Evolution of interdisciplinarity in biodiversity science

Area of Science:

• Biodiversity science
• Ecology
• Conservation biology

Background:

• Biodiversity research has expanded significantly over the past 30 years.
• There is a growing demand for understanding biodiversity's function and importance for conservation.
• The study hypothesizes an increase in interdisciplinarity within biodiversity science over time.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test the hypothesis that biodiversity science has become more interdisciplinary.
• To analyze trends in concept and subdiscipline diversity within biodiversity science.
• To investigate the factors influencing interdisciplinarity in biodiversity research.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 97,945 peer-reviewed articles from 1990-2012.
• Application of a continuous time dynamic model based on word co-occurrences to classify articles into concepts.
• Quantification of interdisciplinarity using concept diversity, subdiscipline diversity, and network structure.

Main Results:

• Concept and subdiscipline diversity in biodiversity science were largely stable or declining.
• The persistence of rare concepts and subdisciplines, and a decline in common ones, drove these trends.
• Evidence suggests conceptual homogenization (decreased temporal beta diversity) underlies observed interdisciplinarity trends.

Conclusions:

• Biodiversity science is consolidating around a core set of concepts, showing a trend towards conceptual homogenization.
• Progress in addressing the biodiversity crisis through interdisciplinarity may have been impeded by insufficient investment in cross-disciplinary research.
• Initiatives like the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) may foster broader support for interdisciplinary approaches to biodiversity challenges.