Pinpointing changes in biodiversity
© Karma Sherub
Pinpointing changes in biodiversity
The WildinSync initiative, launched at ETH Zurich, is monitoring global trends in biodiversity – using eDNA, satellite data and artificial intelligence.
The diversity of species on Earth is vast, and it underpins healthy, stable ecosystems, clean water, fertile soils and diverse food sources. But this biodiversity is under threat. The destruction of valuable habitats, overexploitation, pollution and, increasingly, climate change are the main causes of global species loss. In Switzerland alone, over a third of species and more than half of all habitat types are at risk. Governments and private actors around the world are implementing locally adapted measures to preserve biodiversity. But to assess the effectiveness of these efforts, we need robust indicators. This is precisely where WildinSync, a project led by ETH Professor Loïc Pellissier, comes in.
Following genetic traces
At the heart of the initiative is the aim to document changes in biodiversity on land and in water across the globe. The key technology is known as eDNA (environmental DNA): genetic traces that organisms leave in their environment and which can be detected over long distances. Unlike conventional methods, eDNA samples can capture the genetic fingerprint of entire ecosystems. When combined with satellite imagery and AI-powered data analysis, this enables researchers to generate highly detailed insights.
© Loïc Pellissier
“Technology alone is not enough. We need an international network that shares knowledge and takes collective responsibility.”
In addition to advancing the collection and analysis of eDNA, the initiative seeks to build a global network of researchers and stakeholders to measure and monitor biodiversity across a wide range of sites – in real time and across borders. “Technology alone is not enough. We need an international network that shares knowledge and takes collective responsibility,” says Loïc Pellissier, whose research group on Ecosystems and Landscape Evolution at ETH Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL studies the links between landscape development and biodiversity.
WildinSync already collaborates with partner institutions on four continents – from Colombia to Bhutan – and aims to expand this network to over 50 countries by 2030. The initiative is also building capacity to ensure data collection is broadly accessible and to avoid creating dependencies. Biodiversity monitoring can only function in a decentralised, long-term and equitable way if knowledge and infrastructure are shared – especially in regions that have been virtually excluded from global research networks or had insufficient say in decision-making processes.
An early warning system for biodiversity
WildinSync aims to make ETH-developed technologies – such as eDNA sampling and analysis equipment, as well as expertise in operating biobanks – available to researchers worldwide and to establish a shared database. In addition to eDNA samples from rivers, lakes and soils, satellite data provides crucial information on changes in vegetation, such as deforestation or urban sprawl. With the help of artificial intelligence, researchers can analyse the enormous data volumes from eDNA and satellite sources, detect patterns and make predictions about how biodiversity might change in the areas studied.
Standardised, high-resolution biodiversity data from thousands of monitoring sites opens up a wide range of applications: it can serve as a benchmark for species decline, the emergence of diseases or the spread of invasive species. Reliable data is crucial for making the scale of biodiversity loss visible – to the public, policymakers and the business community alike. It also reveals whether conservation measures are effective, whether international commitments are being met, and where habitats are recovering or diversity is returning. In this way, WildinSync functions as an early warning system. “Nature doesn’t change overnight. We want to detect warning signals as early as possible,” Loïc Pellissier says. “Only those who understand what’s at stake can take the right action.”
The WildinSync initiative is a powerful example of the impact that cutting-edge research, interdisciplinary thinking and committed partnerships can have on tackling the major ecological challenges of our time. Also key to the process are far-sighted donors whose donations to the ETH Foundation make global diversity monitoring possible. These include the 1wild Foundation, Fondation Valery, JAF Foundation and PostFinance.
