Advances in Remote Sensing of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Biodiversity and ecosystem services (ES) are fundamental for sustaining life, well-being, and climate resilience. Earth Observation (EO) technologies now play an increasingly important role in monitoring biodiversity change, quantifying ecosystem functions, and assessing the benefits ecosystems provide to people. Recent advances in remote sensing—from UAVs and high-resolution optical sensors to radar, LiDAR, imaging spectroscopy, and time-series analyses—offer excellent opportunities to understand,
map, and model the complex interactions between ecosystems, human activities, and climate processes.

This first dedicated EARSeL special session on remote sensing of biodiversity and ecosystem services aims to build a broad, inclusive community that connects researchers, practitioners, and decision-makers across disciplines. It welcomes studies focusing on methods, datasets or applications that use remote sensing to observe, model, or assess biodiversity patterns, ecological processes, or ecosystem services in any environment—terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, or urban.

We particularly invite contributions that:

• Explore new EO data sources, sensors, and derived products relevant for
  biodiversity and ES monitoring.
• Present innovative algorithms, modelling approaches, and machine learning
  methods.
• Integrate EO data with field observations, ecological models, or socio-economic
  information.
• Demonstrate practical applications for nature-based solutions, conservation,
  restoration, or policy frameworks such as the UN Sustainable Development
  Goals, EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030, and SEEA Ecosystem Accounting.
• Promote open data, reproducibility, and collaborative approaches across the
  European and international EO community.