Biodiversity Building Blocks for policy

Project Information

B3

Grant agreement ID: 101059592

DOI

10.3030/101059592

EC signature date 5 December 2022

Start date 1 March 2023

End date 31 August 2026

Funded under

• Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Total cost

€ 4 853 333,75

EU contribution

€ 4 778 526,50

Coordinated by

AGENTSCHAP PLANTENTUIN MEISE
Belgium

CORDIS provides links to public deliverables and publications of HORIZON projects.

Links to deliverables and publications from FP7 projects, as well as links to some specific result types such as dataset and software, are dynamically retrieved from OpenAIRE .

Deliverables

Documents, reports (20)

Risk management

Risk management reviews: updated risk register communicated to Executive Board and beneficiaries

Inception report

Inception Report detailing the results of the Kick-off meeting

Quality requirements for software

Quality requirements for software including high-level requirements to ensure that software and resulting data products meet the intended purpose and interoperable. The deliverable will cover software development aspects such as versioning, community contributions, review practices, testing, and documentation.

Updated Plan for Exploitation, Dissemination and Communication (PEDCOM)

An updated report from month 6 that will detail the actions of communication and their effectiveness based upon the key performance indicators.

Third Annual General Assembly report
Biodiversity indicators

Report of the workflow of the implemented biodiversity indicators form data cubes. With guidance to users of the software on its use and limitations.

Phylogenetic diversity

Report of the indicators of phylogenetic diversity created from data cubes combined with phylogenetic trees in automated workflows.

Robustness assessment

Report of the indicators of robustness assessments with the aim of providing guidance to users of B3 products about the reliability of the indicators under different circumstances.

Software specifications

Documented specification of species occurrence cube format, algorithms, parameterization and metadata. This deliverable will ensure that the species occurrence cube format is interoperable with other data cube data, particularly cubes of environmental variables. It will specify which parameters should be configurable and the default values for these parameters.

Risk Register update

An update to the risk management reviews: updated risk register communicated to the Executive Board and beneficiaries.

Work plan and SOP

Project Work Plan and Standard Operational Procedures that will expand upon the plan outlined in the proposal.

Landscape analysis

A working paper on landscape analysis of biodiversity monitoring globally. Summarizing the global situation for monitoring and predicting biodiversity change from the perspective of national governments, global organizations and global infrastructures.

Hackathon results

This report will detail the results of the hackathon and the ideas that were generated. It will summarize the projects under taken during the hackathon and the lessons learned.

FAIR guidelines

Guidelines on the FAIR and open depositing of data products to ensure that B3 data cubes are compatible with the EBV Data Portal and other outlets for data cube dissemination.

Second Annual General Assembly report
Report European policy

A report on the needs for European biodiversity policy related to biodiversity data cubes and monitoring, seeking synergies with EuropaBON, sister projects of B3 in Horizon Europe and other stakeholders including European NGOs and SMEs related to biodiversity data.

Documentation on modeled data cubes

Workflow documentation on modelled data cubes will contain all workflows that are considered under Task 4.1–4.3.

Invasive Alien Species

Report of the indicators of impacts of invasive alien species detailing the algorithms used how successful they were on different species.

Plan for Exploitation, Dissemination and Communication

This report will detail the actions of communication and the key performance indicators that measure their effectiveness.

Data quality

Report on the criteria for data quality and species characteristics for estimating species status and trends. Including, issues related to the quality of source data, such as its taxonomic, temporal and spatial resolution, but also errors in the data and the heterogeneity of data sources.

Websites, patent fillings, videos etc. (2)

Promotional material

Project branding, a project website and promotional materials will be created for the project with a harmonized style and branding.

SOC documentation

This deliverable will provide user focused documentation on using species occurrence cubes, the software to create them and their use in various workflows and different cloud providers. This will be provided as a public, searchable and peer-reviewed documentation website for the B3 toolbox.

Demonstrators, pilots, prototypes (1)

Occurrence cube implementation

Software (TRL 6) to create species occurrence cubes that can be run by the partners. The result will be a working prototype of the software ready for use by subsequent work packages of the project where it will be thoroughly tested.

Other (1)

Public services

Publicly deployed and documented service (TRL 8) for users to create species occurrence cubes based on their parameterization, resulting in a cube that is stored in the cloud and accessible via a DOI

Data Management Plan (1)

Data Management Plan

Creating and implementation of the data management plan for B3. Detailing the specific measures we will take to ensure that the project complies to Open Science principles. This deliverable with specify the kinds of outputs of the project, the licenses under which outputs will be disseminated and the data standards to be used.

Publications

Peer reviewed articles (20)

An automated workflow to standardise taxon names for South African alien species lists

Author(s): Katelyn Faulkner
Published in: African Biodiversity & Conservation, Issue 56, 2026, ISSN 3078-8056
Publisher: South African National Biodiversity Institute
DOI: 10.38201/ABC.V56.2.A2

Mapping potential environmental impacts of alien species in the face of climate change

Author(s): Sabrina Kumschick, Lysandre Journiac, Océane Boulesnane-Genguant, Christophe Botella, Robin Pouteau, Mathieu Rouget
Published in: Biological Invasions, Issue 27, 2025, ISSN 1387-3547
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
DOI: 10.1007/S10530-024-03490-4

Creating the vision of rapid, repeatable, reactive data workflows for policy on biodiversity

Author(s): Quentin Groom, Laura Abraham, Tim Adriaens, Lissa Breugelmans, David A. Clarke, Michele Di Musciano, Shawn Dove, Lina M. Estupinan‐Suarez, Katelyn T. Faulkner, Miguel Fernandez, Louise A. Hendrickx, Cang Hui, Alexis Joly, Sabrina Kumschick, Ward Langeraert, Matilde Martini, Joe Miller, Damiano Oldoni, Henrique Pereira, Cristina Preda, Tim Robertson, Duccio Rocchini, Andrew Rodrigues, Maxime Ryckewaert, Hanno Seebens, Yanina V. Sica, Heliana Teixeira, Maarten Trekels, Toon Vandaele, John R. U. Wilson, Tsungai Zengeya, Peter Desmet
Published in: Ecological Solutions and Evidence, Issue 6, 2025, ISSN 2688-8319
Publisher: Wiley
DOI: 10.1002/2688-8319.70113

A quixotic view of spatial bias in modelling the distribution of species and their diversity

Author(s): Rocchini, D., Tordoni, E., Marchetto, E. et al.
Published in: npj biodiversity, Issue 2, 2023, ISSN 2731-4243
Publisher: Springer Nature
DOI: 10.1038/s44185-023-00014-6

Biogeographical patterns and compositional turnover of African vascular plants

Author(s): Thinabakho R L Ncube, Jon C Lovett, Helen M De Klerk, Cang Hui
Published in: Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2026, ISSN 0024-4074
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
DOI: 10.1093/BOTLINNEAN/BOAF106

Lessons and challenges in creating alien species lists: insights from South Africa’s national reports on the status and management of biological invasions

Author(s): Tsungai A. Zengeya, Katelyn T. Faulkner, Masingitla P. Mtileni, John R. U. Wilson
Published in: NeoBiota, Issue 101, 2025, ISSN 1314-2488
Publisher: Pensoft Publishers
DOI: 10.3897/NEOBIOTA.101.162932

Considerations for developing and implementing a safe list for alien taxa

Author(s): Kumschick S, Fernandez Winzer L, McCulloch-Jones EJ, Chetty D, Fried J, Govender T, Potgieter LJ, Rapetsoa MC, Richardson DM, van Velden J, van der Colff D, Miza S, Wilson JRU
Published in: Bioscience, Issue 74 (2), 2024, ISSN 1525-3244
Publisher: Oxford University Press
DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biad118

Disentangling the relationships among abundance, invasiveness and invasibility in trait space

Author(s): Hui, C., Pyšek, P. & Richardson, D.M.
Published in: npj Biodiversity, Issue 2, 2023, ISSN 2731-4243
Publisher: Springer Nature
DOI: 10.1038/S44185-023-00019-1

Spatialising the ecological impacts of alien species into risk maps

Author(s): Océane Boulesnane-Guengant, Mathieu Rouget, Antoine Becker-Scarpitta, Christophe Botella, Sabrina Kumschick
Published in: Global Ecology and Conservation, Issue 61, 2025, ISSN 2351-9894
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.1016/J.GECCO.2025.E03660

Editorial: Biodiversity informatics: building a lifeboat for high functionality data to decision pipeline

Author(s): Hui, C., MacFadyen, S., Visser, V., Groom, Q., & Isaac, N.J.B.
Published in: Frontiers in Ecology & Evolution, Issue 12, 2024, ISSN 2296-701X
Publisher: Frontiers
DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2024.1386917

Methods in Ecology and Evolution

Author(s): Latombe, G., Boittiaux, P., Hui, C., & McGeoch, M.
Published in: Methods in Ecology & Evolution, Issue 15 (4), 2024, ISSN 2041-210X
Publisher: Wiley
DOI: 10.1111/2041-210X.14246

On the mathematical properties of spatial Rao’s Q to compute ecosystem heterogeneity

Author(s): Duccio Rocchini, Michele Torresani, Carlo Ricotta
Published in: Theoretical Ecology, Issue 17, 2024, ISSN 1874-1738
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
DOI: 10.1007/S12080-024-00587-3

Drivers of compositional turnover of the non-native urban flora in the Western Cape, South Africa

Author(s): Christiaan P. Gildenhuys, Luke J. Potgieter, Cang Hui, David M. Richardson
Published in: Urban Ecosystems, Issue 29, 2026, ISSN 1083-8155
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
DOI: 10.1007/S11252-026-01919-3

Deriving inventories of non-native plant species from iNaturalist: Insights from urban centres of the Western Cape, South Africa

Author(s): Christiaan P. Gildenhuys; Luke J. Potgieter; Cang Hui; David M. Richardson
Published in: NeoBiota, Issue 104, 27-58, 2025, ISSN 1314-2488
Publisher: PENSOFT
DOI: 10.3897/NEOBIOTA.104.155832

On the Fractal Dimension of Ecotones Among African Vascular Plants

Author(s): Thinabakho R. L. Ncube, Jon C. Lovett, Helen M. De Klerk, Cang Hui
Published in: Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Issue 110, 2025, ISSN 2162-4372
Publisher: Missouri Botanical Garden Press
DOI: 10.3417/2025866

One-hectare fine-scale dataset of a fynbos plant community in the Cape Floristic Region

Author(s): Jan-Hendrik Keet, Cang Hui
Published in: Data in Brief, Issue 59, 2025, ISSN 2352-3409
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2025.111334

Under the mantra: ‘Make use of colorblind friendly graphs’

Author(s): Rocchini, D.; Chieffallo, L; Thouverai, E;
Published in: Environmetrics, Issue 6, 2024, ISSN 1099-095X
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd
DOI: 10.1002/ENV.2877

From detection to action—a proposed workflow to ensure first reports of alien species from molecular analyses are acted upon

Author(s): Laura Fernández Winzer, Katelyn T. Faulkner, Trudy Paap, John R. U. Wilson
Published in: NeoBiota, Issue 104, 2025, ISSN 1314-2488
Publisher: Pensoft Publishers
DOI: 10.3897/NEOBIOTA.104.162310

Machine learning for biodiversity: UAV-based flower detection as an indirect proxy for bee abundance

Author(s): Ludovico Chieffallo, Michele Torresani, Piero Zannini, Jan Peter Reinier de Vries, Marharyta Blaha, Alessio Monacchia, David Kleijn, Duccio Rocchini
Published in: Ecological Informatics, Issue 91, 2025, ISSN 1574-9541
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.1016/J.ECOINF.2025.103346

USE it: Uniformly sampling pseudo-absences within the environmental space for applications in habitat suitability models

Author(s): Da Re, D., Tordoni, E., Lenoir, J.,Lembrechts, J. J., Vanwambeke, S. O., Rocchini, D., &Bazzichetto, M.
Published in: Methods in Ecology and Evolution, Issue 14, 2023, ISSN 2041-210X
Publisher: British Ecological Society
DOI: 10.1111/2041-210X.14209

Other (13)

Policy Brief: Unlocking The Full Potential Of The Green Deal Data Space

Author(s): Schleidt K., Serral I., de la Vega D., Maso J., Jetschny S., Groom Q., Beber R., Bastin L., Estupinan-Suarez L. M.
Published in: 2025
Publisher: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.15585325

An analysis of sex ratios using a biodiversity data cube

Author(s): Groom, Q. J., & Trekels, M.
Published in: BioHackrXiv Preprints, 2024
Publisher: BioHackrXiv
DOI: 10.37044/osf.io/9kcfx

Extinction potential from invasive alien species

Author(s): Martin Philippe-Lesaffre, Ugo Arbieu, Alok Bang, Morelia Camacho, Ross N. Cuthbert, Piero Genovesi, Sabrina Kumschick, Arman Pili, Hanno Seebens, Shengyu Wang, Guillaume Latombe
Published in: 2024
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
DOI: 10.1101/2024.09.01.610685

Unveiling ecological dynamics through simulation and visualization of biodiversity data cubes

Author(s): Ward Langeraert, Wissam Barhdadi, Dimitri Brosens, Rocìo Cortès, Peter Desmet, Michele Di Musciano, Chandra Earl, Sanne Govaert, Pieter Huybrechts, Matilde Martini, Arthur Vinícius Rodrigues, Annegreet Veeken, Mukhtar Muhammed Yahaya, Toon Van Daele
Published in: 2024
Publisher: Center for Open Science
DOI: 10.37044/OSF.IO/VCYR7

Bridging Biodiversity and Health: The Global Biodiversity Information Facility’s initiative on open data on vectors of human diseases

Author(s): Paloma Shimabukuro, Quentin Groom, Florence Fouque, Lindsay Campbell, Theeraphap Chareonviriyaphap, Josiane Etang, Sylvie Manguin, Marianne Sinka, Dmitry Schigel, Kate Ingenloff
Published in: Gigabyte, Issue 2024, 2024, ISSN 2709-4715
Publisher: GigaScience Press
DOI: 10.46471/GIGABYTE.117

Effective biodiversity monitoring requires FAIR data and FAIR models for FAIR indicators (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) [Policy Brief]

Author(s): Sica, Y., Seebens, H., Fernandez, M., Hughes, A. C., Cang, H., Kumschick, S., Estupinan-Suarez, L. M., Groom, Q., Niamir, A., Gudde, R., Krug, R. M., Hendrickx, L., Yovcheva, N., Gill, M. J., Rodrigues, A., Gonzalez, A.
Published in: 2024
Publisher: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.13912947

Mapping impacts of alien species on biodiversity in the face of climate change

Author(s): Kumschick, S., Journiac, L., Boulesnane-Genguant, O., Botella, C., Pouteau, R., Rouget, M.
Published in: Research Square, 2024, ISSN 2693-5015
Publisher: Research Square
DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4437291/v1

Phenological Diversity Trends with Remote Sensing Datacubes

Author(s): Elliot Samuel Shayle, Matteo Marcantonio, Rocco Labadessa, Chiara Richiardi, Saverio Vicario
Published in: 2024
Publisher: Center for Open Science
DOI: 10.37044/OSF.IO/PQFWS

Why countries need the Global Biodiversity Information Facility: Lessons from Belgium [policy brief]

Author(s): Groom Q., Adriaens T., Desmet P., Vanderhoeven S., Yovcheva N.
Published in: 2025
Publisher: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.16890980

B-Cubed: Leveraging Analysis-Ready Biodiversity Datasets and Cloud Computing for Timely and Actionable Biodiversity Monitoring

Author(s): Groom Q, Abraham L, Adriaens T, Breugelmans L, Clarke DA, Fernández MA, Hendrickx L, Hui C, Kumschick S, Martini M, McGeoch M, Metodiev T, Miller J, Oldoni D, Pereira HM, Preda C, Robertson T, Rocchini D, Seebens H, Teixeira H, Trekels M, Wilson JR, Yovch
Published in: Biodiversity Information Science and Standards, Issue 7, 2023, ISSN 2535-0897
Publisher: Pensoft Publishers
DOI: 10.3897/BISS.7.110734

Extinction potential from invasive alien species

Author(s): Martin, P.-L., Arbieu, U., Bang, A., Camacho, M., Cuthbert, R. N., Genovesi, P., Kumschick, S., Pili, A., Seebens, H., Wang, S., Latombe, G.
Published in: bioRxiv, 2024
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

A kernel integral method to remove biases in estimating trait turnover

Author(s): Guillaume Latombe, Paul Boittiaux, Cang Hui, Melodie McGeoch
Published in: 2023
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.28.534538

Applying the maximum entropy principle to neural networks enhances multi-species distribution models

Author(s): Ryckewaert, M., Marcos, D., Botella, C., Servajean, M., Bonnet, P., Joly, A.
Published in: 2024
Publisher: arxiv
DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2412.19217