Richard Pearson , 1 , Enrique Martínez-Meyer 2 , Mercedes Andrade Velázquez 3 , Mercedes Caron 4 , Rogelio Corona-Núñez 5 , Katrina Davis 6 , América Paz Durán 7 , Rodrigo García Morales 3 , Talya Hackett 8 , Daniel Ingram 1 , Rafael Loyola Díaz 3 , Julián Lescano 9 , Andrés Lira-Noriega 10 , Yolanda López-Maldonado 11 , Daniela Manuschevich 12 , Alma Mendoza 13 , Ben Milligan 14 , Simon Mills 15 , Darío Moreira-Arce 16 , Luzma Nava 17 , Vicencio Oostra 18 , Nathan Owen 6 , David Prieto-Torres 19 , Clarita Rodríguez Soto 20 , Thomas Smith 21 , Andrew Suggitt 22 , Camila Tejo Haristoy 23 , Jorge Velásquez-Tibatá 24 , Sandra Díaz 25 , Pablo Marquet 26
22 February 2019
Ecosystem services, Environmental change, Capacity building, Investment in research, Data availability, Knowledge systems, Governance, Environmental science, People and their environment, Biodiversity, Conservation
Maintaining biodiversity is crucial for ensuring human well-being. We participated in a workshop held in Palenque, Mexico, in August 2018, that brought together thirty mostly early-career scientists working in different disciplines (natural, social and economic sciences) with the aim of identifying research priorities for studying the contributions of biodiversity to people and how these contributions might be impacted by environmental change. Five main groups of questions emerged: (1) Enhancing the quantity, quality, and availability of biodiversity data; (2) Integrating different knowledge systems; (3) Improved methods for integrating diverse data; (4) Fundamental questions in ecology and evolution; and (5) Multi-level governance across boundaries. We discuss the need for increased capacity building and investment in research programs to address these challenges.
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