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

ABSTRACT: The 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 b

SUBMITTER: Harfoot MBJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8560638 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature