Hotspots of human impact on threatened terrestrial vertebrates

Abstract

Conserving threatened species requires identifying where across their range they are being impacted by threats, yet this remains unresolved across most of Earth. Here, we present a global analysis of cumulative human impacts on threatened species by using a spatial framework that jointly considers the co-occurrence of eight threatening processes and the distribution of 5,457 terrestrial vertebrates. We show that impacts to species are widespread, occurring across 84% of Earth's surface, and identify hotspots of impacted species richness and coolspots of unimpacted species richness. Almost one-quarter of assessed species are impacted across >90% of their distribution, and approximately 7% are impacted across their entire range. These results foreshadow localised extirpations and potential extinctions without conservation action. The spatial framework developed here offers a tool for defining strategies to directly mitigate the threats driving species' declines, providing essential information for future national and global conservation agendas.

Fig 1. Methodological framework for mapping cumulative human impacts on threatened vertebrate species.

Fig 2. Mean proportion of species distributions impacted by threats across extinction risk categories of threatened and near-threatened terrestrial vertebrates.

Bars represent means with standard errors. The data underlying this figure are freely available [31] (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.897391). Species extinction risk assessed by the IUCN (2015). IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Fig 3. Cumulative human impacts on threatened and near-threatened terrestrial vertebrates (n = 5,457).

Legend indicates the number of species in a grid cell impacted by at least one threat. Maps use a 30 km × 30 km grid and a Mollweide equal area projection. The data underlying this figure are freely available [31] (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.897391).

Fig 4. Coolspots of refugia for threatened and near-threatened terrestrial vertebrates (n = 5,457).

Legend indicates the number of species that are not impacted by any threats in a grid cell. Maps use a 30 km × 30 km grid and a Mollweide equal area projection. The data underlying this figure are freely available [31] (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.897391).

Fig 5. The percentage of species in a grid cell impacted by a threat (and inversely the number of unimpacted species for whom it is a refuge) for all taxa (n = 5,457).

Maps use a 30 km × 30 km grid and a Mollweide equal area projection. The data underlying this figure are freely available [31] (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.897391).