Location and intensity of global threats to biodiversity

Date:
August 30, 2021
Source:
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
Summary:
Using a novel modelling approach, new research reveals the location
and intensity of key threats to biodiversity on land and identifies
priority areas across the world to help inform conservation decision
making at national and local levels.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Using a novel modelling approach, new research published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution reveals the location and intensity of key threats
to biodiversity on land and identifies priority areas across the world
to help inform conservation decision making at national and local levels.


==========================================================================
A team of leading researchers have produced global maps for the six main threats affecting terrestrial amphibians, birds and mammals: agriculture, hunting and trapping, logging, pollution, invasive species, and climate
change.

Results show that agriculture and logging are pervasive in the tropics
and that hunting and trapping is the most geographically widespread
threat to mammals and birds. There are sizeable continental areas in
which there is more than a 50% chance that any particular amphibian,
mammal or bird species is threatened by logging, hunting and trapping, agriculture, invasive species or climate change.

The world is facing a global nature crisis, yet information about the
location and intensity of the threats responsible for biodiversity loss
remains limited.

Information on the spatial intensity of threats and how they affect
species on the ground is critically important to improving and targeting conservation responses. This study presents both a first attempt to map
this information and a research track to improve our understanding of
how threats to biodiversity vary across the world.

Using the IUCN Red List to map threats to terrestrial vertebrates on
a global scale identifies the most prevalent threat for each taxa. It
finds that agriculture is the greatest threat to amphibians, being the
most prevalent threat to these species across 44% of global lands. For
birds and mammals, hunting and trapping is most prevalent, ranking
as the highest threat across 50% of land for birds and 73% of land
for mammals. Agriculture is the most prevalent threat for amphibians,
mammals, and birds combined.

The research also identifies locations where threats are particularly prevalent. In Southeast Asia, particularly the islands of Sumatra and
Borneo, as well as Madagascar, there is a high risk of impact from all
six threats to amphibians, birds, and mammals. For amphibians, Europe
stood out as a region of high threat impact due to a combination of agriculture, invasive species and pollution. Polar regions, the east
coast of Australia and South Africa are mostly likely to be impacted by
climate change, affecting birds in particular.

Dr. Mike Harfoot, one of the two lead authors of the paper, UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), says:
"We are facing a global nature crisis, and the next ten years is
a crucial window for taking decisive action to tackle biodiversity
loss. Our results reveal the location and intensity of human-caused
threats to nature. This information can support decision-makers at a
range of levels in identifying where action to reduce these threats
could yield the best results for people and planet. With further work,
we will improve this information in terms of accuracy and the breadth
of nature considered." To help guide conservation action, the authors
also combined threat impact data with spatial information on biodiversity importance to create conservation risk maps that identify high priority
areas for threat mitigation. These maps are one tool that can support and inform decision-making on national and other levels as appropriate. The
areas identified include the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, the east coast
of Australia, the dry forest of Madagascar, the Albertine Rift and East
Arc Mountains in eastern Africa, the Guinean forests of West Africa,
the Atlantic Forest, the Amazon basin and the Northern Andes into Panama
and Costa Rica in South and Central America.

Dr. Jonas Geldmann, Assistant Professor, Center for Macroecology,
Evolution and Climate, University of Copenhagen, and co-lead author
of this paper says: "These maps also reveal that priority areas for
one threat rarely overlap with that of other threats, meaning that to effectively respond to the current human impact on biodiversity we need
a global response." Dr. Piero Visconti, a study co-author who leads the Biodiversity, Ecology, and Conservation Research Group at IIASA, says:
"Despite ubiquitous sensors and advanced technology, we still know
so little about the exact location and intensity of some of the most
important threats to species such as hunting and trapping and the presence
of invasive species. On-the-ground surveys are irreplaceable to have an accurate local picture of the distribution and impacts of these threats,
but they are challenging and resource-intensive, therefore difficult to
do at the scale at which some conservation decisions are made.

This analysis is an important first step that can help efficiently direct
local assessments of specific threats to terrestrial biodiversity, and
start identifying the most appropriate local solutions." In 2022, the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity
will meet in Kunming, China, and is expected to adopt a post-2020 global biodiversity framework, a new global plan for nature. The research
released today helps to demonstrate the various types and geographic
breadth of the threats to terrestrial species, and so the scale of the challenge for transformation that the framework must deliver if we are
to conserve life on Earth.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by International_Institute_for_Applied_Systems_Analysis.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Michael B. J. Harfoot, Alison Johnston, Andrew Balmford, Neil
D. Burgess,
Stuart H. M. Butchart, Maria P. Dias, Carolina Hazin, Craig Hilton-
Taylor, Michael Hoffmann, Nick J. B. Isaac, Lars L. Iversen,
Charlotte L.

Outhwaite, Piero Visconti, Jonas Geldmann. Using the IUCN Red List
to map threats to terrestrial vertebrates at global scale. Nature
Ecology & Evolution, 2021; DOI: 10.1038/s41559-021-01542-9 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210830113328.htm

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