity and size of data sets from large-scale observational (third, fourth and fifth talk) and macroecological studies (sixth talk). A common theme of this session is the interdisciplinary character of biodiversity data, which originate from diverse groups of organisms, are affected by diverse drivers and are relevant to diverse stakeholders. This session deliberately combines data challenges from different frontiers of biodiversity science to create opportunities for mutual learning between currently widely separated approaches. The first two presentations are concerned with new analyses of large biodiversity experiments, the first going into interactions between community-, population- and individual-level processes in subtropical forests and the second revealing the contribution to ecosystem functioning of rapid evolution in grassland communities. The next three presentations deal with large-scale data issues from observational and quasi-experimental studies. With improved sensors on drones, planes and satellites, spectral signals from vegetation can be used to assess plant traits and their variation between and within species. Using spatial statistics, functional diversity can be mapped continuously across different scales and these maps can be used to predict ecosystem functioning, integrating transfer functions derived e.g. from biodiversity experiments. Using plot-selection designs that make sure co-variates are orthogonal to explanatory diversity variables allows one to use quasi-experimental approaches in data analysis as illustrated in an example of positive diversity–functioning relationships at landscape level. The final contribution illustrates challenges in the analysis of biodiversity information at even larger scales in space and time. Combining various data about plant species distributions and traits across continents, biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships can be expanded to the macroecological scale, enabling the reconstruction of past and future climates and biomes. Overall, the six contributions of this session should inspire a discussion about new ways of producing and analyzing biodiversity data and exchanging experiences from experimental, large-scale observational, quasi-experimental and macroecological approaches. For example, where can experiments benefit from methods developed for observation and where can observation be treated as (quasi-)experiments (fifth talk)? Transgressing boundaries between frontiers in biodiversity science will also increase its potential to address applied questions and inform policy makers and the public at large about the intricate interdependence between nature and humans.