The Biodiversity Section undertakes research and monitoring to provide advice to support the maintenance of biological diversity both at national and international levels, specifically in support of Denmark’s national biodiversity action plan. The activities of the Section fall into two broad categories, biodiversity research and maintenance of Topic Centre for Biodiversity and Terrestrial Nature.

Biodiversity Research

comprises the following main themes:

• development of modelling tools the predict responses of plant communities to natural and man-induced change.
• the study of small, fragmented and otherwise threatened populations of organisms, using a variety of approaches, including genetics, landscape ecology modelling and linkages in fragmented landscapes
• macro ecological studies and pattern analysis of biodiversity at large spatial scales to understand the factors that affect pattern and process
• development of models to support environmental impact assessment with regard to effects on biodiversity

Topic Centre for Biodiversity and Terrestrial Nature

• Continued development of NOVANA (the National Programme for Monitoring of Aquatic Environment and Nature)
• establishing criteria for favourable conservation status for all taxa,
• developing methods for evaluating conservation status of relevant species
• targeting measures to improve the conservation status of rare and declining organisms
• developing models and methods for the analysis of such data
• cyclic production and review of Danish national Red Lists
• reporting national progress and the results of international collaborations.

Flemming Skov 

Director of Research Department, PhD