NASA-funded Biodiversity Research Project Launches in South Africa
Understanding and conserving biodiversity, or the variety of life in ecosystems, is key to sustaining life on Earth. A research project funded by NASA that is launching this week in South Africa, co-led by UC Merced environmental engineering Professor Erin Hestir, is aimed at better understanding the biodiversity of the region and providing new mapping tools that could be used A NASA-funded Biodiversity Research Project is launching in South Africa, co-led by UC Merced environmental engineering Professor Erin Hestir, to better understand the biodiversity of the region and provide new mapping tools that could be used on a global scale. The project, called BioSCape, will run through 2024 with most of the data collected through the end of this year. NASA aircraft will conduct surveys and collect data, including vegetation surveys, measures of plant and water spectral reflectance, phytoplankton samples, recordings of bird and frog calls and environmental DNA.
प्रकाशित : 2 साल पहले द्वारा में Science
Understanding and conserving biodiversity, or the variety of life in ecosystems, is key to sustaining life on Earth.
A research project funded by NASA that is launching this week in South Africa, co-led by UC Merced environmental engineering Professor Erin Hestir, is aimed at better understanding the biodiversity of the region and providing new mapping tools that could be used on a global scale.
BioSCape, a collaboration between the U.S. and South Africa, will run through 2024, with most of the data collected through the end of this year. Hestir is working with geography Professor Adam Wilson of the University of Buffalo and scientists at the University of Cape Town to lead the project.
"Planet Earth is special," Hestir said. "It is still the only place we know of in the universe that hosts life. And it is the diversity of that life on Earth that supports our ability to live and thrive here. BioSCape is a unique opportunity to advance international scientific collaboration using state-of-the-art technology to tackle one of the greatest challenges facing us today: conserving biodiversity to sustain life on Earth."
NASA aircraft will conduct surveys and collect data, which will be analyzed along with a vast range of biodiversity-related field observations, including vegetation surveys, measures of plant and water spectral reflectance, phytoplankton samples, recordings of bird and frog calls and environmental DNA.
"BioSCape … will help reveal new insights about the biodiversity of one of the most diverse regions on Earth and provide new tools for mapping and monitoring it," said Jasper Slingsby, the South African lead scientist and lecturer at the University of Cape Town. "This information will be essential for supporting effective biodiversity conservation and management strategies for the region."
विषय: Africa, Space, NASA, ESG