Using the IUCN Red List to map threats to terrestrial vertebrates at global scale

AbstractThe Anthropocene is characterized by unparalleled human impact on other species, potentially ushering in the sixth mass extinction. Yet mitigation efforts remain hampered by limited information on the spatial patterns and intensity of the threats driving global biodiversity loss. Here we use expert-derived information from the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List on threats to 23,271 species, representing all terrestrial amphibians, birds and mammals, to generate global maps of the six major threats to these groups: agriculture, hunting and trapping, logging, pollution, invasive species, and climate change. Our 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. Additionally, current representations of human pressure underestimate the overall pressure on biodiversity, due to the exclusion of threats such as hunting and climate change. Alarmingly, this is particularly the case in areas of the highest biodiversity importance.

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Conservation-Status Gaps for Marine Top-Fished Commercial Species

Fishes ◽

10.3390/fishes7010002 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 2

Author(s):

Imanol Miqueleiz ◽

Rafael Miranda ◽

Arturo Hugo Ariño ◽

Elena Ojea

Keyword(s):

Fish Species ◽

Conservation Status ◽

Species Conservation ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Vulnerability Index ◽

Iucn Red List ◽

Red List ◽

Commercial Fish ◽

Commercial Species ◽

Marine Realm

Biodiversity loss is a global problem, accelerated by human-induced pressures. In the marine realm, one of the major threats to species conservation, together with climate change, is overfishing. In this context, having information on the conservation status of target commercial marine fish species becomes crucial for assuring safe standards. We put together fisheries statistics from the FAO, the IUCN Red List, FishBase, and RAM Legacy databases to understand to what extent top commercial species’ conservation status has been assessed. Levels of assessment for top-fished species were higher than those for general commercial or highly commercial species, but almost half of the species have outdated assessments. We found no relation between IUCN Red List traits and FishBase Vulnerability Index, depreciating the latter value as a guidance for extinction threat. The RAM database suggests good management of more-threatened species in recent decades, but more data are required to assess whether the trend has reverted in recent years. Outdated IUCN Red List assessments can benefit from reputed stock assessments for new reassessments. The future of IUCN Red List evaluations for commercial fish species relies on integrating new parameters from fisheries sources and improved collaboration with fisheries stakeholders and managers.

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Agricultural intensification and climate change are rapidly decreasing insect biodiversity

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.2002548117 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 118 (2) ◽

pp. e2002548117 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Peter H. Raven ◽

David L. Wagner

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

World War Ii ◽

Land Surface ◽

Wildlife Habitat ◽

Tropical Mountains ◽

Insect Biodiversity ◽

Past Half Century ◽

Sixth Mass Extinction ◽

Mass Extinction Event ◽

The Tropics

Major declines in insect biomass and diversity, reviewed here, have become obvious and well documented since the end of World War II. Here, we conclude that the spread and intensification of agriculture during the past half century is directly related to these losses. In addition, many areas, including tropical mountains, are suffering serious losses because of climate change as well. Crops currently occupy about 11% of the world’s land surface, with active grazing taking place over an additional 30%. The industrialization of agriculture during the second half of the 20th century involved farming on greatly expanded scales, monoculturing, the application of increasing amounts of pesticides and fertilizers, and the elimination of interspersed hedgerows and other wildlife habitat fragments, all practices that are destructive to insect and other biodiversity in and near the fields. Some of the insects that we are destroying, including pollinators and predators of crop pests, are directly beneficial to the crops. In the tropics generally, natural vegetation is being destroyed rapidly and often replaced with export crops such as oil palm and soybeans. To mitigate the effects of the Sixth Mass Extinction event that we have caused and are experiencing now, the following will be necessary: a stable (and almost certainly lower) human population, sustainable levels of consumption, and social justice that empowers the less wealthy people and nations of the world, where the vast majority of us live, will be necessary.

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Sequestering seawater on land: a water-based solution to global issues

F1000Research ◽

10.12688/f1000research.8739.2 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

pp. 889

Author(s):

Stéphane Boyer ◽

Marie-Caroline Lefort

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sea Level Rise ◽

Sea Level ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Global Scale ◽

Water Desalination ◽

Global Issues ◽

Excess Water ◽

Desalination Plants ◽

The Cost

The ‘surplus’ of oceanic water generated by climate change offers an unprecedented opportunity to tackle a number of global issues through a very pragmatic process: shifting the excess water from the oceans onto the land. Here we propose that sea-level rise could be mitigated through the desalination of very large amounts of seawater in an international network of massive desalination plants. To efficiently mitigate sea-level rise, desalinized water could be stored on land in the form of crop, wetlands or new forests. Based on a US$ 500 million price to build an individual mega desalination plant with current technology, the cost of controlling current sea-level rise through water desalination approaches US$ 23 trillion in investment and US$ 4 trillion per year in operating costs. However, the economic, environmental and health benefits would also be immense and could contribute to addressing a number of global issues including sea-level rise, food security, biodiversity loss and climate change. Because these issues are intimately intertwined, responses should aim at addressing them all concurrently and at global scale.

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Hold On!

10.1071/9781486311859 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Gina Newton ◽

Rachel Tribout

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Marine Fish ◽

Threatened Species ◽

Iucn Red List ◽

Red List ◽

Critically Endangered ◽

Pectoral Fins ◽

The World

Have you ever seen a fish that could do a handstand? This is the story of a quirky and primitive little fish that is famous for two reasons: walking on its ‘hands’ (pectoral fins), and being one of the first marine fish in the world to be listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The Spotted Handfish has survived since the time of the dinosaurs – until now. Invasive seastars, pollution and climate change mean that this unique Australian is in serious trouble – hands up if you want to know more! Hold On! Saving the Spotted Handfish is perfect for primary aged readers.

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South African mouse shrews (Myosorex) feel the heat: using species distribution models (SDMs) and IUCN Red List criteria to flag extinction risks due to climate change

Mammal Research ◽

10.1007/s13364-016-0291-z ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 62 (2) ◽

pp. 149-162 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Peter J. Taylor ◽

Lilian Ogony ◽

Jason Ogola ◽

Roderick M. Baxter

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

South African ◽

Species Distribution ◽

Species Distribution Models ◽

Iucn Red List ◽

Red List ◽

Distribution Models ◽

Iucn Red List Criteria

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The Importance of Assessing Climate Change Vulnerability to Address Species Conservation

Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management ◽

10.3996/052013-jfwm-039 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 450-462 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Karen E. Bagne ◽

Megan M. Friggens ◽

Sharon J. Coe ◽

Deborah M. Finch

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

At Risk ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Species Conservation ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Small Subset ◽

Species At Risk ◽

Terrestrial Vertebrates ◽

Climate Change Vulnerability ◽

Risk Of Extinction

Abstract Species conservation often prioritizes attention on a small subset of “special status” species at high risk of extinction, but actions based on current lists of special status species may not effectively moderate biodiversity loss if climate change alters threats. Assessments of climate change vulnerability may provide a method to enhance identification of species at risk of extinction. We compared climate change vulnerability and lists of special status species to examine the adequacy of current lists to represent species at risk of extinction in the coming decades. The comparison was made for terrestrial vertebrates in a regionally important management area of the southwestern United States. Many species not listed as special status were vulnerable to increased extinction risk with climate change. Overall, 74% of vulnerable species were not included in lists of special status and omissions were greatest for birds and reptiles. Most special status species were identified as additionally vulnerable to climate change impacts and there was little evidence to indicate the outlook for these species might improve with climate change, which suggests that existing conservation efforts will need to be intensified. Current special status lists encompassed climate change vulnerability best if climate change was expected to exacerbate current threats, such as the loss of wetlands, but often overlooked climate-driven threats, such as exceeding physiological thresholds.

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Sequestering seawater on land: a water-based solution to global issues

F1000Research ◽

10.12688/f1000research.8739.1 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

pp. 889

Author(s):

Stéphane Boyer ◽

Marie-Caroline Lefort

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sea Level Rise ◽

Sea Level ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Global Scale ◽

Water Desalination ◽

Global Issues ◽

Excess Water ◽

Desalination Plants ◽

The Cost

The ‘surplus’ of oceanic water generated by climate change offers an unprecedented opportunity to tackle a number of global issues through a very pragmatic process: shifting the excess water from the oceans onto the land. Here we propose that sea-level rise could be mitigated through the desalination of very large amounts of seawater in massive desalination plants. To efficiently mitigate sea-level rise, desalinized water could be stored on land in the form of crop, wetlands or new forests. Based on a US$ 500 million price to build an individual mega desalination plant with current technology, the cost of controlling current sea-level rise through water desalination approaches US$ 23 trillion. However, the economic, environmental and health benefits would also be immense and could contribute to addressing a number of global issues including sea-level rise, food security, biodiversity loss and climate change. Because these issues are intimately intertwined, responses should aim at addressing them all concurrently and at global scale.

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Modelling the impacts of climate change on thermal habitat suitability for shallow-water marine fish at a global scale

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0258184 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (10) ◽

pp. e0258184

Author(s):

Edward Lavender ◽

Clive J. Fox ◽

Michael T. Burrows

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Shallow Water ◽

Habitat Suitability ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Species Conservation ◽

Global Scale ◽

Response Curves ◽

Thermal Habitat ◽

Western Africa ◽

The Tropics

Understanding and predicting the response of marine communities to climate change at large spatial scales, and distilling this information for policymakers, are prerequisites for ecosystem-based management. Changes in thermal habitat suitability across species’ distributions are especially concerning because of their implications for abundance, affecting species’ conservation, trophic interactions and fisheries. However, most predictive studies of the effects of climate change have tended to be sub-global in scale and focused on shifts in species’ range edges or commercially exploited species. Here, we develop a widely applicable methodology based on climate response curves to predict global-scale changes in thermal habitat suitability. We apply the approach across the distributions of 2,293 shallow-water fish species under Representative Concentration Pathways 4.5 and 8.5 by 2050–2100. We find a clear pattern of predicted declines in thermal habitat suitability in the tropics versus general increases at higher latitudes. The Indo-Pacific, the Caribbean and western Africa emerge as the areas of most concern, where high species richness and the strongest declines in thermal habitat suitability coincide. This reflects a pattern of consistently narrow thermal ranges, with most species in these regions already exposed to temperatures above inferred thermal optima. In contrast, in temperate regions, such as northern Europe, where most species live below thermal optima and thermal ranges are wider, positive changes in thermal habitat suitability suggest that these areas are likely to emerge as the greatest beneficiaries of climate change, despite strong predicted temperature increases.

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