Quantitative approaches are needed to complement qualitative explorations to identify sites with unique geodiversity and thereby guide geoconservation and geoheritage programmes. Here, we introduce the concept and associated index of ‘geodiversity uniqueness’. This index is based on a numerical analysis of geofeatures and allows the identification of sites with unique geodiversity in a study area. We applied this approach to geofeature data from three areas in Finland. Our results showed that patterns of geodiversity uniqueness varied profoundly among the three study areas and across sites within each area. This was due to different sets of geofeatures and distinct characteristics of each study area. More importantly, the approach presented here was robust across the datasets and selection criteria for sets of sites, showing potential for geoconservation in each study area. The geodiversity uniqueness approach is a promising starting point to identify and map sites with unique geodiversity that can be further verified using field observations. To improve our knowledge of geodiversity variation, complementary approaches providing objective information on contributions to total beta geodiversity are needed to advance geoconservation programmes across areas and different spatial scales. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Geodiversity for science and society’.

中文翻译：

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地质多样性独特性的定量测量：研究意义和保护应用

需要定量方法来补充定性勘探，以确定具有独特地质多样性的地点，从而指导地质保护和地质遗产计划。在这里，我们介绍“地球多样性独特性”的概念和相关指标。该指数基于对地理特征的数值分析，可以识别研究区域中具有独特地理多样性的地点。我们将这种方法应用于芬兰三个地区的地理特征数据。我们的结果表明，三个研究区域以及每个区域内不同地点的地球多样性独特性模式存在巨大差异。这是由于每个研究区域具有不同的地理特征和独特的特征。更重要的是，这里提出的方法在数据集和站点组选择标准方面都很稳健，显示了每个研究区域地理保护的潜力。地理多样性独特性方法是识别和绘制具有独特地理多样性的地点的有希望的起点，可以通过现场观测进一步验证这些地点。为了提高我们对地球多样性变化的了解，需要补充方法来提供有关总贝塔地球多样性贡献的客观信息，以推进跨地区和不同空间尺度的地质保护计划。本文是西奥·墨菲会议问题“科学与社会的地理多样性”的一部分。