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Urban expansion onto hillsides poses unprecedented threats to terrestrial biodiversity

There was a considerable trend of urban expansion onto hillsides from 2000 to 2020, which covered 11.65 million hectares globally. This expansion has destroyed 6.73 million hectares of natural habitats and further directly affected about 70% of threatened species, which highlights the fact that urgent policy action is needed to balance such development with terrestrial biodiversity conservation.

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Fig. 1: Global hillside urban expansion and its effect on terrestrial biodiversity.

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This is a summary of: Shi, K. et al. Extensive terrestrial biodiversity threats from global hillside urban expansion. Nat. Cities https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-025-00316-9 (2025).

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Urban expansion onto hillsides poses unprecedented threats to terrestrial biodiversity. Nat Cities 2, 916–917 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-025-00319-6

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