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High exposure of global tree diversity to human pressure

  • Wen Yong Guo
  • , Josep M. Serra-Diaz
  • , Franziska Schrodt
  • , Wolf L. Eiserhardt
  • , Brian S. Maitner
  • , Cory Merow
  • , Cyrille Violle
  • , Madhur Anand
  • , Michaël Belluau
  • , Hans Henrik Bruun
  • , Chaeho Byun
  • , Jane A. Catford
  • , Bruno E.L. Cerabolini
  • , Eduardo Chacón-Madrigal
  • , Daniela Ciccarelli
  • , J. Hans C. Cornelissen
  • , Anh Tuan Dang-Le
  • , Angel de Frutos
  • , Arildo S. Dias
  • , Aelton B. Giroldo
  • Kun Guo, Alvaro G. Gutiérrez, Wesley Hattingh, Tianhua He, Peter Hietz, Nate Hough-Snee, Steven Jansen, Jens Kattge, Tamir Klein, Benjamin Komac, Nathan J.B. Kraft, Koen Kramer, Sandra Lavorel, Christopher H. Lusk, Adam R. Martin, Maurizio Mencuccini, Sean T. Michaletz, Vanessa Minden, Akira S. Mori, Ülo Niinemets, Yusuke Onoda, Josep Peñuelas, Valério D. Pillar, Jan Pisek, Bjorn J.M. Robroek, Brandon Schamp, Martijn Slot, Ênio Egon Sosinski, Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia, Nelson Thiffault, Peter van Bodegom, Fons van der Plas, Ian J. Wright, Wu Bing Xu, Jingming Zheng, Brian J. Enquist, Jens Christian Svenning

    Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    Abstract

    Safeguarding Earth's tree diversity is a conservation priority due to the importance of trees for biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services such as carbon sequestration. Here, we improve the foundation for effective conservation of global tree diversity by analyzing a recently developed database of tree species covering 46,752 species. We quantify range protection and anthropogenic pressures for each species and develop conservation priorities across taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity dimensions. We also assess the effectiveness of several influential proposed conservation prioritization frameworks to protect the top 17% and top 50% of tree priority areas. We find that an average of 50.2% of a tree species' range occurs in 110-km grid cells without any protected areas (PAs), with 6,377 small-range tree species fully unprotected, and that 83% of tree species experience nonnegligible human pressure across their range on average. Protecting high-priority areas for the top 17% and 50% priority thresholds would increase the average protected proportion of each tree species' range to 65.5% and 82.6%, respectively, leaving many fewer species (2,151 and 2,010) completely unprotected. The priority areas identified for trees match well to the Global 200 Ecoregions framework, revealing that priority areas for trees would in large part also optimize protection for terrestrial biodiversity overall. Based on range estimates for >46,000 tree species, our findings show that a large proportion of tree species receive limited protection by current PAs and are under substantial human pressure. Improved protection of biodiversity overall would also strongly benefit global tree diversity.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article numbere2026733119
    Pages (from-to)1-11
    Number of pages11
    JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
    Volume119
    Issue number25
    Early online date16 Jun 2022
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 21 Jun 2022

    Funding

    AK, AKPM, ALCB, ALTA, ALU, AMD, AMES, AMNH, AMO, ANGU, ANSM, ANSP, AQP, ARAN, ARIZ, AS, ASDM, ASU, AUT, AV, AWH, B, BA, BAA, BAB, BABY, BACP, BAF, BAFC, BAI, BAJ, BAL, BARC, BAS, BBB, BBS, BC, BCMEX, BCN, BCRU, BEREA, BESA, BG, BH, BHCB, BIO, BISH, BLA, BM, BOCH, BOL, BOLV, BONN, BOON, BOTU, BOUM, BPI, BR, BREM, BRI, BRIT, BRLU, BRM, BSB, BUT, C, CALI, CAN, CANB, CANU, CAS, CATA, CATIE, CAY, CBM, CDA, CDBI, CEN, CEPEC, CESJ, CGE, CGMS, CHAM, CHAPA, CHAS, CHR, CHSC, CIB, CICY, CIIDIR, CIMI, CINC, CLEMS, CLF, CMM, CMMEX, CNPO, CNS, COA, COAH, COCA, CODAGEM, COFC, COL, COLO, CONC, CORD, CP, CPAP, CPUN, CR, CRAI, CRP, CS, CSU, CSUSB, CTES, CTESN, CU, CUVC, CUZ, CVRD, DAO, DAV, DBG, DBN, DES, DLF, DNA, DPU, DR, DS, DSM, DUKE, DUSS, E, EA, EAC, EAN, EBUM, ECON, EIF, EIU, EMMA, ENCB, ER, ERA, ESA, ETH, F, FAA, FAU, FAUC, FB, FCME, FCO, FCQ, FEN, FHO, FI, FLAS, FLOR, FM, FR, FRU, FSU, FTG, FUEL, FULD, FURB, G, GAT, GB, GDA, GENT, GES, GH, GI, GLM, GMDRC, GMNHJ, GOET, GRA, GUA, GZU, H, HA, HAC, HAL, HAM, HAMAB, HAO, HAS, HASU, HB, HBG, HBR, HCIB, HEID, HGM, HIB, HIP, HNT, HO, HPL, HRCB, HRP, HSC, HSS, HU, HUA, HUAA, HUAL, HUAZ, HUCP, HUEFS, HUEM, HUFU, HUJ, HUSA, HUT, HXBH, HYO, IAA, IAC, IAN, IB, IBGE, IBK, IBSC, IBUG, ICEL, ICESI, ICN, IEA, IEB, ILL, ILLS, IMSSM, INB, INEGI, INIF, INM, INPA, IPA, IPRN, IRVC, ISC, ISKW, ISL, ISTC, ISU, IZAC, IZTA, JACA, JBAG, JBGP, JCT, JE, JEPS, JOTR, JROH, JUA, JYV, K, KIEL, KMN, KMNH, KOELN, KOR, KPM, KSC, KSTC, KSU, KTU, KU, KUN, KYO, L, LA, LAGU, LBG, LD, LE, LEB, LIL, LINC, LINN, LISE, LISI, LISU, LL, LMS, LOJA, LOMA, LP, LPAG, LPB, LPD, LPS, LSU, LSUM, LTB, LTR, LW, LYJB, LZ, M, MA, MACF, MAF, MAK, MARS, MARY, MASS, MB, MBK, MBM, MBML, MCNS, MEL, MELU, MEN, MERL, MEXU, MFA, MFU, MG, MGC, MICH, MIL, MIN, MISSA, MJG, MMMN, MNHM, MNHN, MO, MOL, MOR, MPN, MPU, MPUC, MSB, MSC, MSUN, MT, MTMG, MU, MUB, MUR, MVFA, MVFQ, MVJB, MVM, MW, MY, N, NA, NAC, NAS, NCU, NE, NH, NHM, NHMC, NHT, NLH, NM, NMB, NMNL, NMR, NMSU, NSPM, NSW, NT, NU, NUM, NY, NZFRI, O, OBI, ODU, OS, OSA, OSC, OSH, OULU, OWU, OXF, P, PACA, PAMP, PAR, PASA, PDD, PE, PEL, PERTH, PEUFR, PFC, PGM, PH, PKDC, PLAT, PMA, POM, PORT, PR, PRC, PRE, PSU, PY, QCA, QCNE, QFA, QM, QRS, QUE, R, RAS, RB, RBR, REG, RELC, RFA, RIOC, RM, RNG, RSA, RYU, S, SACT, SALA, SAM, SAN, SANT, SAPS, SASK, SAV, SBBG, SBT, SCFS, SD, SDSU, SEL, SEV, SF, SFV, SGO, SI, SIU, SJRP, SJSU, SLPM, SMDB, SMF, SNM, SOM, SP, SPF, SPSF, SQF, SRFA, STL, STU, SUU, SVG, TAES, TAI, TAIF, TALL, TAM, TAMU, TAN, TASH, TEF, TENN, TEPB, TEX, TFC, TI, TKPM, TNS, TO, TOYA, TRA, TRH, TROM, TRT, TRTE, TU, TUB, U, UADY, UAM, UAMIZ, UB, UBC, UC, UCMM, UCR, UCS, UCSB, UCSC, UEC, UESC, UFG, UFMA, UFMT, UFP, UFRJ, UFRN, UFS, UGDA, UH, UI, UJAT, ULM, ULS, UME, UMO, UNA, UNB, UNCC, UNEX, UNITEC, UNL, UNM, UNR, UNSL, UPCB, UPEI, UPNA, UPS, US, USAS, USF, USJ, USM, USNC, USP, USZ, UT, UTC, UTEP, UU, UVIC, UWO, V, VAL, VALD, VDB, VEN, VIT, VMSL, VT, W, WAG, WAT, WELT, WFU, WII, WIN, WIS, WMNH, WOLL, WS, WTU, WU, XAL, YAMA, Z, ZMT, ZSS, and ZT. C.B. was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MIST) (2022R1A2C1003504). A.S.M. was supported by the Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (S-14) of the Ministry of the Environment, Japan. J. Pisek was supported by Estonian Research Council Grants PUT 1355 and PRG 1405. J. Peñuelas was funded by European Research Council Synergy Grant ERC-2013-SyG-610028 IMBALANCE-P. A.G.G. was funded by National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FONDECYT) grant 1200468 and Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (ANID/BASAL) FB210006. V.D.P. was funded by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvi-mento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Brazil (grant 307689/2014-0). The BIEN Working Group was supported by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, a center funded by NSF EF-0553768 at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the State of California. Additional support for the BIEN Working Group was provided by iPlant/CyVerse via NSF DBI-0735191. B.J.E. and C.M. were supported by NSF ABI-1565118 and NSF HDR-1934790. B.J.E. was also supported by a Global Environment Facility Spatial Planning for Protected Areas in Response to Climate Change Project grant (GEF-5810). B.J.E., C.V., and B.S.M. are partly supported by the Fondation pour la Recherche sur la Biodiversité (FRB) and Electricitéde France (EDF) in the context of the CESAB (Centre for the Synthesis and Analysis of Biodiversity) project “Causes and consequences of functional rarity from local to global scales” (FREE). N.A.S. was supported by Vidi Grant 016.161.318 issued by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. W.-Y.G., J.M.S.-D., and J.-C.S. acknowledge support from the Danish Council for Independent Research | Natural Sciences (Grant 6108-00078B) to the TREECHANGE Project. J.-C.S. also considers this work a contribution to his VILLUM Investigator Project “Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World” funded by VILLUM FONDEN. We thank Brad Boyle for valuable database and informatics assistance and advice, and TRY contributors for sharing their data. This work was conducted as a part of the BIEN Working Group, 2008 to 2012. We thank all the data contributors and numerous herbaria who have contributed their data to various data-compiling organizations for the invaluable data and support provided to BIEN. We thank the New York Botanical Garden, the Missouri Botanical Garden, Utrecht Herbarium, UNC Herbarium, GBIF, REMIB, and SpeciesLink. The staff at CyVerse provided critical computational assistance. We acknowledge the herbaria that contributed data to this work: A, AAH, AAS, AAU, ABH, ACAD, ACOR, AD, AFS,

    FundersFunder number
    National Research Foundation of Korea
    Villum Fonden
    Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan
    Environment Research and Technology Development Fund
    Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo
    European Commission
    Fondation pour la Recherche
    University of California, Santa Barbara
    Electricitéde France
    Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico1200468
    ???publication-publication-funding-organisation-not-added???19KK0162
    National Science Foundation1934790, 0735191, EF-0553768
    MIST2022R1A2C1003504
    State of CaliforniaGEF-5810, ABI-1565118, HDR-1934790
    BASALFB210006
    Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico307689/2014-0
    Natur og Univers, Det Frie Forskningsråd6108-00078B
    ???publication-publication-funding-organisation-not-added???016.161.318
    European Research Council610028
    Eesti TeadusagentuurPUT 1355, PRG 1405

      UN SDGs

      This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

      1. SDG 15 - Life on Land
        SDG 15 Life on Land

      Keywords

      • biodiversity
      • conservation frameworks
      • land use
      • protected areas
      • tree species

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