Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2023

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0293083

Publication Title

PLoS One

Volume

18

Issue

11

Pages

e0293083 (1-13)

Abstract

Biodiversity loss is a major global challenge and minimizing extinction rates is the goal of several multilateral environmental agreements. Policy decisions require comprehensive, spatially explicit information on species’ distributions and threats. We present an analysis of the conservation status of 14,669 European terrestrial, freshwater and marine species (ca. 10% of the continental fauna and flora), including all vertebrates and selected groups of invertebrates and plants. Our results reveal that 19% of European species are threatened with extinction, with higher extinction risks for plants (27%) and invertebrates (24%) compared to vertebrates (18%). These numbers exceed recent IPBES (Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) assumptions of extinction risk. Changes in agricultural practices and associated habitat loss, overharvesting, pollution and development are major threats to biodiversity. Maintaining and restoring sustainable land and water use practices is crucial to minimize future biodiversity declines.

Rights

This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal public domain dedication.

Data Availability

Article states: "All original data is available in the IUCN Red List database (iucnredlist.org)"

Original Publication Citation

Hochkirch, A., Bilz, M., Ferreira, C. C., Danielczak, A., Allen, D., Nieto, A., Rondinini, C., Harding, K., Hilton-Taylor, C., Pollock, C. M., Seddon, M., Vié, J.-C., Alexander, K. N. A., Beech, E., Biscoito, M., Braud, Y., Burfield, I. J., Buzzetti, F. M., Cálix, M., . . . Zuna-Kratky, T. (2023). A multi-taxon analysis of European Red Lists reveals major threats to biodiversity. PLoS One, 18(11), 1-13, Article e0293083. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293083

ORCID

0000-0003-3618-1811 (Carpenter), 0009-0003-9854-8970 (Ralph)

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