At Cecil, we take a scientific approach to nature data.
We draw on environmental science to identify the scientific concepts [Arabatzis 2019] that best represent ecosystems, as well as the biodiversity and services they support. We use these concepts to select, document, ingest, and host datasets that can baseline and track change in nature at the site level across the globe.
Throughout this process, we adopt core scientific principles [US National Academy of Sciences 1992] to ensure that Cecil always operates in an objective, transparent, and rigorous way — which is the only way to build trust in the datasets we support.
Below, you’ll find concept notes introducing the scientific concepts we support. We use these concept notes to:
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Describes the height, mass, volume, or coverage of organic matter in vegetation.
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Land use and land cover (LULC)
Describes the human and/or physical land features present at a given location.
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Deforestation [coming soon]
Describes historic, ongoing, or projected forest loss due to logging activities.
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Nature encompasses all living and non-living parts of an ecosystem. Ecosystems are profoundly complex, comprising many thousands of interacting components: