Social media technology could save our slug!

Social media companies collect a lot of data about us – like who our friends are, where we live, and what topics we’re interested in. They assemble all this information into computer systems called knowledge graphs, which they use to find interesting connections between facts.

Australian governments collect a lot of data about Australia’s plants, animals, fungi and other organisms. A new Australian Government project, the Biodiversity Data Repository, is building a knowledge graph of Australia’s species and their habitats, threats, and conservation needs.

We will use the repository’s knowledge graph to help manage and protect our endangered species, like koalas and the Kaputar giant pink slug.

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We know a lot about koalas because researchers have studied them for years. They are cute, fluffy and an Australian icon, which is why they appear on social media so often!

vector illustration of a koala, map of australia, climate change icon, eucalyptus icon, land clearing icon and marsupial icon

We can build up a comprehensive knowledge graph about koalas. These graphs are networks of facts connected by defined relationships. They make complex relationships between data visible for people and computer algorithms.

Knowledge graphs are often able to find hidden layers of information that are not immediately apparent.

The graphs unravel complexity and show patterns between seemingly unconnected things.

vector illustration of koala, binoculars icon, calendar icon, drone icon, morton national park icon and daisy hill conservation park icon

We can use this information to help develop recovery plans. This ensures we are protecting the most valuable habitat for Australian species, like koalas.

Knowledge graphs are perfect for machine learning as well as human reasoning. This is why they are ideal for social media.

vector illustration of a koala, map of australia, climate change icon, eucalyptus icon, land clearing icon and marsupial icon, binoculars, observation, calendar icons. Showing the links between items.

Vector illustration of a person with empty speech bubbles

They are also future-ready as they can answer questions we have not yet considered.

For example, "What other endangered species depend on eucalyptus and are threatened by...?"

But not all creatures are as well understood as koalas (or as popular on social media!)

Our Biodiversity Data Repository will improve the way we manage information about all of Australia’s animals, plants, fungi and other organisms. This could help protect our less well understood species.

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Photograph of Mount KAputar giant slug on rock with moss

Take the giant pink slug (Triboniophorus sp. nov. ‘Kaputar’), which lives on Mount Kaputar in northern NSW. The giant pink slug doesn’t even have a proper scientific name yet - 'sp. nov.' is Latin for 'new species'

Its habitat is a high-altitude moist forest on an extinct volcano, which last erupted 17 million years ago. This tiny area of habitat is all that remains after the surrounding rainforests of eastern Australia vanished millions of years ago.

The slug is threatened by climate change, bushfires and pest animals.

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ripple graphic with photographs of flowers, rocks, butterfly and Rainbow Lorikeet

Our Biodiversity Data Repository will help us collect and manage data about animals and plants. It will capture information such as:

Occurrences

Example: observations of species at a place and a time.

Observations about occurrences

Example: the numbers of individuals observed.

Samples that represent occurrences

Example: specimens or soil samples.

Observations on samples

Example: identifications or measurements

Methods

Example: how observations were made or applied to the samples.

Properties of the samples

Example: location or condition.

The repository's knowledge graph can then:

link and track what we know about species
identify missing information
suggest new connections.

For example, it could identify that our slug relies on lichen and moss, but it also needs fallen pink snow gum leaves to hide in (hence its pink colour for camouflage).

Photograph of Mount Kaptur giant pink slug in leaf litter next to pink snow gum leaf

If there are any other geographic areas with the same climatic conditions, soil profiles and vegetation appropriate for this slug, researchers could systematically survey these areas to determine if the slug is more widespread than initially thought.

Our repository could then provide new insights about the interdependent relationships between the slug and its ecosystem.

Photograph of Mount Kaptur giant pink slug next to a human hand showing the scale. The slug is slightly longer and wider than a human adult finger.

More people may support actions to save our slug if we can demonstrate how the slug is important to our environment. The repository will connect the information, services and systems that can, hopefully, help the slug survive and thrive.

Maybe in time, the giant pink slug will be as valued as much as our beloved koalas, and we will start to see 'save our slug' across social media.

Photograph of Mount Kaptur giant pink slug close-up

To find out more, visit the Biodiversity Data Repository website. Together we can help protect, repair and manage Australia’s environment for today and tomorrow.

Photograph of Mount Kaptur giant pink slug against the rough bark of a tree

References

Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (2022) Mount Kaputar land snail and slug community (environment.gov.au, DCCEEW, accessed 18 August 2023.

Kennedy E (28 January 2020) Fluorescent pink slug, unique to Australian mountaintop, survives bushfires, The Guardian, accessed 21 July 2023.

Luerweg F (14 March 2019) The internet knows you better than your spouse does, Scientific American, accessed 21 July 2023.

NSW Department of Planning and Environment (10 August 2022) Help us find the giant pink slug, NSW Government website, accessed 21 July 2023.

Penberthy N (17 June 2013) The giant pink slugs of Mount Kaputar, Australian Geographic, accessed 21 July 2023.

Photographs

A Fawcett and S Greenfields from NSW Department of Planning and Environment

Video

NSW Department of Planning and Environment