Bridging local and global knowledges to classify, describe and map ecosystems

Effective ecosystem management for biodiversity and human well-being relies on accurate information. Consistent approaches to classifying, describing, and assessing ecosystems can improve the understanding of the ecological processes, threats, and management. We explored how the Global Ecosystem Typology – a global classification framework based on ecosystem function – could support the development of a local ecosystem inventory for the Tiwi Islands, Australia, to facilitate management by the Indigenous Tiwi peoples and government agencies by incorporating Tiwi knowledge and scientific information. We synthesized ecosystem information from previous research, field data, and reports, together with input from Tiwi knowledge authorities, to develop a classification, descriptions, and map for 14 terrestrial ecosystem types. These ecosystem types were defined and described by ecological processes and were broader, yet largely congruent, with previous classifications. Including functional properties accounted for variation in the vegetation physiognomy exhibited by dynamic and disturbance-prone ecosystems, such as savannas. By bringing together Tiwi knowledge authorities’ input, regional information and the Global Ecosystem Typology, we included in our inventory ecosystem types that were typically omitted from previous classifications. Describing the biota within each ecosystem type ensured local relevance and opened new avenues for monitoring, while the Global Ecosystem Typology facilitated comparisons to similar ecosystems in terms of effective threat and management options. Many of the ecosystem types aligned with terms in Tiwi language, significantly enhancing the ways in which global frameworks can support ecological management suitable for Tiwi Country (murrakapuni). Beyond this, more collaborative work is needed to explore how the ecosystem inventories and global ecosystem management approaches may operate alongside, and in connection with, the ways of managing Tiwi murrakapuni currently enacted by Tiwi people. With the current and ongoing loss of biodiversity, managing ecosystems must span interdisciplinary knowledges and bridge local and global understandings for the shared goal of conservation.