The research field of environmental monitoring combines the experiments and findings from integrative biodiversity research with the second core area of CIBRA, applied ecology. Environmental monitoring not only records fauna and flora, but also other relevant ecological parameters such as climatic conditions, land use, chemical and physical properties of the soil or water as well as anthropogenic influences such as traffic, tourism or light pollution. Environmental monitoring can range from individual observations of a few locations to automated long-term measurements across the whole of Germany.

CIBRA extends the methods of integrative biodiversity research to environmental monitoring. In particular, we focus on repeated or renewed measurements, so-called re-surveys, in which data from past surveys, herbaria and fossils are compared with current data from the same study sites. In this way, we gain insights into how species have adapted and ecosystems have changed over time and how they will change in the future due to global warming, urbanisation and other phenomena of global change. Environmental monitoring is therefore crucial for understanding the past, present and future of biodiversity and for developing evidence-based conservation strategies. The findings from environmental monitoring are then used for the application-oriented management of ecosystems, environmentally relevant planning tasks and future-oriented practical solutions in nature conservation.