Global rarity of high- integrity tropical rainforests for threatened and declining terrestrial vertebrates

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Pillay, Rajeev; Watson, James E. M.; Hansen, Andrew J.; Burns, Patrick; Virnig, Anne Lucy Stilger; Supples, Christina; Armenteras, Dolors; Gonzalez-del-Pliegoh, Pamela; Aragon-Osejo, Jose; Jantz, Patrick A.; Ervin, Jamison; Goetz, Scott J.; Venter, Oscar
• 署名单位: University of Northern British Columbia; University of Queensland; University of Queensland; Montana State University System; Montana State University Bozeman; Northern Arizona University; Universidad Nacional de Colombia; University of Evora
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-13186
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2413325121
• 发表日期: 2024-12-17
• 关键词: extinction risk; human footprint; co-benefits; biodiversity; diversity; deforestation; regeneration; phylogenies; patterns; models

摘要

Structurally intact native forests free from major human pressures are vitally important habitats for the persistence of forest biodiversity. However, the extent of such high- integrity forest habitats remaining for biodiversity is unknown. Here, we quantify the amount of high- integrity tropical rainforests, as a fraction of total forest cover, within the geographic ranges of 16,396 species of terrestrial vertebrates worldwide. We found up to 90% of the humid tropical ranges of forest- dependent vertebrates was encompassed by forest cover. Concerningly, however, merely 25% of these remaining rainforests are of high integrity. Forest- dependent species that are threatened and declining and species with small geographic ranges have disproportionately low proportions of high- integrity forest habitat left. Our work brings much needed attention to the poor quality of much of the forest estate remaining for biodiversity across the humid tropics. The targeted preservation of the world's remaining high- integrity tropical rainforests that are currently unprotected is a critical conservation priority that may help alleviate the biodiversity crisis in these hyperdiverse and irreplaceable ecosystems. Enhanced efforts worldwide to preserve tropical rainforest integrity are essential to meet the targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity's 2022 Kunming- Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework which aims to achieve near zero loss of high biodiversity importance areas (including ecosystems of high integrity) by 2030.