The Direct Drivers of Recent Global Anthropogenic Biodiversity Loss

Overview

Journal Sci Adv

Specialties Biology
Science

Date 2022 Nov 9

PMID 36351024

Authors

Pedro Jaureguiberry

Nicolas Titeux

Martin Wiemers

Diana E Bowler

Luca Coscieme

Abigail S Golden

Carlos A Guerra

Ute Jacob

Yasuo Takahashi

Josef Settele

Sandra Diaz

Zsolt Molnar

Andy Purvis

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Effective policies to halt biodiversity loss require knowing which anthropogenic drivers are the most important direct causes. Whereas previous knowledge has been limited in scope and rigor, here we statistically synthesize empirical comparisons of recent driver impacts found through a wide-ranging review. We show that land/sea use change has been the dominant direct driver of recent biodiversity loss worldwide. Direct exploitation of natural resources ranks second and pollution third; climate change and invasive alien species have been significantly less important than the top two drivers. The oceans, where direct exploitation and climate change dominate, have a different driver hierarchy from land and fresh water. It also varies among types of biodiversity indicators. For example, climate change is a more important driver of community composition change than of changes in species populations. Stopping global biodiversity loss requires policies and actions to tackle all the major drivers and their interactions, not some of them in isolation.

Citing Articles

Widespread ecological novelty across the terrestrial biosphere.

Kerr M, Ordonez A, Riede F, Atkinson J, Pearce E, Sykut M Nat Ecol Evol. 2025; .

PMID: 40087476 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-025-02662-2.

Species turnover does not rescue biodiversity in fragmented landscapes.

Goncalves-Souza T, Chase J, Haddad N, Vancine M, Didham R, Melo F Nature. 2025; .

PMID: 40074894 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08688-7.

Maintaining Local Adaptation Is Key for Evolutionary Rescue and Long-Term Persistence of Populations Experiencing Habitat Loss and a Changing Environment.

Baiotto T, Guzman L Evol Appl. 2025; 18(3):e70081.

PMID: 40046159 PMC: 11881017. DOI: 10.1111/eva.70081.

Editorial: Challenges and prospects for conservation genetics at XXI century.

Amavet P, Fernandez G, Solis Neffa V Front Genet. 2025; 16:1554590.

PMID: 40041862 PMC: 11876150. DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2025.1554590.

Genomic evidence for demographic fluctuations, genetic burdens and adaptive divergence in fourfinger threadfin .

Xiao J, Wang W Mar Life Sci Technol. 2025; 7(1):66-78.

PMID: 40027332 PMC: 11871173. DOI: 10.1007/s42995-024-00276-4.

References

Malhi Y, Franklin J, Seddon N, Solan M, Turner M, Field C . Climate change and ecosystems: threats, opportunities and solutions. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2020; 375(1794):20190104. PMC: 7017779. DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0104. View

Antao L, Bates A, Blowes S, Waldock C, Supp S, Magurran A . Temperature-related biodiversity change across temperate marine and terrestrial systems. Nat Ecol Evol. 2020; 4(7):927-933. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-1185-7. View

Roberts C, OLeary B, McCauley D, Cury P, Duarte C, Lubchenco J . Marine reserves can mitigate and promote adaptation to climate change. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017; 114(24):6167-6175. PMC: 5474809. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1701262114. View

Watson J, Shanahan D, Di Marco M, Allan J, Laurance W, Sanderson E . Catastrophic Declines in Wilderness Areas Undermine Global Environment Targets. Curr Biol. 2016; 26(21):2929-2934. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.08.049. View

Strassburg B, Beyer H, Crouzeilles R, Iribarrem A, Barros F, Ferreira de Siqueira M . Strategic approaches to restoring ecosystems can triple conservation gains and halve costs. Nat Ecol Evol. 2018; 3(1):62-70. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-018-0743-8. View

Sogaard Jorgensen P, Bohning-Gaese K, Thorup K, Tottrup A, Chylarecki P, Jiguet F . Continent-scale global change attribution in European birds - combining annual and decadal time scales. Glob Chang Biol. 2015; 22(2):530-43. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13097. View

Vorosmarty C, McIntyre P, Gessner M, Dudgeon D, Prusevich A, Green P . Global threats to human water security and river biodiversity. Nature. 2010; 467(7315):555-61. DOI: 10.1038/nature09440. View

Titeux N, Henle K, Mihoub J, Regos A, Geijzendorffer I, Cramer W . Biodiversity scenarios neglect future land-use changes. Glob Chang Biol. 2016; 22(7):2505-15. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13272. View

Joppa L, OConnor B, Visconti P, Smith C, Geldmann J, Hoffmann M . BIG DATA AND BIODIVERSITY. Filling in biodiversity threat gaps. Science. 2016; 352(6284):416-8. DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf3565. View

10.

Xu H, Cao Y, Yu D, Cao M, He Y, Gill M . Ensuring effective implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity targets. Nat Ecol Evol. 2021; 5(4):411-418. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-01375-y. View

11.

Newbold T, Hudson L, Hill S, Contu S, Lysenko I, Senior R . Global effects of land use on local terrestrial biodiversity. Nature. 2015; 520(7545):45-50. DOI: 10.1038/nature14324. View

12.

Shin Y, Midgley G, Archer E, Arneth A, Barnes D, Chan L . Actions to halt biodiversity loss generally benefit the climate. Glob Chang Biol. 2022; 28(9):2846-2874. PMC: 9303674. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16109. View

13.

Smith P, Arneth A, Barnes D, Ichii K, Marquet P, Popp A . How do we best synergize climate mitigation actions to co-benefit biodiversity?. Glob Chang Biol. 2021; 28(8):2555-2577. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16056. View

14.

Scherer L, Svenning J, Huang J, Seymour C, Sandel B, Mueller N . Global priorities of environmental issues to combat food insecurity and biodiversity loss. Sci Total Environ. 2020; 730:139096. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139096. View

15.

Newbold T . Future effects of climate and land-use change on terrestrial vertebrate community diversity under different scenarios. Proc Biol Sci. 2018; 285(1881). PMC: 6030534. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.0792. View

16.

Hof C, Voskamp A, Biber M, Bohning-Gaese K, Engelhardt E, Niamir A . Bioenergy cropland expansion may offset positive effects of climate change mitigation for global vertebrate diversity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018; 115(52):13294-13299. PMC: 6310845. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1807745115. View

17.

Isbell F, Gonzalez A, Loreau M, Cowles J, Diaz S, Hector A . Linking the influence and dependence of people on biodiversity across scales. Nature. 2017; 546(7656):65-72. PMC: 5460751. DOI: 10.1038/nature22899. View

18.

Diaz S, Settele J, Brondizio E, Ngo H, Agard J, Arneth A . Pervasive human-driven decline of life on Earth points to the need for transformative change. Science. 2019; 366(6471). DOI: 10.1126/science.aax3100. View

19.

Dornelas M, Gotelli N, McGill B, Shimadzu H, Moyes F, Sievers C . Assemblage time series reveal biodiversity change but not systematic loss. Science. 2014; 344(6181):296-9. DOI: 10.1126/science.1248484. View

20.

Dornelas M, Antao L, Moyes F, Bates A, Magurran A, Adam D . BioTIME: A database of biodiversity time series for the Anthropocene. Glob Ecol Biogeogr. 2018; 27(7):760-786. PMC: 6099392. DOI: 10.1111/geb.12729. View