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  • May 24, 2024

How AI will revolutionize the preservation of biodiversity

  • Insectarium
Photo: Espace pour la vie
How AI will revolutionize the preservation of biodiversity

In our efforts to safeguard biodiversity, artificial intelligence (AI) will prove to be an invaluable ally, according to a group of scientists from around the world – one of them being Insectarium director Maxim Larrivée.

Those scientists have just published the study “Towards a standardized framework for AI-assisted, image-based monitoring of nocturnal insects.”

Vision 360

This is a worldwide initiative involving various renowned institutions – among them the Insectarium, Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, Université Laval, Université de Sherbrooke, the Vermont Center for Ecostudies and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology – that has made it possible to deploy automated biodiversity monitoring stations on almost every continent, targeting tropical regions in particular, rich in biodiversity but under-documented.

Automated biodiversity monitoring stations have the potential to expand and standardize biodiversity monitoring on a planetary scale, notably with insects. Powered by solar energy and operating autonomously for several months at a time, they integrate high-resolution cameras for photographing insects as well as acoustic equipment for recording bird and bat sounds.

According to these scientists, automated stations offer many advantages: they generate and process large quantities of standardized data over the long term; they’re non-lethal, with no need for field inventories; and they guarantee greater reliability than conventional field studies.

AI in the service of biodiversity

The enormous volume of data generated by automated stations is then processed and classified by AI in an open-data management system inspired by concepts of community science and mega-data management. Thanks to artificial-intelligence software, scientists can train computer systems to recognize species based on the pictures and recordings they collect. These data will enable researchers to discover, quantify and identify areas where biodiversity is threatened and the main factors for change, and to develop solutions for sustainable management of local habitats.