Biodiversity Loss

Archer et al. 2014

Pollinator ecology is geographically biased toward wealthy temperate nations; nearly half of all data comes from 5 countries.

This undermines global models and hides declines in Africa/Asia.

Consequences: unknown stressors, economic vulnerability, and taxonomic gaps.

Calls for global collaboration, low‑cost protocols, citizen science.

Díaz & Malhi 2022

Biodiversity' includes within-species, between-species and ecosystem diversity, with intrinsic, instrumental and relational values.

Decline accelerated since 1950.

Díaz et al. 2019

~1 million species threatened

60–70% of land altered.

Proposes five changes: incentives, cross-sector action, precaution, resilience, stronger environmental law.

Newbold et al. 2015

Species richness declines up to 76%.

Biotic homogenisation spreading; agriculture creates human-dominated assemblages.

Even low-emission pathways cause land conversion impacts

Land-use is dominant driver.

Tilman et al. 2017

Sub-Saharan Africa, South America and SE Asia face highest future risks.

Solutions: close yield gaps, shift diets, conservation-focused trade; could reduce extinction risk by 50%.

Wiens & Saban 2025a

Genus-level extinctions rare and declining: only 102 genera lost in 500 years, mostly island endemics.

Extinction patterns do not match species-level claims; warns against exaggeration while affirming biodiversity loss is still serious.

Wiens & Saban 2025b

Critiques 'sixth mass extinction' framing

Definitions inconsistent, rates extrapolated incorrectly

Sees island losses (more likely) as indicative of global contexts

Biodiversity crisis is real but not a mass extinction under strict criteria.

Carvalheiro et al. 2025

Brazil holds 10% of global bee diversity yet faces massive knowledge shortfalls

>50% of Brazil has zero bee records.

Functional, phylogenetic and abundance data critically lacking.

Collen et al. 2016

IUCN Red List is often misunderstood: not a conservation priority list but a risk assessment tool.

Uses comparable criteria across taxa.

Rarity ≠ high risk.

Misuse leads to inflated or downplayed extinction claims.

Cowie et al. 2022

Invertebrates excluded from most assessments; molluscs reveal far higher extinction rates.

Authors estimate ~13% of species extinct since 1500 (vs 0.04% Red List).

Many extinctions undocumented

Cowie et al. 2025

Extinction denial undermines policy

Many species unassessed by IUCN Red List, making true extinction rates higher.

Island losses remain globally important

Ellis et al. 2012

Human activity has increased local plant richness in 69% of landscapes via introductions > extinctions.

Novel assemblages form, but native species decline and homogenisation increases.

Lindenmayer et al. 2013

Monitoring without action leads to 'monitoring to extinction'; adaptive management needed

Predefined thresholds should trigger interventions

Example: Great Glider species collapse in Australia despite clear warning signs.

Jaureguiberry et al. 2022

Global analysis identifies land/sea-use change as dominant driver across biodiversity dimensions; exploitation second.

Pollution, climate and invasives also key.

Drivers interact; climate-only solutions insufficient.