AI for Biodiversity - Part 1

I tried an experiment today to use AI to help enhance our biodiversity plan. 

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) publishes a “Red List” of threatened species - This is the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global extinction risk status of animal, fungus and plant species. 

The IUCN classifies species using the following categories.

I ran a report on the IUCN red list of  Near Threatened (or worse) status species (excluding Fungi and Marine wildlife!) that are native to Normandy, our home base.

The search tool allows you to also specify geographic boundaries. Which is useful because Normandy habitat is very different from the Mediterranean, in the South of France!

This provided a list of 62 species.

The IUCN search provides statistics on the search results. Here we see the types of habitat preferred by the 62 species in the search results. Forest, grassland and wetlands are the top 3, which is a good match for our region.

The search tool also describes the threats experienced by the species in the results. 

From a review of the downloaded data, common threat themes are,

• Habitat degradation (logging, drainage, urbanisation, loss of old trees), 

• Agriculture (intensification, grazing shifts, nitrogen/pesticides), 

• Climate change (droughts, warming, sea level rise), and 

• Invasive species or disease (pathogens, alien mammals/insects).

And of course, many species are hit by a combination of several threats - e.g. water voles are impacted by addition of drainage, invasive competitors, and rodenticide poisoning.

With that said, here are 12 species ChatGPT proposes we focus on supporting.

🦇 Mammals

Arvicola sapidus (Water vole)  — Near Threatened

Tied to river margins and wet ditches; responds well to bank and marginal vegetation improvements.

• Create/retain soft, vegetated banks with tall marginal herb cover; avoid bank hardening

• Maintain low-intensity grazing/mowing set back from the bank

• Leave tussocks and sedges; install riparian buffers to reduce runoff and siltation.

Erinaceus europaeus (Western hedgehog) — Near Threatened

Benefits from rough grass, hedgehog highways (gaps under fences), bramble/stacked brush for nesting. Very achievable.

• Leave brush piles, keep some long-grass patches

• Create fence gaps (~13×13 cm) between enclosures

• Avoid slug pellets

Miniopterus schreibersii — Schreibers’ (bent-winged) bat (and other bats) — Vulnerable / regionally threatened

Forages along linear features (river corridors, hedgerows) and roosts in buildings/caves; benefits from insect-rich riparian foraging habitat.

• Keep dark/quiet corridors along the river; Reduce night lighting

• Install bat boxes on mature trees / buildings

• Retain insect-rich margins.

🐸 Amphibians &  Reptiles

Salamandra salamandra (fire salamander) — Vulnerable

Prefers moist woodlands, shaded streams, leaf litter and log cover — typical of rewilded deciduous patches.

• Keep shaded, humid microhabitats

• Create log piles, small shady ponds or seepages

• Avoid drainage and liming

Triturus marmoratus (marbled newt) — Vulnerable

Uses well-vegetated ponds and adjacent terrestrial habitat (woodland/hedges). A curated pond network helps amphibians.

• Create fish-free ponds with gradual margins and aquatic vegetation

• Keep terrestrial corridors and shady shelter (logs, stones)

• Avoid pesticides.

Vipera aspis — asp viper — (status present in your CSV — check local guidance)

Needs a mosaic of open, sunny basking spots and sheltered cover — feasible in a mosaic of scrub, sunny edges and stone piles.

• Create sun-exposed patches, coarse stone piles and undisturbed tussocks; 

• Check local legal protections and safety/regulation before any active encouragement (and let neighbors/visitors know).

🐌 Mollusks

Omphiscola glabra — a freshwater pond snail — Near Threatened

Depends on seasonal, unpolluted grazing ponds and wet ditches.

• Create a few shallow, seasonal scrapes / ephemeral pools 

• Avoid heavy fertiliser / pesticide use.

🦋 Insects

Coenagrion mercuriale (southern / scarce damselfly) — Vulnerable 

Feasible where there are unshaded, slow flowing streams or wet ditches & grazed wet meadow — small hydrological fixes support metapopulations.

• Restore slow ditches/creeks, create unshaded shallow margins, manage shade (cut low scrub intermittently)

• Avoid fertilizer runoff

hoverflies / moths / ground-nesting  bees — Varies

Many invertebrates respond quickly to flower-rich meadows, deadwood, rot holes, and pond mosaics. Small habitat patches can create local refuges.

• Create rotational wildflower meadows, retain deadwood, leave bare ground patches, create diversity of microhabitats

• Map and remove invasive plants

Limoniscus violaceus / Osmoderma eremita — hermit saproxylic (deadwood-dependent) beetle — Endangered

Depends on veteran deciduous trees and hollow trunks — a long-term but high-value target.

• Retain and protect veteran oak and other native broadleaves

• Create standing deadwood and artificial logs

• Leave pollards/stumps and avoid removing hollow trees

🌱 Plants

Eryngium viviparum (Wetland plant) - Threatened in Europe

Small seasonal pools and grazed wet grassland support this kind of specialist.

• Protect a few small, unshaded seasonal pools and manage adjacent meadow by low-intensity grazing/mowing.

Juncus heterophyllus (Rush species) — Near Threatened

Favourable to river margins and fresh marsh—good for riparian buffer design.

• Incorporate native rushes into marginal plantings and leave uncut buffer belts.

I was surprised by some omissions on this list - Where are the birds?

In my next article, I will aggregate the most impactful microclimates / conditions, identify which we have already established and build an action plan where we can further improve / align with encouraging these species.