Living Laboratory for Biodiversity Monitoring at UBC Farm

Project team

Dr. Matthew Mitchell, NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow, IRES, Liu Institute, and Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm

Dr. Hannah Wittman, Academic Director, Centre for Sustainable Food Systems

Dr. Laura Morillas Gonzalez, Research Manager, Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm

Widespread biodiversity loss is occurring rapidly worldwide, often driven by agricultural activities. At the same time, the “wild” or unplanned species diversity present in agricultural systems contributes to critical environmental processes. It provides various ecosystem services (pollination, pest management, and climate mitigation) that underlie food production and benefit people.

Launched in 2019, the Living Laboratory for Biodiversity Monitoring creates an agricultural biodiversity monitoring node at UBC Farm. The node integrates research, teaching, and outreach through long-term biodiversity monitoring and connects to the broader goals and policies of the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems and UBC.

The project monitors three key dimensions of biodiversity at the UBC Farm: landscape/habitat diversity, crop diversity, and the “wild” or unplanned species diversity. Additionally, collecting information on farm management indicators informs the links between management actions and local changes in biodiversity.

The Living Laboratory for Biodiversity Monitoring project provides new opportunities for classes, students, and the wider UBC and Vancouver community to be directly involved in biodiversity monitoring and citizen science at the UBC Farm by enabling the facilitation of experiential teaching techniques that expose students to practical field methods for the assessment of the ecological and production outcomes on diversified farms.

The project also aids in improving farm management decisions to conserve and promote biodiversity at UBC Farm that is supported by solid and comprehensive scientific evidence by enhancing the ability to prototype, test, and operationalize biodiversity monitoring methods at the UBC Farm for application at farms around British Columbia and North America through the Centre for Sustainable Food System’s research network.

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