Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute

The Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI) is an agency that monitors and reports on the status of biodiversity throughout the province of Alberta, Canada.艾伯塔生物多样性监测研究所（Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute，缩写 ABMI）是监测并报告加拿大艾伯塔省全境生物多样性状况的机构。

Based in Edmonton and funded equally by the Government of Alberta and the oil and gas industry, it acts as an early warning system for cumulative effects on biodiversity, and has been described as the largest project of its kind ever attempted in Canada.该机构总部设于埃德蒙顿，由艾伯塔省政府与油气产业各出资一半，充当生物多样性累积影响的预警系统，并被称为加拿大有史以来同类项目中规模最大的一个。

History

• Since the 1990s it was recognised that Alberta needed a comprehensive provincial biodiversity monitoring programme, but the province then lacked the capacity to run one.自 1990 年代以来，人们就认识到艾伯塔需要一套全面的省级生物多样性监测计划，但当时该省缺乏实施能力。
• Phase 1 of what was then the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Program ran from 1998 to 2002, funded by one million dollars in cash from forest industries, oil and gas industries, the provincial government and non-governmental organisations.当时名为「艾伯塔生物多样性监测计划」的第一阶段为 1998 至 2002 年，由林业、油气产业、省政府与非政府组织共同提供 100 万加元现金资助。
• A team of more than twenty scientists identified protocols to survey a broad diversity of biota, habitat structures, vegetation communities and landscape patterns within Alberta.一支由 20 余名科学家组成的团队制定了用于调查艾伯塔境内各类生物、生境结构、植被群落与景观格局的规程。
• Those protocols were reviewed by scientists from across North America and amalgamated into an integrated design intended to survey all elements effectively and efficiently.这些规程经北美各地科学家评议，并被整合为一套旨在高效且有效调查各类要素的整体设计。
• Between 1998 and 2003 researchers reviewed the literature on sampling terrestrial biota and habitat structures, covering vertebrates, forest structure and vascular plants, mosses, fungi and arthropods.1998 至 2003 年间，研究人员系统梳理了陆地生物与生境结构采样的文献，涵盖脊椎动物、森林结构与维管植物、苔藓、真菌与节肢动物。
• Researchers involved in that work included Dan Farr, Chris Shank, Rich Moses, Stan Boutin and Erin Bayne on vertebrates, and Phil Lee and Steve Hanus on forest structure and vascular plants.参与该项工作的研究者包括负责脊椎动物的 Dan Farr、Chris Shank、Rich Moses、Stan Boutin 与 Erin Bayne，以及负责森林结构与维管植物的 Phil Lee 与 Steve Hanus。
• Jennifer Doubt and Rene Belland worked on mosses, Anna-Liisa Sippola and Jogeir Stokland on fungi, and Neville Winchester, Bert Finnamore, Jeff Battigelli and Heather Proctor on arthropods.Jennifer Doubt 与 Rene Belland 负责苔藓，Anna-Liisa Sippola 与 Jogeir Stokland 负责真菌，Neville Winchester、Bert Finnamore、Jeff Battigelli 与 Heather Proctor 负责节肢动物。
• Jim Schieck, Chris Shank and Dan Farr combined these protocols into an integrated suite designed to be cost-effective and capable of monitoring a diversity of biota over broad spatial scales and long periods.Jim Schieck、Chris Shank 与 Dan Farr 把这些规程整合为一套方案，力求成本可控，并能在广阔空间尺度与长时间跨度上监测多样的生物类群。
• Phase 2, from 2003 to 2007, developed a prototype designed to test the protocols, develop systems and generate product streams for sponsors and potential clients, with 2003 funding of 675,000 dollars.2003 至 2007 年的第二阶段开发了一个原型，用以检验规程、建立系统并为资助方与潜在客户产出系列产品，2003 年的资助为 675,000 美元。
• In 2003 the programme worked with a small company in Saskatoon to develop equipment with highly sensitive microphones that record bird vocalisations digitally for later identification in the laboratory.2003 年，该计划与萨斯卡通的一家小公司合作开发了配备高灵敏麦克风的设备，可数字化录制鸟鸣，供日后在实验室中辨识。
• In 2006 the programme published A Manual for Estimating Biodiversity Intactness, describing the method and giving a worked example.2006 年，该计划发布《生物多样性完整度估算手册》，说明方法并给出算例。
• With ABMI funding, researchers from the Alberta Research Council and the University of Alberta used winter mammal tracking sites in the boreal forest to measure biodiversity intactness as a baseline, finding the southern boreal forest had the lowest intactness.在 ABMI 资助下，艾伯塔研究理事会与艾伯塔大学的研究者利用北方森林的冬季兽类踪迹样地测量生物多样性完整度作为基线，发现南部北方森林的完整度最低。
• From 2007 until 1 April 2013 the institute's financing and administration were not self-managed but depended on the University of Alberta's systems.2007 年至 2013 年 4 月 1 日期间，该研究所的财务与行政管理并非自主，而是依赖艾伯塔大学的系统。
• In 2012 the Province of Alberta passed legislation enabling the institute to generate and collect funds to finance its programme.2012 年，艾伯塔省通过立法，使该研究所能够自行筹集与收取资金以支持其计划。
• By 2013 private sector payments had risen to 4,190,445 dollars from 2,896,000 dollars in 2012, while the Government of Alberta increased its contribution to 5,305,000 dollars from 5,205,000 dollars.到 2013 年，私营部门付款从 2012 年的 289.6 万加元增至 419.0445 万加元，艾伯塔省政府的拨款则从 520.5 万加元增至 530.5 万加元。
• In the same period the Government of Canada reduced its funding to zero.同一时期，加拿大联邦政府的资助削减为零。
• A 2014 ABMI report commissioned by the Canadian Oilsands Innovation Alliance showed a 20 per cent decline among bird species in northern Alberta, covering the Peace River, Fort McMurray and Cold Lake oil sands areas.2014 年由加拿大油砂创新联盟委托的 ABMI 报告显示，艾伯塔北部鸟类物种减少了两成，覆盖和平河、麦克默里堡与冷湖三个油砂区。

Mission and activities

• The institute monitors and reports on biodiversity status across the province, acting as an early warning system for the cumulative effects of change.该研究所在全省范围内监测并报告生物多样性状况，充当变化累积效应的预警系统。
• It monitors long-term, broad-scale changes in biodiversity, many of which occur slowly and are difficult to detect.它监测生物多样性的长期、大尺度变化，其中许多变化进展缓慢、难以察觉。
• It facilitates comparisons among geographic regions and feeds information into an adaptive management process so that resource managers can evaluate long-term sustainability.它促成不同地理区域之间的比较，并把信息输入适应性管理流程，使资源管理者能够评估长期的可持续性。
• Its information and analyses are used to delineate potential causal relationships between development events and changes in biodiversity.其信息与分析用于辨识开发活动与生物多样性变化之间可能的因果关系。
• It provides early warning of biodiversity change and is intended to reduce the cost of sustaining biodiversity by lessening the need for expensive species recovery programmes.它提供生物多样性变化的早期预警，并意在通过减少昂贵的物种恢复计划需求来降低维持生物多样性的成本。
• The basic survey design consists of 1,656 sites, 20 kilometres apart, evenly spaced on a grid across Alberta.其基本调查设计由 1,656 个样点构成，样点间距 20 公里，在艾伯塔全境按网格均匀布设。
• Sites are sampled over a five-year period at a rate of about 350 a year, with each site re-examined within a week's window to reduce seasonal variability.样点以约每年 350 个的进度在五年内完成一轮采样，每个样点再次调查时都限定在一周的窗口内，以减少季节差异。
• Standardised protocols cover a broad range of species and habitat elements in terrestrial and aquatic environments as well as landscape-level features.标准化规程涵盖陆地与水生环境中的大量物种与生境要素，以及景观层面的特征。
• An assessment comprises site visits, aerial photography and satellite imagery, producing a comprehensive snapshot of the province every five years.一次评估包含实地踏查、航空摄影与卫星影像，从而每五年形成一次全省的完整快照。
• The methodology uses a cumulative effects approach that attempts to link environmental stressors with the many indicators monitored.该方法采用累积效应思路，力求把环境压力源与所监测的众多指标联系起来。
• The health of more than 2,000 species is assessed through changes in habitats and human land use.通过对生境与人类土地利用变化的观察，评估 2,000 多个物种的健康状况。
• Researchers from the institute and the University of Alberta used the oil sands industry as a case study to challenge the economic prudence of costly equivalency-based biodiversity offset systems.该研究所与艾伯塔大学的研究者以油砂产业为案例，质疑代价高昂的「等值型」生物多样性补偿制度在经济上是否明智。
• Its 2014 report found that all six caribou herds in the oil sands region, including threatened boreal and endangered mountain caribou, declined by 4.6 to 15.2 per cent a year between 1993 and 2012.其 2014 年报告发现，油砂区全部六个驯鹿种群——包括受威胁的森林驯鹿与濒危的山地驯鹿——在 1993 至 2012 年间每年减少 4.6% 至 15.2%。

Organization and governance

• Its board of directors has between seven and fourteen members representing the Government of Alberta, environmental non-governmental organisations, the forest, energy and agriculture sectors and the research community.其董事会由 7 至 14 名董事组成，代表艾伯塔省政府、环境非政府组织、林业、能源与农业部门以及研究界。
• The Pembina Institute and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers are both represented on the board.彭比纳研究所与加拿大石油生产商协会都在董事会中有代表。
• Its science centres are located at the University of Alberta, Alberta Innovates and the University of Calgary.其科学中心分别设于艾伯塔大学、艾伯塔创新机构与卡尔加里大学。
• Its processing centre is at the Royal Alberta Museum, and its information and application centre is at the University of Alberta.其处理中心设于皇家艾伯塔博物馆，信息与应用中心则设于艾伯塔大学。
• The monitoring centre is located at the Alberta Innovates Technology Futures offices in Vegreville.其监测中心设于维格雷维尔的艾伯塔创新技术未来机构办公室。
• Dan Farr has been director of the application centre since April 2010.Dan Farr 自 2010 年 4 月起担任应用中心主任。
• Collaborating agencies include Alberta Innovates-Technology Futures, the University of Alberta, the Alberta Research Council and the Royal Alberta Museum.合作机构包括艾伯塔创新技术未来机构、艾伯塔大学、艾伯塔研究理事会与皇家艾伯塔博物馆。
• The Alberta Conservation Association manages fisheries and aquatic sampling in lakes and rivers, while the Royal Alberta Museum manages specimen identification and storage.艾伯塔保护协会负责湖泊与河流的鱼类及水生采样，皇家艾伯塔博物馆则负责标本鉴定与保存。
• Together with the Alberta Forest Management Planning Standard, the institute is a key component in implementing resource planning based on ecosystem management principles.与《艾伯塔森林管理规划标准》一道，该研究所是落实基于生态系统管理原则的资源规划的关键组成部分。
• Alberta Environment and Parks consults its reports when monitoring and preserving species and setting biodiversity benchmarks for land use plans.艾伯塔环境与公园部门在监测与保护物种、为土地利用规划设定生物多样性基准时会参考其报告。
• If industry contributes to the endangerment of a species that falls below those benchmarks, the Government of Alberta can order remedial action.若产业活动导致某物种濒危并跌破这些基准，艾伯塔省政府可下令采取补救措施。

Membership and funding

• The institute is funded equally by the Government of Alberta and by the oil and gas industry.该研究所由艾伯塔省政府与油气产业各出资一半。
• Its budget was reported at 11 million Canadian dollars for 2012 to 2013, with revenue of 9,513,809 dollars in 2013.据报道，其 2012 至 2013 年度预算为 1,100 万加元，2013 年收入为 9,513,809 加元。
• Phase 1 of the programme was funded by a million dollars in cash from industry, the provincial government and non-governmental organisations.该计划第一阶段由产业界、省政府与非政府组织提供 100 万加元现金资助。
• By 2013 private sector contributions had grown substantially while federal funding fell to zero, shifting the funding base toward industry and the province.到 2013 年，私营部门出资大幅增长而联邦资助归零，使资金来源转向产业界与省方。
• The 2012 to 2013 annual report lists partners and sponsors from industry, universities, government and non-governmental organisations, including Cenovus, Suncor, Syncrude, Shell Canada and Total, alongside both Alberta universities.其 2012 至 2013 年度报告列出产业界、高校、政府与非政府组织的伙伴与赞助方，包括 Cenovus、Suncor、Syncrude、壳牌加拿大与道达尔，以及该省两所大学。
• Despite strong scientific leadership and publicly accessible information, the institute had not secured full funding during the early 2010s, which limited its ability to deliver sound monitoring data.尽管拥有出色的科学领导力与公开可及的信息，该研究所在 2010 年代初尚未获得充足资金，这限制了其提供可靠监测数据的能力。

Reception

• Alberta Innovates-Technology Futures, a key partner, described the institute as the largest project of its kind ever attempted in Canada.其重要伙伴艾伯塔创新技术未来机构称，该研究所是加拿大有史以来同类项目中规模最大的一个。
• The Pembina Institute's Simon Dyer argued that there is nothing like the institute elsewhere in the world in comprehensiveness, number of species examined and ability to monitor change over large landscapes and long periods.彭比纳研究所的 Simon Dyer 认为，就覆盖广度、考察物种数量以及在广大地域与长时间跨度上监测变化的能力而言，世界上没有类似机构。
• Dyer described it as providing the first meaningful metric of environmental impact, or biodiversity performance, that governments could use to inform decisions.Dyer 称它首次提供了有意义的环境影响或生物多样性绩效指标，可供政府决策参考。
• Its value-neutral presentation of results is cited as one reason it commands respect on both sides of the oil sands debate.其对结果采取价值中立的呈现方式，被认为使其在油砂争论的双方都赢得尊重。
• The 2014 report on bird and caribou declines drew coverage in the Wall Street Journal and the Edmonton Journal, and came amid controversy over oil and gas lease sales in caribou habitat.2014 年关于鸟类与驯鹿减少的报告获得《华尔街日报》与《埃德蒙顿日报》报道，恰逢驯鹿栖息地内油气租约出让引发争议之际。
• Because the oil sands herds are genetically distinct, the institute concluded that populations in the region are unlikely to gain new members from caribou elsewhere in the province.由于油砂区的驯鹿种群在遗传上独特，该研究所认为该地区的种群不太可能从省内其他地区的驯鹿中获得补充。
• Scientists at the institute and the University of Alberta used its biodiversity intactness index to question the economic case for equivalency-based offset systems.该研究所与艾伯塔大学的科学家利用其生物多样性完整度指数，质疑「等值型」补偿制度的经济合理性。
• Its survey design, with 1,656 sites on a 20-kilometre grid, is widely cited as an unusually systematic approach to provincial-scale monitoring.其以 1,656 个样点、20 公里网格构成的调查设计，被广泛认为是省级尺度监测中少见的系统化做法。

Notable people

• Dan Farr has directed the application centre since April 2010 and was among those who developed the survey protocols.Dan Farr 自 2010 年 4 月起担任应用中心主任，也是调查规程的制定者之一。
• Jim Schieck, lead scientist of the institute and of the Alberta Research Council, described how the programme was developed over roughly five to seven years.该研究所及艾伯塔研究理事会的首席科学家 Jim Schieck 介绍了该计划在大约五到七年间逐步成型的过程。
• Chris Shank and Dan Farr worked with Schieck to combine the sampling protocols into an integrated suite.Chris Shank 与 Dan Farr 与 Schieck 合作，把各项采样规程整合为一套方案。
• Stan Boutin and Erin Bayne were among the researchers who reviewed protocols for sampling vertebrates.Stan Boutin 与 Erin Bayne 是参与评议脊椎动物采样规程的研究者。
• Phil Lee and Steve Hanus worked on forest structure and vascular plants, while Jennifer Doubt and Rene Belland covered mosses.Phil Lee 与 Steve Hanus 负责森林结构与维管植物，Jennifer Doubt 与 Rene Belland 则负责苔藓。
• Simon Dyer, a Pembina Institute director and board member of the institute, argued that what gets measured gets managed.彭比纳研究所主任、该研究所董事会成员 Simon Dyer 主张「被测量的才会被管理」。
• Peter Kent, Canada's Environment Minister, announced the Joint Canada-Alberta Monitoring Plan in February 2012, of which the institute is the key component.加拿大环境部长 Peter Kent 于 2012 年 2 月宣布「加拿大—艾伯塔联合监测计划」，该研究所是其关键组成部分。