Download Biodiversity - Conservation International

Biodiversity
Will R. Turner1*, Russell A. Mittermeier1, Julia Marton-Lefèvre2, Simon N. Stuart2,
Jane Smart2, Elizabeth R. Selig1
1
Conservation International
International Union for Conservation of Nature
* Address correspondence to [email protected].
2
[Note: This draft contains a few passages from the authors’ previously published
work, and should be/will be modified for any further publication.]






Biodiversity – the variety of species, genes, ecosystems, and ecological
processes that make up life on Earth – is integral to the fabric of all the
world’s cultures.
Biodiversity underpins ecosystem services, sustains humanity, and is
foundational to the resilience of life on Earth.
Biodiversity is also the source of benefits, often immeasurable, that sustain
human lives, livelihoods, communities, and economies and Nations. Its
economic value and contribution to human development is enormous;
biodiversity is the most fundamental element of green economic
development ( or sustainable development) .
We are at risk of losing much of biodiversity and the benefits it provides
humanity. As humankind’s footprint has swelled, unsustainable use of
land, ocean, and freshwater resources has produced extraordinary global
changes, from habitat loss and invasive species to anthropogenic climate
change and pollution. Threats to terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity are
diverse, persistent, and, in some ( most ) cases, increasing.
Action is critical: without it, current high rates of species loss are projected
to continue what is becoming the 6th mass extinction event in Earth’s
history, while losses in 2/3 of ecosystem services already will soon amount
to an estimated $500 billion annually in lost benefits.
Action is also possible: these losses can be stopped and reversed by
concerted planning based on adequate data, a well-managed protected
areas network, and transformational shifts in the public and private sector
that value and internalize the role of natural capital in economic
development. The CBD is our international umbrella for biodiversity, and its
2020 Aichi targets – particularly targets 11 and 12 – are critically important.
Introduction. Biodiversity, the variability among living organisms and ecosystems, is
foundational to the resilience of life on Earth.
Biodiversity, or biological diversity, is the variation within and between life forms. Defined by the
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) as “the variability among living organisms, including
terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems. Biodiversity includes diversity within species,
between species, and between ecosystems”, biodiversity is often used as a measure of the
health of biological systems. Ecosystems are distinguished from each other by the composition
and interactions of species within and between these systems. A healthy population of
organisms, community of multiple species, or ecosystem recovers from disturbance and threat,
and continues to provide sufficient opportunity for feeding, growth and reproduction. Loss of
species, declining populations or size of organisms, and changing dynamics between life forms
can represent reduced health of the system. Within species, genetic diversity influences the
ability to respond to threats, adapt to a changing environment, and evolve in the face of longterm changes.
Benefits of biodiversity. Biodiversity underpins ecosystem services and sustains
humanity; its economic value is enormous; biodiversity is the most fundamental element
of green economic development.
Biodiversity is integral to the benefits, or ecosystem services, that humans receive from nature.
Biodiversity is thus a fundamental component of the natural capital that, along with produced
capital and human capital, underpins human communities and economies. Countless examples
make these connections clear. Fish are among the most important food sources (FAO Fisheries
and Aquaculture Department 2010) and the fishing industry contributes USD 225-240 billion/yr
to the global economy (Dyck and Sumaila 2010). Plant pollination by insect, bird, and other
animal pollinators is essential for about one in three food crops worldwide (Daily and Ellison
2002). Earth‟s species are a vast genetic storehouse that has provided more than half of all
commercial medicines – even more in developing nations (Chivian & Bernstein 2008) – and
may harbor yet-to-be discovered cures for cancer, malaria, or the next emergent pathogen.
Natural forms, processes, and ecosystems provide design and inspiration for a vast array of
new materials, sources of energy, technological devices, and other innovations (Benyus 2009).
Loss of species has been compared to burning down the world‟s libraries without knowing the
content of 90% of the books. With loss of species, we lose the ultimate source of our crops and
the genes we use to improve agricultural resilience, the inspiration for manufactured products,
and the basis of the structure and function of the ecosystems that support humans and all life on
Earth (McNeely et al. 2009). Above and beyond material welfare and livelihoods, biodiversity
contributes to security, resiliency, and freedom of choices and actions (Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment 2005). Less tangible, but no less important, are the cultural, spiritual, and moral
costs inflicted by species extinctions. All societies value species for their own sake, and wild
plants and animals are integral to the fabric of all of the world‟s cultures (Wilson 1984).
Threats. Biodiversity is being lost at alarming rates; threats to terrestrial and aquatic
biodiversity are diverse, persistent, and, in some cases, increasing.
Earth‟s biodiversity and the benefits it provides are in trouble. As human populations have
increased from a few hundred million 1000 years ago to 7 billion in 2011, unsustainable
consumption in developed countries and persistent poverty in developing nations is destroying
the natural world. Wild lands continue to suffer widespread incursions from agricultural
expansion, urbanization, and industrial development, overexploitation threatens the viability of
wild populations, invasive species wreak havoc on ecosystems, chemical pollution alters
biochemical processes in the soil, air, and water, and rapidly spreading diseases jeopardize
entire branches of the tree of life (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005; Vitousek et al.
1997; Wake & Vredenburg 2008). The higher density of people in some areas puts particular
strain on ecosystems to provide food and fuel and also to clean the water, break down the
waste and control the spread of disease.
Extinction is the gravest consequence of the biodiversity crisis, since it is irreversible. Human
activities have elevated the rate of species extinctions to a thousand or more times the natural
background rate (Pimm et al. 1995). Habitat destruction, projected to remain the dominant
threat to terrestrial biodiversity even in an era of climate change (Sala et al. 2000), is driving
extinctions in every part of the globe (Brooks et al. 2002). The growing impacts of climate
change will be felt worldwide, as altered precipitation and temperature, rising oceans, and
climate-driven habitat loss threaten a large fraction of species with extinction (Thomas et al.
2004) and drive desperate human populations to further environmental degradation (Turner et
al. 2010). Other threats are less widespread, but felt severely in particular regions. Introduced
predators have devastated island biodiversity, where species evolved in the absence of
domestic cats and rats and other invasive predators (Steadman 1995). Introduced plants are
having massive impacts on hydrology and biodiversity in many ecosystems, particularly those
having Mediterranean-type vegetation (Groves & di Castri 1991). Exploitation for protein and
micronutrients (e.g., bushmeat), for medicine, and for the pet trade threatens species on several
continents, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (van Dijk et al. 2000).
Chitridiomycosis, a fungal disease, is recognized as a proximate driver of amphibian declines
and extinctions worldwide (Stuart et al. 2004; Wake & Vredenburg 2008).
There are multiple indications of continuing decline in biodiversity in all three of its components
– ecosystems, species and genes. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) concluded
that 60% of ecosystem services worldwide have become degraded in the past 50 years,
primarily due to unsustainable use of land, freshwater and ocean resources. Most major
habitats have declined in this time and at the species level, The IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species (IUCN 2008) tells us that 22% of the world‟s mammals are threatened and at risk of
extinction worldwide, as well as nearly one third of amphibians, one in eight birds, and 28% of
conifers.
Marine ecosystems and species have experienced substantial declines in the last several
decades as well (Butchart et al. 2010), with populations of exploited marine species declining an
average 84% in abundance (Lotze & Worm 2009). Globally, 35% of mangrove area (Valiela et
al. 2001) and 15% of seagrass area has been lost (Waycott et al. 2009), and an estimated 32%
of coral species are threatened (Carpenter et al. 2008). The loss foundation species or top-level
predators can cause shifts from highly productive ecosystems to less complex ones with
reduced ecosystem services (Springer et al. 2003; Estes et al. 2011). Human activities now
threaten every part of the oceans, with 41% of the ocean strongly impacted by multiple human
activities (Halpern et al. 2008). Climate-related threats currently have the highest cumulative
impact on marine ecosystems (Halpern et al. 2008), with increased ocean temperatures, ocean
acidification, sea level rise, increased ultraviolet radiation, and increased storm frequency and
intensity (Harley et al. 2006; IPCC 2007) producing shifts in species‟ ranges, ocean productivity,
species composition, and population dynamics (Hoegh-Guldberg & Bruno 2010). Open ocean
and coastal regions are also highly impacted by fishing, as vast new areas of the ocean have
been opened to commercial fishing (Swartz et al. 2010) and technology has facilitated an
unprecedented level of exploitation, leading to collapse of several major fisheries (Myers &
Worm 2003). Land-based activities can cause direct habitat destruction and result in run-off of
sediments and nutrients to sensitive coastal habitats (McCulloch et al. 2003). Population
density and growth are very high in coastal regions around the world, with roughly half of all
humans living within 200 km of the coast, with the result that the most highly impacted marine
regions in the world are in coastal areas, because they experience the full set of coastal and
open ocean threats (Halpern et al. 2008). Although some large areas of the ocean remain
comparatively unaffected, particularly near the poles, even these areas will likely be at future
risk if climate change continues at current rates and illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing
in these areas remains relatively uncontrolled.
Responses. Arresting biodiversity loss depends critically on sufficient data, effective
planning, a well managed protected areas network, and transformational shifts in the
public sector and private sector to green economic development. The CBD is our
international umbrella for biodiversity, and its 2020 Aichi targets – particularly targets 11
and 12 – are critically important.
Bringing an end to global biodiversity loss requires that limited available resources be guided to
conservation and green economic development in those regions that need it most. Biodiversity
is not evenly distributed on our planet. It is heavily concentrated in certain areas, these areas
have exceptionally high concentrations of endemic species found nowhere else, and many (but
not all) of these areas are the areas at greatest risk of disappearing because of heavy human
impact. The biodiversity hotspots, for example, are a set of 35 regions of high endemism that
collectively has lost more than 85% its original habitat extent (Mittermeier et al. 2011; Myers
1988; Myers et al. 2000). Though their combined remnant natural vegetation comprises a scant
2.3% of the world‟s land area (3.4 million km2), these regions harbor more than 50% of all plant
species and 43% of all terrestrial vertebrates as endemics. If one considers only threatened
species – those that are assessed as critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable on the
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN 2008) – 60% of threatened mammals, 63% of
threatened birds, and 79% of threatened amphibians are found exclusively within the hotspots.
These regions concentrate an irreplaceable wealth of biodiversity in what is in fact a very small
and highly threatened portion of our planet. While conservation in these areas is made difficult
by ongoing threats, scarce information, and limited local financial capacity, conservation here is
not optional. Indeed, if we fail in the hotspots, we will lose nearly half of all terrestrial species
regardless of how successful we are everywhere else, not to mention an almost unthinkably
large contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and extensive human suffering resulting from
loss of ecosystem services upon which the human populations of the hotspots ultimately
depend. A few highly biodiverse regions remain largely intact, including the high-biodiversity
wilderness areas of Amazonia, Congo, and the island New Guinea (Mittermeier et al. 2003).
What is more, some 18 „megadiversity‟ countries (Mittermeier et al. 1997) account for more than
2/3 of all biodiversity – terrestrial, freshwater and marine – a concept that led to the creation of
the Like-minded Group of Megadiverse Countries in the CBD.
Planning for effective conservation requires sufficient data to illuminate the natural and human
dimensions of biodiversity conservation. The Global Mammal Assessment (Schipper et al.
2008), for example, provides substantially revised data on the status and distribution of Earth‟s
mammals, while recently compiled population (LandScan 2006) and poverty (CIESIN 2005)
data sets provide important socioeconomic context. Accurate, timely data on biodiversity,
threats, and benefits to humanity are needed, at finer scales, to guide conservation efforts
successfully. Our data on marine regions remains sparse compared with information on
terrestrial systems (Sala & Knowlton 2006), and our lack of knowledge about freshwater
systems is even more pronounced. However, significant strides are being made on aquatic
biodiversity, for example with efforts such as the Global Freshwater Biodiversity Assessment
(Darwall et al. 2005) and the Global Marine Species Assessment, which includes
comprehensive status assessments completed for reef-forming corals (Carpenter et al. 2008),
and similar work under way for many thousands of other species.
The establishment and effective management of a comprehensive set of protected areas
(Bruner et al. 2001) (6) must continue to be the cornerstone of efforts to halt the loss of
biodiversity. These areas may be in the form of national parks or strict biological reserves or
may come in a variety of other forms, depending on local context, including indigenous
reserves, private protected areas, and community conservation agreements of various kinds.
Efforts must focus on ensuring long-term persistence and equitable management of the areas
already protected, and strategically add new protected areas in the highest priority unprotected
habitats that remain intact as indicated by systematic efforts to identify gaps in protected areas
networks (e.g., Rodrigues et al. 2004).
Maintaining the resilience of biodiversity in the face of climate change is another major
challenge for planning and policy. Changing temperature and precipitation patterns force
species to move according to movement in their preferred habitat conditions, yet these
movements will often be both difficult for species to undertake and complex for researchers to
predict (Loarie et al. 2009; Tewksbury et al. 2008), and changing climates are likely to produce
a complex global mosaic of climates shifted in space, climates that disappear in the future, and
entirely novel climates (Williams et al. 2007). To be successful, then, conservation planning
must begin to systematically plan actions in both space and time. Protecting the sites where
species currently exist is essential, particularly sites where species are at greatest current risk,
including key biodiversity areas (Eken et al. 2004) and Alliance for Zero Extinction sites –
locations harboring the sole remaining populations of the most threatened species (Ricketts et
al. 2005). If we lose these sites now, we will not be granted another chance to save their
species later. However, this is only the beginning. We must also protect habitats where species
will be in the future, as well as „stepping stones‟ to facilitate movement to these new ranges.
Biologists are increasing their ability to anticipate and plan for these needs (Hannah et al. 2007).
To be successful, conservation in a changing climate will require a very strong focus on ending
further habitat destruction as quickly as possible.
The CBD Strategic Plan for Biodiversity was adopted with the purpose of inspiring broad-based
action in support of biodiversity conservation over the next decade by all countries and
stakeholders. The Aichi targets (8) now clearly articulate what needs to be done to secure the
life support systems of the planet. In Nagoya countries settled on a target for the global
coverage of protected areas, compromising 17% for land and 10% for oceans by 2020
(8).Currently, the global network of protected areas (PAs) covers 12.9% of Earth‟s land surface
(9) and only about 1.17% of the total ocean area (2). Thus, on land a fulfillment of this global
target would expand the global coverage of PAs by about 4% by 2020, while for the oceans, the
agreed target represents more than a ten-fold increase over what is currently protected.
The adoption of The Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 in Nagoya, Japan, represented a
major step forward for biodiversity conservation to support life on earth. Urgent action and
mobilization of resources is needed to ensure the resilience of people and nature, and to avoid
catastrophic tipping points. Recovering from such dramatic changes in biodiversity is difficult
and costly, if not impossible in many instances. CBD parties -- indeed the world, together--need
to maintain the sense of urgency and level of ambition of the targets to ensure the necessary
„step change‟ in our investment and action towards achieving the targets we have set.
Nevertheless, the agreement on the CBD policy target of global coverage of 17% of land as PAs
by 2020 is based on perceptions of political feasibility rather than science-based understanding
of PA needs to sustain planetary health. The question of how much nature needs to be
protected to prevent biodiversity loss and ensure important ecosystem services is critical and
holds many challenges. First, little is still known about Earth‟s biodiversity: only 2.5% of known
species have been assessed for their conservation status (10), and only a small fraction of the
estimated total number of species have been described by science. Second, the understanding
of ecosystem services is still poor for a range of important issues such as the ecological
underpinnings of ecosystem services (11). Finally, we face limited understanding of tipping
points in ecological systems and cannot yet predict the potential threshold effects of climate
change and other anthropogenic pressures on biodiversity and ecosystem services.
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
(IPBES, www.ipbes.net) – patterned after the influential IPCC for climate change – is in the
process of being established (www.ipbes.net). IPBES will be an interface between the scientific
community and policy makers and will conduct regular and timely assessments of knowledge on
biodiversity and ecosystem services and their interlinkages to enhance national planning and
mainstreaming biodiversity conservation (12). IPBES must catalyze the effort to set science-
driven targets for protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services and create the necessary
understanding of societal dependence on natural ecosystems to decision-makers.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) constitute a set of goals and targets by 2015
designed to inspire efforts to improve people‟s lives, i.e. halving extreme poverty
(www.un.org/millenniumgoals). The people for whom the benefits from protecting biodiversity
matter most are the world‟s poor, who depend disproportionately on nature for critical services
such as clean water, for livelihoods, and for insurance against hard times, making biodiversity
conservation and development two intertwined challenges (4, 13)(Turner et al. 2012). Therefore,
the development and environmental sustainability agenda needs to be integrated in order to
address these two intertwined issues in a meaningful way. The upcoming UN Conference on
Sustainable Development in 2012 (Rio+20) will provide an opportunity for the international
community to address this challenge.
References
Butchart S.H.M., Walpole M., Collen B., et al. (2010) Global Biodiversity: Indicators of Recent
Declines. Science, 328, 1164-1168
Carpenter K.E., Abrar M., Aeby G., et al. (2008) One-third of reef-building corals face elevated
extinction risk from climate change and local impacts. Science, 321, 560-563
Diaz R.J. & Rosenberg R. (2008) Spreading Dead Zones and Consequences for Marine
Ecosystems. Science, 321, 926-929
Dyck A.J. & Sumaila U.R. (2010) Economic impact of ocean fish populations in the global
fishery. Journal of Bioeconomics, 12, 227-243
Estes J.A., Terborgh J., Brashares J.S., et al. (2011) Trophic Downgrading of Planet Earth.
Science, 333, 301-306
Fabricius K.E. (2005) Effects of terrestrial runoff on the ecology of corals and coral reefs: review
and synthesis. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 50, 125-146
FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department (2010) The State of World Fisheries and
Aquaculture. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome.
Halpern B.S., Walbridge S., Selkoe K.A., et al. (2008) A global map of human impact on marine
ecosystems. Science, 319, 948-952
Harley C.D.G., Hughes A.R., Hultgren K.M., et al. (2006) The impacts of climate change in
coastal marine systems. Ecology Letters, 9, 228-241
Hoegh-Guldberg O. & Bruno J.F. (2010) The impact of climate change on the world's marine
ecosystems. Science, 328, 1523-1528
IPCC (2007) Climate Change 2007: the Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group
I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Laffoley D. & Grimsditch G. (2009) The management of natural coastal carbon sinks.
International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland.
Lesser M.P. & Farrell J.H. (2004) Exposure to solar radiation increases damage to both host
tissues and algal symbionts of corals during thermal stress. Coral Reefs, 23, 367-377
Levitus S., Antonov J. & Boyer T. (2005) Warming of the world ocean, 1955-2003. Geophysical
Research Letters, 32
Ling S.D., Johnson C.R., Frusher S.D. & Ridgway K.R. (2009) Overfishing reduces resilience of
kelp beds to climate-driven catastrophic phase shift. Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, 106, 22341-22345
Lotze H.K. & Worm B. (2009) Historical baselines for large marine animals. Trends in Ecology
& Evolution, 24, 254-262
McCulloch M., Fallon S., Wyndham T., Hendy E., Lough J. & Barnes D. (2003) Coral record of
increased sediment flux to the inner Great Barrier Reef since European settlement.
Nature, 421, 727-730
Myers R.A. & Worm B. (2003) Rapid worldwide depletion of predatory fish communities.
Nature, 423, 280-283
Pandolfi J.M., Bradbury R.H., Sala E., et al. (2003) Global trajectories of the long-term decline
of coral reef ecosystems. Science, 301, 955-958
Short F.T. & Wyllie-Echeverria S. (1996) Natural and human-induced disturbance of seagrasses.
Environmental Conservation, 23, 17-27
Springer A.M., Estes J.A., Vliet G.B.v., Williams T.M., Doak D.F., Danner E.M., Forney K.A.
& Pfister B. (2003) Sequential megafaunal collapse in the North Pacific Ocean: An
ongoing legacy of industrial whaling? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
100, 12223-12228
Swartz W., Sala E., Tracey S., Watson R. & Pauly D. (2010) The Spatial Expansion and
Ecological Footprint of Fisheries (1950 to Present). PLoS ONE, 5, e15143
Valiela I., Bowen J.L. & York J.K. (2001) Mangrove Forests: One of the World's Threatened
Major Tropical Environments. BioScience, 51, 807-815
Veron J.E.N., Hoegh-Guldberg O., Lenton T.M., et al. (2009) The coral reef crisis: the critical
importance of <350 ppm CO2. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 58, 1428-1436
Waycott M., Duarte C.M., Carruthers T.J.B., et al. (2009) Accelerating loss of seagrasses across
the globe threatens coastal ecosystems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
of the United States of America, 106, 12377-12381
Worm B., Hilborn R., Baum J.K., et al. (2009) Rebuilding Global Fisheries. Science, 325, 578585
1. Balmford, A., Bennun, L., ten Brink, B., Cooper, D., Cote, I. M., Crane, P., Dobson, A., Dudley, N.,
Dutton, I., Green, R. E. et al. (2005) Science 307, 212-213.
2. CBD. Global Biodiversity Outlook 3. 2010. Montreal .
3. Butchart, S. H. M., Walpole, M., Collen, B., van Strien, A., Scharlemann, J. P. W., Almond, R. E. A.,
Baillie, J. E. M., Bomhard, B., Brown, C., Bruno, J. et al. (2010) Science 328, 1164-1168.
4. TEEB. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity: Mainstreaming the Economics of Nature: A
synthesis of the approach, conclusions and recommendations of TEEB. 2010.
5. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) Ecosystems and Human Well-Being ((Island Press,
Washington, DC, 2005).
6. Lovejoy, T. E. (2006) Trends Ecol. Evol. 21, 329-333.
7. Dudley, N. & Stolton, S. Running pure: the importance of forest protected areas to drinking water.
2003. Gland, Switzerland, WWF/World Bank Alliance for Forest Conservation and Sustainable Use.
8. CBD. Decision X/2. The Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
2010.
9. IUCN and UNEP-WCMC. The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA). 1-1-2010. Cambridge,
UK, UNEP-WCMC.
10. Stuart, S. N., Wilson, E. O., McNeely, J. A., Mittermeier, R. A. & Rodriguez, J. P. (2010) Science 328,
177.
11. Kremen, C. & Ostfeld, R. S. (2005) Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 3, 540-548.
12. Perrings, C., Duraiappah, A., Larigauderie, A. & Mooney, H. (2011) Science 331, 1139-1140.
13. Sachs, J. D., Baillie, J. E. M., Sutherland, W. J., Armsworth, P. R., Ash, N., Beddington, J., Blackburn,
T. M., Collen, B., Gardiner, B., Gaston, K. J. et al. (2009) Science 325, 1502-1503.
References
Benyus, J. 2009. Borrowing nature's blueprints: Biomimicry in J. A. McNeely, R. A. Mittermeier,
T. M. Brooks, F. Boltz, and N. Ash, editors. The Wealth of Nature: Ecosystem Services,
Biodiversity, and Human Well-Being. CEMEX, Mexico City.
Brooks, T. M., R. A. Mittermeier, C. G. Mittermeier, G. A. B. da Fonseca, A. B. Rylands, W. R.
Konstant, P. Flick, J. D. Pilgrim, S. Oldfield, G. Magin, and C. Hilton-Taylor. 2002.
Habitat loss and extinction in the hotspots of biodiversity. Conservation Biology 16:909923.
Bruner, A. G., R. E. Gullison, R. E. Rice, and G. A. B. da Fonseca. 2001. Effectiveness of parks
in protecting biological diversity. Science 291:125-128.
Carpenter, K. E., M. Abrar, G. Aeby, R. B. Aronson, S. Banks, A. Bruckner, A. Chiriboga, J.
Cortes, J. C. Delbeek, L. DeVantier, G. J. Edgar, A. J. Edwards, D. Fenner, H. M.
Guzman, B. W. Hoeksema, G. Hodgson, O. Johan, W. Y. Licuanan, S. R. Livingstone,
E. R. Lovell, J. A. Moore, D. O. Obura, D. Ochavillo, B. A. Polidoro, W. F. Precht, M. C.
Quibilan, C. Reboton, Z. T. Richards, A. D. Rogers, J. Sanciangco, A. Sheppard, C.
Sheppard, J. Smith, S. Stuart, E. Turak, J. E. N. Veron, C. Wallace, E. Weil, and E.
Wood. 2008. One-Third of Reef-Building Corals Face Elevated Extinction Risk from
Climate Change and Local Impacts. Science 321:560-563.
Chivian, E., and A. Bernstein, editors. 2008. Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on
Biodiversity. Oxford University Press, New York.
CIESIN 2005. 2005 Global subnational rates of child underweight status
(http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/povmap/ds_global.html, accessed March 24, 2008).
Center for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University,
Palisades, NY.
Costanza, R., O. Pérez-Maqueo, M. L. Martinez, P. Sutton, S. J. Anderson, and K. Mulder.
2008. The value of coastal wetlands for hurrican protection. Ambio 37:241-248.
Darwall, W., K. Smith, T. Lowe, and J.-C. Vié 2005. The Status and Distribution of Freshwater
Biodiversity in Eastern Africa. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
Das, S., and J. R. Vincent. 2009. Mangroves protected villages and reduced death toll during
Indian super cyclone. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 106:7357-7360.
Eken, G., L. Bennun, T. M. Brooks, W. Darwall, L. D. C. Fishpool, M. Foster, D. Knox, P.
Langhammer, P. Matiku, E. Radford, P. Salaman, W. Sechrest, M. L. Smith, S. Spector,
and A. Tordoff. 2004. Key biodiversity areas as site conservation targets. Bioscience
54:1110-1118.
Groves, R. H., and F. di Castri 1991. Biogeography of Mediterranean Invasions. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge.
Guan, Y., B. J. Zheng, Y. Q. He, X. L. Liu, Z. X. Zhuang, C. L. Cheung, S. W. Luo, P. H. Li, L. J.
Zhang, Y. J. Guan, K. M. Butt, K. L. Wong, K. W. Chan, W. Lim, K. F. Shortridge, K. Y.
Yuen, J. S. M. Peiris, and L. L. M. Poon. 2003. Isolation and characterization of viruses
related to the SARS coronavirus from animals in Southern China. Science 302:276-278.
Hannah, L., G. Midgley, S. Andelman, M. Araújo, G. Hughes, E. Martinez-Meyer, R. Pearson,
and P. Williams. 2007. Protected area needs in a changing climate. Front. Ecol. Environ.
5:131-138.
Hines, H., M. Mahony, and K. McDonald. 1999. An assessment of frog declines in Wet
Subtropical Australia in A. Campbell, editor. Declines and Disappearenaces of Australian
Frogs. Environment Australia, Canberra.
IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www .iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded
on 10 Sep 2009.
LandScan 2006. Global Population Database (2006 release). <www.ornl.gov/landscan/>. Oak
Ridge, TN, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Loarie, S. R., P. B. Duffy, H. Hamilton, G. P. Asner, C. B. Field, and D. D. Ackerly. 2009. The
velocity of climate change. Nature 462:1052-1055.
McNeely, J. A., R. A. Mittermeier, T. M. Brooks, F. Boltz, and N. Ash 2009. The Wealth of
Nature: Ecosystem Services, Biodiversity, and Human Well-Being. CEMEX, Mexico City.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis.
Island Press, Washington, DC.
Mittermeier, R. A., C. G. Mittermeier, T. M. Brooks, J. D. Pilgrim, W. R. Konstant, G. A. B. da
Fonseca, and C. Kormos. 2003. Wilderness and biodiversity conservation. Proc. Natl.
Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 100:10309-10313.
Mittermeier, R. A., P. Robles Gil, and C. G. Mittermeier 1997. Megadiversity. CEMEX, Mexico.
Mittermeier, R. A., W. R. Turner, F. W. Larsen, T. M. Brooks, and C. Gascon. 2011. Global
biodiversity conservation: The critical role of hotspots. Pages 3-22 in F. E. Zachos, and
J. C. Habel, editors. Biodiversity Hotspots. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg.
Myers, N. 1988. Threatened biotas: 'hotspots' in tropical forests. Environmentalist 1988:187208.
Myers, N., R. A. Mittermeier, C. G. Mittermeier, G. A. B. da Fonseca, and J. Kent. 2000.
Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403:853-858.
Novotny, V., Y. Bassett, S. E. Miller, G. D. GWeiblen, B. Bremer, L. Cizek, and P. Drozd. 2002.
Low host specificity of herbivorous insects in a tropical forest. Nature 416:841-844.
Pimm, S. L., G. J. Russell, J. L. Gittleman, and T. M. Brooks. 1995. The future of biodiversity.
Science 269:347.
Raymundo, L. J., A. R. Halford, A. P. Maypa, and A. M. Kerr. 2009. Functionally diverse reeffish communities ameliorate coral disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences 106:17067-17070.
Ricketts, T. H., E. Dinerstein, T. Boucher, T. M. Brooks, S. H. M. Butchart, M. Hoffmann, J. F.
Lamoreux, J. Morrison, M. Parr, J. D. Pilgrim, A. S. L. Rodrigues, W. Sechrest, G. E.
Wallace, K. Berlin, J. Bielby, N. D. Burgess, D. R. Church, N. Cox, D. Knox, C. Loucks,
G. W. Luck, L. L. Master, R. Moore, R. Naidoo, R. Ridgely, G. E. Schatz, G. Shire, H.
Strand, W. Wettengel, and E. Wikramanayake. 2005. Pinpointing and preventing
imminent extinctions. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 102:18497-18501.
Rodrigues, A. S. L., H. R. Akcakaya, S. J. Andelman, M. I. Bakarr, L. Boitani, T. M. Brooks, J. S.
Chanson, L. D. C. Fishpool, G. A. B. Da Fonseca, K. J. Gaston, M. Hoffmann, P. A.
Marquet, J. D. Pilgrim, R. L. Pressey, J. Schipper, W. Sechrest, S. N. Stuart, L. G.
Underhill, R. W. Waller, M. E. J. Watts, and X. Yan. 2004. Global Gap Analysis: Priority
Regions for Expanding the Global Protected-Area Network. BioScience 54:1092-1100.
Sala, E., and N. Knowlton. 2006. Global Marine Biodiversity Trends. Annual Review of
Environment and Resources 31:93-122.
Sala, O. E., F. S. Chapin, III, J. J. Armesto, E. Berlow, J. Bloomfield, R. Dirzo, E. HuberSanwald, L. F. Huenneke, R. B. Jackson, A. Kinzig, R. Leemans, D. M. Lodge, H. A.
Mooney, M. Oesterheld, N. L. Poff, M. T. Sykes, B. H. Walker, M. Walker, and D. H.
Wall. 2000. Global biodiversity scenarios for the year 2100. Science 287:1770-1774.
Schipper, J., J. S. Chanson, F. Chiozza, N. A. Cox, M. Hoffmann, V. Katariya, J. Lamoreux, A.
S. L. Rodrigues, S. N. Stuart, H. J. Temple, J. Baillie, L. Boitani, T. E. Lacher, Jr., R. A.
Mittermeier, A. T. Smith, D. Absolon, J. M. Aguiar, G. Amori, N. Bakkour, R. Baldi, R. J.
Berridge, J. Bielby, P. A. Black, J. J. Blanc, T. M. Brooks, J. A. Burton, T. M. Butynski, G.
Catullo, R. Chapman, Z. Cokeliss, B. Collen, J. Conroy, J. G. Cooke, G. A. B. da
Fonseca, A. E. Derocher, H. T. Dublin, J. W. Duckworth, L. Emmons, R. H. Emslie, M.
Festa-Bianchet, M. Foster, S. Foster, D. L. Garshelis, C. Gates, M. Gimenez-Dixon, S.
Gonzalez, J. F. Gonzalez-Maya, T. C. Good, G. Hammerson, P. S. Hammond, D.
Happold, M. Happold, J. Hare, R. B. Harris, C. E. Hawkins, M. Haywood, L. R. Heaney,
S. Hedges, K. M. Helgen, C. Hilton-Taylor, S. A. Hussain, N. Ishii, T. A. Jefferson, R. K.
B. Jenkins, C. H. Johnston, M. Keith, J. Kingdon, D. H. Knox, K. M. Kovacs, P.
Langhammer, K. Leus, R. Lewison, G. Lichtenstein, L. F. Lowry, Z. Macavoy, G. M.
Mace, D. P. Mallon, M. Masi, M. W. McKnight, R. A. Medellin, P. Medici, G. Mills, P. D.
Moehlman, S. Molur, A. Mora, K. Nowell, J. F. Oates, W. Olech, W. R. L. Oliver, M.
Oprea, B. D. Patterson, W. F. Perrin, B. A. Polidoro, C. Pollock, A. Powel, Y. Protas, P.
Racey, J. Ragle, P. Ramani, G. Rathbun, R. R. Reeves, S. B. Reilly, J. E. Reynolds, III,
C. Rondinini, R. G. Rosell-Ambal, M. Rulli, A. B. Rylands, S. Savini, C. J. Schank, W.
Sechrest, C. Self-Sullivan, A. Shoemaker, C. Sillero-Zubiri, N. De Silva, D. E. Smith, C.
Srinivasulu, P. J. Stephenson, N. van Strien, B. K. Talukdar, B. L. Taylor, R. Timmins, D.
G. Tirira, M. F. Tognelli, K. Tsytsulina, L. M. Veiga, J.-C. Vie, E. A. Williamson, S. A.
Wyatt, Y. Xie, and B. E. Young. 2008. The status of the world's land and marine
mammals: Diversity, threat, and knowledge. Science 322:225-230.
Steadman, D. W. 1995. Prehistoric extinctions of Pacific island birds: Biodiversity meets
zooarchaeology. Science 267:1123-1131.
Stuart, S. N., J. S. Chanson, N. A. Cox, B. E. Young, A. S. L. Rodrigues, D. L. Fischman, and R.
W. Waller. 2004. Status and trends of amphibian declines and extinctions worldwide.
Science 306:1783-1786.
TEEB 2009. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for National and International
Policy Makers. UNEP, Bonn.
Tewksbury, J. J., R. B. Huey, and C. A. Deutsch. 2008. Putting the heat on tropical animals.
Science 320:1296-1297.
Thomas, C. D., A. Cameron, R. E. Green, M. Bakkenes, L. J. Beaumont, Y. C. Collingham, B. F.
N. Erasmus, M. F. de Siqueira, A. Grainger, L. Hannah, L. Hughes, B. Huntley, A. S. van
Jaarsveld, G. F. Midgley, L. Miles, M. A. Ortega-Huerta, A. Townsend Peterson, O. L.
Phillips, and S. E. Williams. 2004. Extinction risk from climate change. Nature 427:145148.
Turner, W. R., B. A. Bradley, L. D. Estes, D. G. Hole, M. Oppenheimer, and D. S. Wilcove.
2010. Climate change: Helping Nature survive the human response. Conservation
Letters 3:304-312.
Turner, W. R., K. Brandon, T. M. Brooks, C. Gascon, H. K. Gibbs, K. Lawrence, R. A.
Mittermeier, and E. R. Selig. 2012. Global biodiversity conservation and the alleviation of
poverty. BioScience 62:85-92.
Turner, W. R., M. Oppenheimer, and D. S. Wilcove. 2009. A force to fight global warming.
Nature 462:278-279.
van Dijk, P. P., B. L. Stuart, and A. G. J. Rhodin. 2000. Asian turtle trade. Chelonian Research
Monographs 2:1-164.
Vitousek, P. M., H. A. Mooney, J. Lubchenco, and J. M. Melillo. 1997. Human domination of
earth's ecosystems. Science 277:494-499.
Wake, D. B., and V. T. Vredenburg. 2008. Are we in the midst of the sixth mass extinction? A
view from the world of amphibians. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 105:11466-11473.
Williams, J. W., S. T. Jackson, and J. E. Kutzbach. 2007. Projected distributions of novel and
disappearing climates by 2100 AD. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 104:5738-5742.
Wilson, E. O. 1984. Biophilia. Harvard University Press, Boston.
References:
Balmford, Andrew, Aaron Bruner, Philip Cooper, Robert Costanza, Stephen Farber, Rhys E. Green, Martin
Jenkins, et al. 2002. Economic Reasons for Conserving Wild Nature. Science 297 (5583): 950 -953.
Becker, Stefan, and Heinrich Terlau. 2008. Toxins from cone snails: properties, applications and
biotechnological production. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 79 (1) (March 14): 1-9.
Brown, Lester Russell. 2001. Eco-economy: building an economy for the earth. W. W. Norton &
Company, November 29.
Chivian, Eric, and Aaron Bernstein. 2008. Sustaining life: how human health depends on biodiversity.
Oxford University Press
Costanza, Robert, Ralph d’ Arge, Rudolf De Groot, Stephen Farber, Monica Grasso, Bruce Hannon, Karin
Limburg, et al. 1997. The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387 (6630):
253-260.
Daily, Gretchen C., and Katherine Ellison. 2002. The new economy of nature: the quest to make
conservation profitable. Island Press.
Dyck, Andrew J., and U. Rashid Sumaila. 2010. Economic impact of ocean fish populations in the global
fishery. Journal of Bioeconomics 12 (3) (August 19): 227-243
Gentry, Alwyn H. 1993. Tropical forest biodiversity and the potential for new medicinal plants. In Human
Medicinal Agents from Plants, ed. A. Douglas Kinghorn and Manuel F. Balandrin, 534:13-24. Washington,
DC: American Chemical Society, May 5.
de Groot, Rudolf S, Matthew A Wilson, and Roelof M.J Boumans. 2002. A typology for the classification,
description and valuation of ecosystem functions, goods and services. Ecological Economics 41 (3)
(June): 393-408.
FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department. 2010. The State of the Worlds Fisheries and Aquaculture
2010. Rome.
Kareiva, Peter, Heather Tallis, Taylor H. Ricketts, Gretchen C. Daily, and Stephen Polasky. 2011. Natural
capital: theory & practice of mapping ecosystem services. Oxford University Press.
Kremen, C., J. O. Niles, M. G. Dalton, G. C. Daily, P. R. Ehrlich, J. P. Fay, D. Grewal, and R. P. Guillery.
2000. Economic incentives for rain forest conservation across scales. Science 288 (5472)
Kunz, Thomas H, Elizabeth Braun de Torrez, Dana Bauer, Tatyana Lobova, and Theodore H Fleming.
2011. Ecosystem services provided by bats. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1223 (March):
1-38.
Lavelle, P., T. Decaëns, M. Aubert, S. Barot, M. Blouin, F. Bureau, P. Margerie, P. Mora, and J.-P. Rossi.
2006. Soil invertebrates and ecosystem services. European Journal of Soil Biology 42, Supplement 1 (0)
(November): S3-S15.
Losey, John E., and Mace Vaughan. 2006. The economic value of ecological services provided by insects.
BioScience 56 (4): 311-323.
Mcneely, Jeffrey A., Russell A. Mittermeier, Thomas M. Brooks, Frederick Boltz, and Neville Ash. 2009.
The Wealth of Nature. Arlington, VA: CEMEX.
Moellering, R. C. 2006. Vancomycin: A 50-year reassessment. Clinical Infectious Diseases 42 (Supplement
1) (January 1): S3-S4.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis.
Island Press, Washington, DC.
TEEB (2010) The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity: Mainstreaming the Economics of Nature: A
synthesis of the approach, conclusions and recommendations of TEEB.
Turner, R. K., and G. C. Daily. 2007. The ecosystem services framework and natural capital conservation.
Environmental and Resource Economics 39 (1): 25-35.
VanCompernolle, Scott E, R Jeffery Taylor, Kyra Oswald-Richter, Jiyang Jiang, Bryan E Youree, John H
Bowie, Michael J Tyler, et al. 2005. Antimicrobial peptides from amphibian skin potently inhibit human
immunodeficiency virus infection and transfer of virus from dendritic cells to T cells. Journal of Virology
79 (18) (September): 11598-11606.
Whelan, Christopher J, Daniel G Wenny, and Robert J Marquis. 2008. Ecosystem services provided by
birds. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1134 (1) (June 1): 25-60.
Worm, B., E. B. Barbier, et al. (2006). Impacts of biodiversity loss on ocean ecosystem services. Science
314(5800): 787-790.