The Diversity-Weighted Living Planet Index: Controlling for Taxonomic Bias in a Global Biodiversity Indicator

摘要: As threats to species continue increase, precise and unbiased measures of the impact these pressures are having on global biodiversity urgently needed. Some existing indicators status trends largely rely publicly available data from scientific grey literature, therefore prone biases introduced through over-representation well-studied groups regions in monitoring schemes. This can give misleading estimates trends. Here, we report an approach tackle taxonomic geographic bias one such indicator (Living Planet Index) by accounting for estimated number within biogeographical realms, relative diversity them. Based a proportionally weighted index, estimate population decline vertebrate between 1970 2012 58% rather than 20% index with no proportional weighting. From this set, comprising 14,152 populations 3,706 3,095 sources, also find that freshwater have declined 81%, marine 36%, terrestrial 38% when using weighting (compared -46%, +12% +15% respectively). These results not only show starker declines previously estimated, but suggests those which there is poorer coverage may be declining more rapidly.