The diversity weighted Living Planet Index: controlling for taxonomic bias in a global biodiversity indicator

McRae, Louise; Deinet, Stefanie; Freeman, Robin

doi:10.7287/peerj.preprints.2214

Cited by 60 publications

(128 citation statements)

References 2 publications

(2 reference statements)

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“…To compare changes in the inventories of freshwater megafauna populations against overall freshwater vertebrate populations reported in the Living Planet Report by World Wildlife Fund (WWF, ), we followed the approach given in the Living Planet Report. Similarly, 1970 was considered as the reference year and 2012 was chosen to represent the contemporary state, due to time delays in data publications and updates (McRae et al, ; WWF, ). Population trends were calculated using the rlpi package (McRae et al, ) in R (R Core Team, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, 1970 was considered as the reference year and 2012 was chosen to represent the contemporary state, due to time delays in data publications and updates (McRae et al, ; WWF, ). Population trends were calculated using the rlpi package (McRae et al, ) in R (R Core Team, ). The calculation procedure is summarized below (see McRae et al, for further details).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consequently, a third of all classified freshwater species are threatened with extinction according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species (Collen et al, ). Furthermore, the rate of decline of freshwater vertebrate populations is twice as high as in terrestrial or marine ecosystems (McRae, Deinet, & Freeman, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The global decline of freshwater megafauna

Zarfl

Bremerich

et al. 2019

Global Change Biology

185

130

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Freshwater ecosystems are among the most diverse and dynamic ecosystems on Earth. At the same time, they are among the most threatened ecosystems but remain underrepresented in biodiversity research and conservation efforts. The rate of decline of vertebrate populations is much higher in freshwaters than in terrestrial or marine realms. Freshwater megafauna (i.e., freshwater animals that can reach a body mass ≥30 kg) are intrinsically prone to extinction due to their large body size, complex habitat requirements and slow life‐history strategies such as long life span and late maturity. However, population trends and distribution changes of freshwater megafauna, at continental or global scales, remain unclear. In the present study, we compiled population data of 126 freshwater megafauna species globally from the Living Planet Database and available literature, and distribution data of 44 species inhabiting Europe and the United States from literature and databases of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and NatureServe. We quantified changes in population abundance and distribution range of freshwater megafauna species. Globally, freshwater megafauna populations declined by 88% from 1970 to 2012, with the highest declines in the Indomalaya and Palearctic realms (−99% and −97%, respectively). Among taxonomic groups, mega‐fishes exhibited the greatest global decline (−94%). In addition, freshwater megafauna experienced major range contractions. For example, distribution ranges of 42% of all freshwater megafauna species in Europe contracted by more than 40% of historical areas. We highlight the various sources of uncertainty in tracking changes in populations and distributions of freshwater megafauna, such as the lack of monitoring data and taxonomic and spatial biases. The detected trends emphasize the critical plight of freshwater megafauna globally and highlight the broader need for concerted, targeted and timely conservation of freshwater biodiversity.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The global decline of freshwater megafauna

Zarfl

Bremerich

et al. 2019

Global Change Biology

185

130

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“…We obtained observed population trends from the Living Planet database (http://www.livingplanetindex.org/data_portal), which contains time series of annual population estimates for over 18,000 vertebrate populations observed during the period 1950–2015. The time series are collated from the scientific literature, online databases and gray literature (Collen et al., ; McRae, Deinet, & Freeman, ). To be included in the database there must be at least 2 years of population estimates and survey methods must be comparable for each year the population is estimated.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid warming is associated with population decline among terrestrial birds and mammals globally

Spooner

Pearson

Freeman

2018

Global Change Biology

Self Cite

161

135

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Animal populations have undergone substantial declines in recent decades. These declines have occurred alongside rapid, human-driven environmental change, including climate warming. An association between population declines and environmental change is well established, yet there has been relatively little analysis of the importance of the rates of climate warming and its interaction with conversion to anthropogenic land use in causing population declines. Here we present a global assessment of the impact of rapid climate warming and anthropogenic land use conversion on 987 populations of 481 species of terrestrial birds and mammals since 1950. We collated spatially referenced population trends of at least 5 years' duration from the Living Planet database and used mixed effects models to assess the association of these trends with observed rates of climate warming, rates of conversion to anthropogenic land use, body mass, and protected area coverage. We found that declines in population abundance for both birds and mammals are greater in areas where mean temperature has increased more rapidly, and that this effect is more pronounced for birds. However, we do not find a strong effect of conversion to anthropogenic land use, body mass, or protected area coverage. Our results identify a link between rapid warming and population declines, thus supporting the notion that rapid climate warming is a global threat to biodiversity.

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“…It is unclear why the abundance of many butterfly species have declined in Britain, but the abundance of many other taxa are also declining 24 . Drivers of range expansion in response to climate warming vary over time and species' abundance patterns are crucial to interpreting these responses.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Abundance changes and habitat availability drive species’ responses to climate change

et al. 2014

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There is little consensus as to why there is so much variation in the rates at which different species' geographic ranges expand in response to climate warming 1,2 . Here we show that the relative importance of species' abundance trends and habitat availability for British butterfly species vary over time. Species with high habitat availability expanded more rapidly from the 1970s to mid-1990s, when abundances were generally stable, whereas habitat availability effects were confined to the subset of species with stable abundances from the mid-1990s to 2009, when abundance trends were generally declining. This suggests that stable (or positive) abundance trends are a prerequisite for range expansion. Given that species' abundance trends vary over time 3 for non-climatic as well as climatic reasons, assessment of abundance trends will help improve predictions of species' responses to climate change, and help us to understand the likely success of different conservation strategies for facilitating their expansions.Identifying species' traits associated with rapid range expansions in response to climate change provides insight into the conservation strategies most likely to be successful 4 . However, such understanding may be difficult to attain, given that the ability of species' traits, such as reproductive rate, to explain responses to climate change is frequently low 2 . Previous studies suggest that the expansion of species' distributions across landscapes will depend on species' dispersal abilities 1,5,6 , the availability of habitat 7 and population abundance trends, which determine the supply of migrants to colonize new locations 8 . Species' population and distribution trends will also be affected by interactions between traits and the environment, thus predictions of range expansions may be limited if habitat availability and population trends are not considered simultaneously. Furthermore, abundance trends vary over time 3 , associated with variability in climate warming 9 and habitat quality and quantity 10 , so it might be expected that the relative importance of predictors of distribution changes also vary over time.Here, we consider the roles of abundance trends, habitat availability and dispersal capacity in the range changes of 25 British butterfly species during two periods. Distribution changes were measured between blocks of time (

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The diversity weighted Living Planet Index: controlling for taxonomic bias in a global biodiversity indicator

Cited by 60 publications

References 2 publications

The global decline of freshwater megafauna

The global decline of freshwater megafauna

Rapid warming is associated with population decline among terrestrial birds and mammals globally

Abundance changes and habitat availability drive species’ responses to climate change

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