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Although humans have long been predators with enduring nutritive and cultural relationships with their prey, seldom have conservation ecologists considered the divergent predatory behavior of contemporary, industrialized humans. Recognizing that the number, strength and diversity of predator-prey relationships can profoundly influence biodiversity, here we analyze humanity’s modern day predatory interactions with vertebrates and estimate their ecological consequences. Analysing IUCN ‘use and trade’ data for ~47,000 species, we show that fishers, hunters and other animal collectors prey on more than a third (~15,000 species) of Earth’s vertebrates. Assessed over equivalent ranges, humans exploit up to 300 times more species than comparable non-human predators. Exploitation for the pet trade, medicine, and other uses now affects almost as many species as those targeted for food consumption, and almost 40% of exploited species are threatened by human use. Trait space analyses show that birds and mammals threaten
Backed by the UN, an alliance of conservationists and policymakers is devising new ways to finance the preservation of biodiversity by placing economic values on ecosystems. Some analysts say such schemes have the potential to boost conservation, but others are skeptical.
The steady destruction of wildlife can suddenly tip over into total ecosystem collapse, scientists studying the greatest mass extinction in Earth’s history have found. Many scientists think the huge current losses of biodiversity are the start of a new mass extinction. But the new research shows total ecosystem collapse is “inevitable”, if the losses are not reversed, the scientists said.
Negotiators hope to put humanity on a path to harmonious coexistence with nature by 2050.
Small patches of land given over to wildlife-friendly planting can make a big difference to pollinator conservation, a new study suggests. Bee and other pollinator populations in Europe and North America are in decline due to a range of factors including habitat loss and insufficient flowers for food.
Plusieurs universités, ONG, fédérations, administrations et sociétés privées ont lancé vendredi la "Belgian Biodiversity Alliance", une plateforme destinée à encourager et visibiliser les efforts pour restaurer la biodiversité, en déclin partout dans le monde. Cette Alliance, qui réunit notamment l’institut Jane Goodall, l’Université de Hasselt, l’Institut flamand de recherche sur la nature et la forêt (INBO), la direction générale Environnement du SPF Santé publique, Bruxelles Environnement ou encore le SPW Agriculture, entend rassembler citoyens, organisations, communes ou entreprises qui agissent pour infléchir la perte de biodiversité.
Industry groups representing some of the world’s largest companies are “opposed to almost all major biodiversity-relevant policies” and are lobbying to block them, according to a new report. Researchers found that 89% of engagement by leading industry associations in Europe and the US is designed to delay, dilute and block progress on tackling the biodiversity crisis, which scientists say is as serious as the climate emergency.
The summary for policymakers (SPM) and the chapters of the Methodological assessment regarding the diverse conceptualization of multiple values of nature and its benefits, including biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services (referred to as the “assessment of the diverse values and valuation of nature”), were approved and accepted respectively by the IPBES Plenary during its ninth session, held from 3 to 9 July 2022 in Bonn, Germany. The background of this assessment dates to 2013, when at its second session (IPBES 2) in Antalya, Turkey, the IPBES Plenary approved the initiation of scoping for a methodological assessment. During the third session of the IPBES plenary, in Bonn, Germany in 2015, the expert group established for scoping the methodological assessment and developing a preliminary guide, was requested to revise the scoping report for the methodological assessment based on comments received following an open review by Governments and stakeholders. At IPBES 4, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2016
xit le bleu et le rouge. Inspirées des rayures du réchauffement, les "warming stripes", l'expert Miles Richardson a développé les rayures de la biodiversité allant du vert au gris, signe de la perte de couleur et de biodiversité de la nature. L'objectif est de focaliser l'attention sur le déclin de la biodiversité, un phénomène beaucoup moins couvert médiatiquement que le réchauffement climatique.
A wildfire racing across a hillside has become emblematic of climate change. And for good reason: a quarter of the world’s natural landscapes now face longer fire seasons as a result of warming and shifts to rainfall, according to a recent landmark climate report.
A new study describes a period of rapid global climate change in an ice-capped world much like the present—but 304 million years ago. Within about 300,000 years, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels doubled, oceans became anoxic, and biodiversity dropped on land and at sea.
Our study assessed whether the opportunity to see many vertebrate animal species mattered to tourists visiting Costa Rica, and if so, how important it was compared with other features like hotels and beaches. in Costa Rica, our research shows that biodiversity needs to be paired with infrastructure like hotels and roads that enable access to nature.
The Working Group II contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report assesses the impacts of climate change, looking at ecosystems, biodiversity, and human communities at global and regional levels. It also reviews vulnerabilities and the capacities and limits of the natural world and human societies to adapt to climate change.
Volgens een nieuw rapport van Finance for Biodiversity (F4B) leveren milieumisdrijven jaarlijks tot 280 miljard dollar op. De regels om die vorm van criminaliteit te bestrijden zijn er, zegt Simon Zadek, voorzitter van F4B, maar regeringen treden niet krachtig genoeg op. ‘De financiële gemeenschap zou goed aan doen zich in te zetten voor een proces waarbij beleggingsportefeuille worden ontdaan van banden met milieucriminaliteit’.
“Putting biodiversity on a path to recovery is a defining challenge of this decade.” So begins the Kunming Declaration on biodiversity, adopted at the 15th UN biodiversity conference on October 13 2021, otherwise known as COP15.
The UK is one of the world's most nature-depleted countries - in the bottom 10% globally and last among the G7 group of nations, new data shows. It has an average of about half its biodiversity left, far below the global average of 75%, a study has found.
The UN General Assembly in September, 2021, will bring countries together at a critical time for marshalling collective action to tackle the global environmental crisis.
Europe’s 25 largest banks are still failing to present comprehensive plans that address both the climate crisis and biodiversity loss, putting their sustainability pledges in doubt, campaigners have warned.
Climate change is a critical factor affecting biodiversity. However, the quantitative relationship between temperature change and extinction is unclear. Here, we analyze magnitudes and rates of temperature change and extinction rates of marine fossils through the past 450 million years (Myr). The results show that both the rate and magnitude of temperature change are significantly positively correlated with the extinction rate of marine animals.
Insects have declined by 75% in the past 50 years – and the consequences may soon be catastrophic. Biologist Dave Goulson reveals the vital services they perform
A landmark report by the world’s most senior climate and biodiversity scientists argues that the world will have to tackle the climate crisis and the species extinction crisis simultaneously, or not at all.
Our research vessel (RV) Investigator departs Darwin today for a 45-day voyage of biodiversity discovery in the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean.
A new report, published on 14 March, 2021 in the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences’ journal Ambio, points out that humanity is hurtling towards destruction unless we have the collective wisdom to change course quickly.
In December 2020, 50 of the world’s leading biodiversity and climate experts, selected by a 12-person Scientific Steering Committee assembled by IPBES and IPCC, participated in a four-day virtual workshop to examine the synergies and trade-offs between biodiversity protection and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
In December 2020, 50 of the world’s leading biodiversity and climate experts, selected by a 12-person Scientific Steering Committee assembled by IPBES and IPCC, participated in a four-day virtual workshop to examine the synergies and trade-offs between biodiversity protection and climate change mitigation and adaptation. This represents the first-ever collaboration between the two intergovernmental science-policy bodies.
The root cause of pandemics – the destruction of nature – is being ignored, scientists have warned. The focus of world leaders on responding to future outbreaks overlooks the far cheaper and more effective strategy of stopping the spillover of disease from animals to humans in the first place, they have said. The razing of forests and hunting of wildlife is increasingly bringing animals and the microbes they harbour into contact with people and livestock. About 70% of new infectious diseases have come from animals, including Covid-19, Sars, bird flu, Ebola and HIV.
The world must rewild and restore an area the size of China to meet commitments on nature and the climate, says the UN, and the revival of ecosystems must be met with all the ambition of the space race. Existing conservation efforts are insufficient to prevent widespread biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, the global body has warned at the launch of the decade on ecosystem restoration, an urgent call for the large-scale revival of nature in farmlands, forests and other ecosystems.
The climate crisis is causing a widespread fall in oxygen levels in lakes across the world, suffocating wildlife and threatening drinking water supplies. Falling levels of oxygen in oceans had already been identified, but new research shows that the decline in lakes has been between three and nine times faster in the past 40 years. Scientists found oxygen levels had fallen by 19% in deep waters and 5% at the surface.
To understand how long it will take to recover from this extinction event, a team of European scientists from Germany, Switzerland, the UK and The Netherlands decided to compare it with the previous mass extinction event, which occurred 66 million years ago when an asteroid hit our planet. This was a major event event that wiped off dinosaurs along with 75% of all species.
While the climate crisis has dominated the airwaves for a while now, the biodiversity crisis is at least as serious. Actually, these are multiple, interconnected crises, stemming from age old systemic failings. In 2019, scientific body IPBES brought to the fore the urgent need for “transformative change” to prevent biodiversity collapse, which would be disastrous for people and planet. As one example, the global coronavirus pandemic has tragically highlighted the risks of ecosystem loss for global public health. In a bid to find an answer to this crisis, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is discussing a Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) - effectively how to ‘save’ nature.