Conservation Assessment of Biodiversity

Conservation assessment synthesises multidisciplinary data to evaluate the extinction risk of species and the integrity of ecosystems worldwide. Central to this endeavour is the systematic application of standardised criteria—most notably those of the IUCN Red List—which integrate geographic range metrics, population trends, threat analyses and phylogenetic context. Advances in remote sensing, ecological modelling and data‐driven algorithms complement expert review, enabling large‐scale preliminary assessments that accelerate the identification of at‐risk taxa. Assessments cover all major taxonomic groups and habitats, from hyperdiverse plants and invertebrates to vertebrates, and extend to ecosystem services and functional attributes. Outputs inform global biodiversity targets, guide protected‐area design, prioritise re‐evaluation cycles and direct conservation resources to hotspots of vulnerability, with practical applications in policy development, habitat restoration and species recovery planning.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have used spatial‐temporal threat mapping to reassess the status of more than 32,000 tree species, revealing that over half have experienced escalating anthropogenic pressures—many of which remain unrecognised under current extinction‐risk categories—and identifying global hotspots requiring urgent re‐evaluation. A comprehensive tetrapod analysis has shown that reptiles mirror the threat patterns of other vertebrate groups, with 21% of species threatened and significant losses of phylogenetic diversity concentrated in forested regions. Complementary work has refined phylogenetic‐based prioritisation, highlighting clades that represent disproportionate evolutionary history and should be focal points for targeted conservation action.

Conservation Assessment of Biodiversity publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in conservation assessment of biodiversity across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

IUCN Red List: A global inventory categorising species according to quantitative criteria of extinction risk.

Extinction risk assessment: The process of evaluating a species’ likelihood of extinction over a specific period using demographic, spatial and threat data.

Extent of occurrence (EOO): The area within the minimum convex polygon encompassing all known or inferred sites of a species’ presence.

Area of occupancy (AOO): The area within the EOO that is actually occupied by a species, often measured by grid‐based counts.

Data Deficient: A category applied when available information is insufficient to assess extinction risk reliably.

Phylogenetic diversity: A metric quantifying the total evolutionary history represented within a group of species.

References

1. A global reptile assessment highlights shared conservation needs of tetrapods. Nature (2022).
2. What factors influence the rediscovery of lost tetrapod species?. Global Change Biology (2024).
3. Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation. New Phytologist (2024).
4. A strategy for the next decade to address data deficiency in neglected biodiversity. Conservation Biology (2020).