Status: Butchart et al. Indicators of global biodiversity

Question 1

What is the goal of the CBD and when was it made

Answer 1

The convention of biodiversity was made in 2002, with the goal of significantly reducing the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010

Question 2

How is biodiversity loss measured?

Answer 2

the CBD created a framework of indicators to measure biodiversity loss at the level of genes, populations, species and ecosystems

Question 3

What do the indicators show regarding the status of biodiversity?

Answer 3

Species’ population trends, extinction risk, habitat extent/condition, and community composition all show a decline in biodiversity

Question 4

What do the indicators show regarding the pressure on biodiversity?

Answer 4

The majority of indicators of pressures on biodiversity show increasing trends over recent decades (Fig. 1 and Table 1), with increases in: (i) aggregate human consumption of the planet’s ecological assets; (ii) deposition of reactive nitrogen; (iii) number of alien species in Europe; (iv) proportion of fish stocks over-harvested; and (v) impact of climate change on European bird population trends

Question 5

What do the indicators show regarding the responses to biodiversity loss?

Answer 5

All indicators of policy and management responses show increasing trends, however: The last three inflections in aggregated trends (2002, 2004, 2008) were all negative (Fig. 2), indicating that the rate of improvement has slowed

Question 6

What does this mean for humans?

Answer 6

(i) Population trends of utilized vertebrates have declined by 15% since 1970; and

aggregate species’ extinction risk has increased at an accelerating rate (as shown by the RLI) for (ii) mammals, birds and amphibian species used for food and medicine (with 23-36% of such species threatened with extinction); and (iii) birds that are internationally traded

Question 7