A key problem in developing policies to stop biodiversity loss is translating threats into a tangible factor for decision-making. RUBICODE will contribute to solving this by examining what biodiversity does for us. Biological units that provide specific services to society will be identified and their services valued, so that they can be compared with more traditional economic valuations. This will give decision-makers a more rational base and will help the understanding of the need for adequate conservation policies, which are essential to halting biodiversity loss.

Nature is fundamentally dynamic, as are the pressures of human activities on biodiversity, yet most conservation strategies still involve a static view of nature. For the realisation of future conservation objectives it is critical that new strategies and policies incorporate these dynamics. RUBICODE will address this by developing integrated dynamic concepts for conservation strategies and examples of their application at multiple scales.

RUBICODE will prioritise these strategies for the most significant European terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems by reviewing the impacts of global change on those components of biodiversity essential for maintaining ecosystem services. Important and threatened services will be identified and methods for relating biodiversity in dynamic ecosystems to the provision of these services will be compared and tested. Frameworks for linking biodiversity traits to service provision and for improving and testing indicators will be developed and used to explore management strategies and inform priorities for biodiversity conservation policy.

RUBICODE will also identify current gaps in knowledge and propose a roadmap for future research. RUBICODE will involve a large number of external experts, and stakeholders from policy and practice communities, to ensure the relevance of the new concepts, their integration into conservation and to help with their dissemination.