NEWS NOTES

Survey: More Species Threatened Than Thought

An estimated 30% of species have been threatened or driven extinct since 1500 AD, according to a new survey.

“Experts also acknowledged substantial uncertainty around their estimates, with perhaps as few as 16% or as many as 50% of species threatened or driven extinct over this time.” said Forest Isbell, PhD, an associate professor in the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota, who reviewed 3,331 responses from scientists studying biodiversity in 187 countries.

The study also identified important demographic and geographic differences in experts' perspectives and estimates. The researchers encourage biodiversity experts to use these results to ensure that a range of perspectives is included when conducting global biodiversity assessments, setting global biodiversity goals and targets, and making the new policies and other transformative changes needed to conserve biodiversity.

“Since biodiversity is highly regional in nature, the attempt of our study to bring together the opinions of regional experts from around the world is unprecedented,” said co-author Akira Mori of the University of Tokyo in Japan. “From the perspective of social and cultural diversity and inclusiveness, even if they are not necessarily complete, I believe we have presented certain suggestions for future international policy discussions."

The experts believe that greatly increasing conservation investments and efforts now could remove the threat of extinction for 1:3 species that may otherwise be threatened or extinct by 2100.

For more information:

Isbell F, Bealvaera P, Mori AS, et al. Expert perspectives on global biodiversity loss and its drivers and impacts on people. Font Ecol Environ. 2022 Jul 18.

https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fee.2536