MOTIVATE

1) Wider research context / theoretical framework Reversing the biodiversity crisis requires a precise quantification of the spatial patterns and temporal trends of biodiversity loss. Monitoring biodiversity status and trends is therefore crucial, and is at the heart of EUs environmental legislation. After the establishment of Natura 2000 network, a capillary system has been set in place for monitoring the change in extent and quality of more than 230 habitat types, together with status and trends of the more than 1,000 Annex species identified by the Habitats Directive that on these habitats depend. While the current reporting system of Natura 2000 habitats has proved extremely useful, there is significant room for improving its consistency across member states, the level of detail on habitat quality and extent, and the integration across data sources overall. 2) Hypotheses/research questions/objectives MOTIVATE aims at improving the characterisation and reporting on the state and trends of European habitats and plant biodiversity, so to provide a deeper understanding of the pressures and drivers underlying biodiversity changes in Europe. 3) Approach/methods MOTIVATE will integrate expertise and techniques across different knowledge domains, namely vegetation science, biodiversity modelling, remote sensing and human geography. At its core, MOTIVE will leverage on a database of vegetation-plot time series that we have already compiled in a parallel community-owned initiative, called ReSurveyEurope, as an on-the-ground integration to ongoing Natura 2000 monitoring. These data will be used to produce both habitat-specific and species-specific assessments of plant biodiversity status and trends. Besides, MOTIVATE will also establish pipelines to collect additional vegetation-plot time series in the future, and invest in capacity building to secure the involvement of a future generation of botanists in the prosecution of ongoing time-series. Knowledge exchange will be sought for to explore how biodiversity data can be integrated with broader stakeholder perceptions to improve how monitoring data is put into practice by decision-makers. Crucial to MOTIVATEs mission is also co-designing a data information platform that can facilitate future reporting of biodiversity change indicators. 4) Level of originality / innovation This platform will link local time series to spatial information on habitat extent and potential drivers from remote sensing, and to the institutional Natura 2000 reporting schemes, therefore improving their standardisation and practical usability for nature conservation managers and decision makers. In summary, MOTIVATE strives to develop a novel, integrated, transboundary, transdisciplinary and transgenerational approach to biodiversity monitoring 5) Primary researchers involved The team of MOTIVATE consists of 8 project partners from six European countries.