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Has land use pushed terrestrial biodiversity beyond the planetary boundary? A global assessment

Newbold, T; Hudson, LN; Arnell, AP; Contu, S; De Palma, A; Ferrier, S; Hill, SL; ... Purvis, A; + view all (2016) Has land use pushed terrestrial biodiversity beyond the planetary boundary? A global assessment. Science , 353 (6296) pp. 288-291. 10.1126/science.aaf2201. Green open access

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Abstract

Land use and related pressures have reduced local terrestrial biodiversity, but it is unclear how the magnitude of change relates to the recently proposed planetary boundary ("safe limit"). We estimate that land use and related pressures have already reduced local biodiversity intactness--the average proportion of natural biodiversity remaining in local ecosystems--beyond its recently proposed planetary boundary across 58.1% of the world's land surface, where 71.4% of the human population live. Biodiversity intactness within most biomes (especially grassland biomes), most biodiversity hotspots, and even some wilderness areas is inferred to be beyond the boundary. Such widespread transgression of safe limits suggests that biodiversity loss, if unchecked, will undermine efforts toward long-term sustainable development.

Type: Article
Title: Has land use pushed terrestrial biodiversity beyond the planetary boundary? A global assessment
Location: United States
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf2201
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf2201
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © 2016 American Association for the Advancement of Science. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the AAAS for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Science journal on 15 July 2016: Vol. 353, Issue 6296, pp. 288-291; DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf2201
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Genetics, Evolution and Environment
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1503860
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