Lessons from COP15 on effective scientific engagement in biodiversity policy processes

Carroll, Carlos; Hoban, Sean; Ray, Justina C.

doi:10.1111/cobi.14192

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 26 publications

(80 reference statements)

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“…The GBF sets the pathway to achieve the vision of a world living in harmony with nature, with significant progress by 2030 (CBD, 2022a). The conservation of genetic diversity in the GBF is categorically different from previous commitments (Carroll et al., 2023) and is the first to aim for conserving genetic diversity of all species, not just economically valuable or domesticated. Until now, the genetic diversity of non‐economically important species has been neglected by previous CBD strategies and other national and global conservation policies (Hoban et al., 2020; Laikre, 2010; Laikre et al., 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Multinational evaluation of genetic diversity indicators for the Kunming‐Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

Mastretta‐Yanes,

da Silva,

Grueber

et al. 2024

Ecology Letters

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Under the recently adopted Kunming‐Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, 196 Parties committed to reporting the status of genetic diversity for all species. To facilitate reporting, three genetic diversity indicators were developed, two of which focus on processes contributing to genetic diversity conservation: maintaining genetically distinct populations and ensuring populations are large enough to maintain genetic diversity. The major advantage of these indicators is that they can be estimated with or without DNA‐based data. However, demonstrating their feasibility requires addressing the methodological challenges of using data gathered from diverse sources, across diverse taxonomic groups, and for countries of varying socio‐economic status and biodiversity levels. Here, we assess the genetic indicators for 919 taxa, representing 5271 populations across nine countries, including megadiverse countries and developing economies. Eighty‐three percent of the taxa assessed had data available to calculate at least one indicator. Our results show that although the majority of species maintain most populations, 58% of species have populations too small to maintain genetic diversity. Moreover, genetic indicator values suggest that IUCN Red List status and other initiatives fail to assess genetic status, highlighting the critical importance of genetic indicators.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Multinational evaluation of genetic diversity indicators for the Kunming‐Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

Mastretta‐Yanes,

da Silva,

Grueber

et al. 2024

Ecology Letters

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“…The GBF sets the pathway to achieve the vision of a world living in harmony with nature by 2050, with significant progress by 2030 (CBD, 2022). The conservation of genetic diversity in the GBF is significantly and categorically different from previous commitments (Carroll et al, 2023), and is the first to aim for conserving genetic diversity of all species, not just economically valuable or domesticated species. Until now, genetic diversity of non-economically-important species was neglected from previous CBD strategies and other national and global conservation policies (Hoban et al, 2020;Laikre et al, 2010;Laikre 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Multinational evaluation of genetic diversity indicators for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Monitoring framework

Mastretta-Yanes,

da Silva,

Grueber

et al. 2023

Preprint

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In December 2022, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, in which 196 Parties, for the first time, committed to report on the status of genetic diversity for all species. To facilitate this reporting, three genetic diversity indicators were developed, two of which focus on the processes contributing to genetic diversity loss: the loss of genetically distinct populations (measured by complementary indicator “proportion of populations maintained within species”) and populations being too small to maintain genetic diversity (measured by headline indicator A4, “The proportion of populations within species with an effective population size > 500”). The major advantage of these indicators is that they can be estimated without DNA-based data. However, demonstrating the feasibility of this approach to all Parties for their national reporting, requires addressing methodological challenges of using empirical data gathered from diverse sources, across diverse taxonomic groups and for countries of varying socio-economic status and biodiversity levels. Here, we assess the genetic indicators for 919 taxa, representing 5,271 populations across nine countries, including megadiverse and developing economies. Data were available to calculate indicators for each country and taxonomic group (765 taxa [83%] had data for at least one indicator). Additionally, 41% of taxa (n=518) have lost at least one-tenth of their populations (complementary indicator [populations maintained] value < 0.9), while 58% of taxa (n=568) have all populations too small to sustain genetic diversity (headline indicator [Ne 500] value = 0). By comparing taxon indicator values to their GlobalRed List status, range size, and other factors, we found the loss of genetic diversity shown by these indicators would go unnoticed by other biodiversity assessments, highlighting the critical importance of monitoring and conserving genetic diversity using these indicators.

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DNA-based studies and genetic diversity indicator assessments are complementary approaches to conserving evolutionary potential

Hoban,

Paz-Vinas,

Shaw

et al. 2024

Conserv Genet

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Genetic diversity is essential for maintaining healthy populations and ecosystems. Several approaches have recently been developed to evaluate population genetic trends without necessarily collecting new genetic data. Such “genetic diversity indicators” enable rapid, large-scale evaluation across dozens to thousands of species. Empirical genetic studies, when available, provide detailed information that is important for management, such as estimates of gene flow, inbreeding, genetic erosion and adaptation. In this article, we argue that the development and advancement of genetic diversity indicators is a complementary approach to genetic studies in conservation biology, but not a substitute. Genetic diversity indicators and empirical genetic data can provide different information for conserving genetic diversity. Genetic diversity indicators enable affordable tracking, reporting, prioritization and communication, although, being proxies, do not provide comprehensive evaluation of the genetic status of a species. Conversely, genetic methods offer detailed analysis of the genetic status of a given species or population, although they remain challenging to implement for most species globally, given current capacity and resourcing. We conclude that indicators and genetic studies are both important for genetic conservation actions and recommend they be used in combination for conserving and monitoring genetic diversity.

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Lessons from COP15 on effective scientific engagement in biodiversity policy processes

Cited by 3 publications

References 26 publications

Multinational evaluation of genetic diversity indicators for the Kunming‐Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

Multinational evaluation of genetic diversity indicators for the Kunming‐Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

Multinational evaluation of genetic diversity indicators for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Monitoring framework

DNA-based studies and genetic diversity indicator assessments are complementary approaches to conserving evolutionary potential

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