Has land use pushed terrestrial biodiversity beyond the planetary boundary? A global assessment.

Newbold, Tim; Hudson, Lawrence N; Arnell, Andrew P; Contu, Sara; De Palma, Adriana; Ferrier, Simon; Hill, Samantha LL; Hoskins, Andrew J; Lysenko, Igor; Phillips, Helen RP; +13 more... Burton, Victoria J; Chng, Charlotte WT; Emerson, Susan; Gao, Di; Pask-Hale, Gwilym; Hutton, Jon; Jung, Martin; Sanchez-Ortiz, Katia; Simmons, Benno I; Whitmee, Sarah; Zhang, Hanbin; Scharlemann, Jörn PW; Purvis, Andy; (2016) Has land use pushed terrestrial biodiversity beyond the planetary boundary? A global assessment. Science, 353 (6296). pp. 288-291. ISSN 0036-8075 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf2201

Abstract

Land use and related pressures have reduced local terrestrial biodiversity, but it is unclear how the magnitude of change relates to the recently proposed planetary boundary ("safe limit"). We estimate that land use and related pressures have already reduced local biodiversity intactness--the average proportion of natural biodiversity remaining in local ecosystems--beyond its recently proposed planetary boundary across 58.1% of the world's land surface, where 71.4% of the human population live. Biodiversity intactness within most biomes (especially grassland biomes), most biodiversity hotspots, and even some wilderness areas is inferred to be beyond the boundary. Such widespread transgression of safe limits suggests that biodiversity loss, if unchecked, will undermine efforts toward long-term sustainable development.

Additional Information

Item Type	Article
Faculty and Department	Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health > Dept of Population Health (2012- )
PubMed ID	27418509
Elements ID	167380