Applying the Digital Twin Concept to Ecological Reality: Challenges and Lessons Learned

Digital twins, dynamic and interactive digital replicas of real-world systems, are often heralded as paradigm-shifting. In the face of biodiversity loss, digital twins could offer crucial tools for identifying impacts, mitigations, and solutions. A prototype digital twin (pDT) within the Horizon Europe BioDT project explored the role of digital twins for the monitoring and management of cultural ecosystem services, focusing on the Cairngorms National Park. In evaluating the relevance of digital twins for biodiversity, we found that digital twins align with the user need of interactive tools for decision support. However, we identified development barriers, including the complexity of ecological systems and the challenges of adapting existing biodiversity models to high-performance computing environments. While digital twins hold promise for biodiversity research, strategic deployment is crucial. We need clarity in the definition of digital twin being followed, backed by clear motivations for using digital twin approaches.