This new analysis by NatureServe addresses five essential questions about biodiversity–the variety of life on Earth–that need to be answered if we are going to effectively conserve nature: 1) How many species and ecosystems are at risk? 2) Are species and ecosystems adequately protected? 3) What are the major threats to biodiversity? 4) Where is imperiled biodiversity concentrated? 5) Where do we go from here?
This new study, led by Tel Aviv University, reflects on the first comprehensive global assessment for reptiles released just last year by NatureServe, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and Conservation International. The authors make recommendations for how to move reptile conservation forward.
After 15 years of research, one year of data analysis, and one year in review, the results of the Global Reptile Assessment were published in the journal Nature. The study, conducted in collaboration with IUCN, Conservation International, and with contributions from over 900 scientists, found that 21% of reptiles worldwide are threatened with extinction.
The authors of this study assessed the efficacy of the SFI FSS as a conservation tool for biodiversity management in the SE United States through the implementation of forestry best management practices over space and time. They found these practices are successfully being implemented in a region of high biodiversity with numerous imperiled species.
Genetic diversity among and within populations of all species is necessary for people and the planet to survive in a changing world. This perspective article comments on how CBD goals and targets have evolved, what improvements are still needed, lessons learned from this process, and connections between goals and targets and the actions and reporting that will be needed to maintain, protect, manage and monitor genetic diversity.
Many of the world's ecosystems are at risk: 10% of ecosystems are artificially created and maintained by humans yet occupy more than 30% of the Earth's land surface - what is left is home to 94% of threatened species on the IUCN Red List. The ecosystem typology will enable more coordinated and effective biodiversity conservation, critical for human well-being.
It was recently discovered that the sharp-fruit rush Juncus acuminatus Michx., which was described in 1803 for a common wetland plant found from southern Canada through the United States to Mexico and Honduras, was invalid as another name, Juncus acuminatus Balb., predated it by two years when published in 1801.
The Global Tree Assessment aims to complete threat assessments for all the world's ~60,000 tree species, but most species native to the continental United States had either never been assessed or were outdated on the two most widely used threat assessment platforms in the United States, International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and NatureServe.
This study reveals that only about 5% of ecosystems within the Tropical Andes biodiversity hotspot are adequately represented in designated protected areas. However, the number of ecosystem types adequately protected could increase to 31% if governments and civil society act to protect Key Biodiversity Areas – places that meet the internationally recognized standard for sites that contribute significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity.
Looking at 11 species from a clade of jewelflowers, this study finds that fitness homeostasis of genotypes can be a major factor contributing to niche breadth and range size in this clade. Fitness homeostasis can buffer species from loss of genetic diversity and under changing climates and provides time for adaption to future conditions.