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CC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Global impoverishment of natural vegetation revealed by dark diversity
Nature, Vol.641, pp.917-924
2025
Abstract
Anthropogenic biodiversity decline threatens the functioning of ecosystems and the many benefits they provide to humanity1. As well as causing species losses in directly affected locations, human influence might also reduce biodiversity in relatively unmodified vegetation if far-reaching anthropogenic effects trigger local extinctions and hinder recolonization. Here we show that local plant diversity is globally negatively related to the level of anthropogenic activity in the surrounding region. Impoverishment of natural vegetation was evident only when we considered community completeness: the proportion of all suitable species in the region that are present at a site. To estimate community completeness, we compared the number of recorded species with the dark diversity—ecologically suitable species that are absent from a site but present in the surrounding region2. In the sampled regions with a minimal human footprint index, an average of 35% of suitable plant species were present locally, compared with less than 20% in highly affected regions. Besides having the potential to uncover overlooked threats to biodiversity, dark diversity also provides guidance for nature conservation. Species in the dark diversity remain regionally present, and their local populations might be restored through measures that improve connectivity between natural vegetation fragments and reduce threats to population persistence.
Details
- Title
- Global impoverishment of natural vegetation revealed by dark diversity
- Authors/Creators
- Meelis PärtelRiin TammeCarlos P CarmonaKersti RiibakMari MooraJonathan A BennettAlessandro ChiarucciMilan ChytrýFrancesco De BelloOve ErikssonSusan HarrisonRobert John LewisAngela T MolesMaarja ÖpikJodi N PriceVistorina AmputuDiana AskarizadehZohreh AtashgahiIsabelle AubinFrancisco M AzcárateMatthew D BarrettMaral BashirzadehZoltán BátoriNatalie BeenaertsKolja BergholzKristine BirkeliIdoia BiurrunJosé M Blanco-MorenoKathryn J BloodworthLaura Boisvert-MarshBazartseren BoldgivPedro H. S BrancalionFrancis Q BrearleyCharlotte BrownC. Guillermo BuenoGabriella BuffaJames F CahillJuan A CamposGiacomo CangelmiMichele CarbognaniChristopher CarcailletBruno E. L CeraboliniRichard ChevalierJan S ClavelJosé M CostaSara A. O CousinsJan ČudaMariana DairelMichele Dalle FratteAlena DanilovaJohn DavisonBalázs DeákSilvia Del VecchioIwona DembiczJiri DolezalJürgen DenglerXavier DomeneMiroslav DvorskyHamid EjtehadiLucas EnricoDmitrii EpikhinAnu EskelinenFranz EsslGaohua FanEdy FantinatoFatih FazliogluEduardo Fernández-PascualArianna FerraraAlessandra FidelisMarkus FischerMaren FlagmeierT’ai G. W ForteLauchlan H FraserJunichi FujinumaFernando F FurquimBerle GarrisHeath W GarrisMelisa A GiorgisGianpietro Giusso Del GaldoAna González-RoblesMegan K GoodMoisès GuardiolaRiccardo GuarinoIrene GuerreroJoannès GuillemotBehlül GülerYinjie GuoStef HaesenMartin HejdaRuben H HelenoToke T HøyeRichard HrivnákJohn T HunterYingxin HuangDmytro IakushenkoRicardo IbáñezNele IngerpuuSeverin D. H IrlEva JaníkováFlorian JansenFlorian JeltschAnke JentschBorja Jiménez-AlfaroMadli JõksMohammad H JouriSahar KaramiNegin KatalAndrás KelemenBulat I KhairullinAnzar A KhurooKimberly J KomatsuMarie KonečnáEne KookLotte KorellNatalia KorolevaKirill A KorznikovMaria V KozhevnikovaŁukasz KozubLauri LaanistoHelena LagerVojtech LantaRomina G LasagnoJonas J LembrechtsLiping LiAleš LisnerHoujia LiuKun LiuXuhe LiuManuel Esteban Lucas-BorjaKristin LudewigKatalin LukácsJona Luther-MosebachPetr MacekMichela MarignaniRichard MichaletTamás MigléczJesper Erenskjold MoeslundKarlien MoeysDaniel MontesinosEduardo Moreno-JiménezIvan MoysiyenkoLadislav MucinaMiriam Muñoz-RojasRaytha A MurilloSylvia M NambahuLena NeuenkampSigne NormandArkadiusz NowakPaloma NucheTatjana OjaVladimir G OnipchenkoKalina L PachedjievaBruno PaganeliBegoña PecoAna M. L PeraltaAaron Pérez-HaasePablo L PeriAlessandro PetragliaGwendolyn PeyrePedro Antonio Plaza-ÁlvarezJan PlueHonor C PrenticeVadim E ProkhorovDajana RadujkovićSoroor RahmanianTriin ReitaluMichael RistowAgnès A RobinAna Belén RoblesDaniel A Rodríguez GinartRuben E RoosLeonardo RosatiJiří SádloRaúl RománKarina SalimbayevaRut Sánchez De DiosKhaliun SanchirCornelia SattlerJohn D ScastaUte SchmiedelJulian SchraderNick L SchultzGiacomo SellanJosep M Serra-DiazGiulia SilanHana SkálováNadiia SkobelJudit SonkolyKateřina ŠtajerováIvana SvitkováSebastian ŚwierszczAndrew J TanentzapFallon M TanentzapRubén TarifaPablo TejeroDzhamal K TekeevMichael TholinRuben S ThormodsæterYichen TianAlla TokaryukCsaba TölgyesiMarcello TomaselliEnrico TordoniPéter TörökBéla TóthmérészAurèle ToussaintBlaise TouzardDiego P. F TrindadeJames L TsakalosSevda TürkişEnrique ValenciaMercedes ValerioOrsolya ValkóKoenraad Van MeerbeekVigdis VandvikJesus VillellasRisto VirtanenMichaela VítkováMartin VojíkAndreas Von HessbergJonathan Von OppenViktoria WagnerJi-Zhong WanChun-Jing WangSajad A WaniLina WeissTricia WevillSa XiaoOscar Zárate MartínezMartin Zobel
- Publication Details
- Nature, Vol.641, pp.917-924
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- Identifiers
- 991005765030207891
- Copyright
- © The Author(s) 2025
- Murdoch Affiliation
- Centre for Terrestrial Ecosystem Science and Sustainability
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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