What NatureForecast is and does
NatureForecast is a research-led platform developed to turn ecological and biogeographical research into accessible, public-facing spatial products. It brings together interactive atlases, distribution maps, environmental and biodiversity datasets, and short-term ecological forecasts under three product families: MAP, LIVE and FORECAST.
The platform is primarily fed by research outputs from the BIOCHANGE research team. BIOCHANGE is based at the University of Lisbon and studies how species and ecosystems are responding spatially to global change, with particular emphasis on biological invasions, climate change, land-use dynamics and other processes that reshape biodiversity. Its work is strongly data-driven, combining biogeography, spatial ecology, large biodiversity datasets, remote sensing, predictive modelling, machine learning and AI to describe, understand and anticipate ecological change.
NatureForecast provides a public interface for part of that research, making selected outputs easier to explore and use beyond the scientific literature. The current portfolio spans regional and global biodiversity atlases, mapped environmental pressures, invasive-species distributions and near-term ecological forecasts, with additional monitoring products planned. NatureForecast is supported by research activities, infrastructure and funded projects associated with the University of Lisbon and collaborating institutions; see the Acknowledgements page for further details.