Approximately 350,000 species of plants are known to science, and around 2 in 5 are thought to be threatened. However, comprehensive assessment and monitoring of the extinction risk of all plant species is an impossible task; currently, just 1 in 6 have global conservation assessments on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
While accurately and reliably automating individual species’ assessments remains an outstanding challenge, we can leverage machine learning techniques to predict which species are likely to be threatened, using their known characteristics (e.g. lifeform, geographic distribution and evolutionary history). By combining a Bayesian statistical approach with the machine learning classifier, we can also obtain robust uncertainty estimates for our species-level extinction risk estimates, making these predictions invaluable for conservation prioritisation and use in future research.
We can also use unsupervised learning to tease out hidden patterns in global biodiversity: in another recent work, we identified human-induced changes in global floristic bioregions (‘phytoregions’) by using a community network algorithm, Infomap, to analyse supergraphs representing the geographic distributions of all plant species.
In this AI for Good session, we will describe the challenges and opportunities for using machine learning in plant-focused conservation science and present the results of recent work by the Conservation Assessment and Analysis team at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (United Kingdom).
Speakers:
Matilda Brown
Conservation Science Analyst
Royal Botanic Gardens
Moderator(s):
Mike Gill
Director
NatureServe’s Biodiversity Indicators Program
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We have less than 10 years to solve the UN SDGs and AI holds great promise to advance many of the sustainable development goals and targets.
More than a Summit, more than a movement, AI for Good is presented as a year round digital platform where AI innovators and problem owners learn, build and connect to help identify practical AI solutions to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
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Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed are those of the panelists and do not reflect the official policy of the ITU.
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